Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-08-20
The Stars Household
Expert Tells How
Children May Be En-
tertained in a Nursery
Corner or a Special
Little Pla- house.

draw a stout string down to the
ground and securely fasten it there.
Then plant morning glories or other
trailing flowers at the bottom of each
string and in a very short time the
strings and top of the umbrella will
be covered with vines and flowers.
Remove one of the ribs from the front
| of the umbrella, so as to leave a wide
entrance to the little playhouse, and
around the stump of the tree where
serted build bench to be used some
times as a tea party table and some
times as a seat.
Playhouse Fitted Up in m, Old Shed.
If you have an old shed, either large
or small, you can make a fine play
house out of it. First, give it a good
cleaning, then have one or more small
windows built in and hang some SIM
pie curtains at each window and place
flower box on each window sill,
which will help to make it very at
tractive. and you should also have the
walls covered with plain burlap or
other material tackled in place, and
have the floor covered with mating.
If it is a large shed divide it into two
| houses, so that the smaller chill
dren can visit each other and have
all sorts of imaginary plays together,
and when necessary they can play in
Zone section and the older children in
the other section.
Place little chairs and low tables
| for the small children to use when
| playing games and cutting paper.
They can cut out paper dolls and
other things and can cut out pictures
from newspapers and magazines and
paste them on the walls. The free
Com of FASTING pictures wherever
they choose is greatly enjoyed by the
children. Colored papers to cut and
colored crayons for writing and
states and blackboard are great
addition to such a playhouse.
kindergarten cards to amuse very
small children can be made from col
white paper under the colored picture
and prick with a pin all around it,
There will be an outline of the same
| thing on the white paper, and the de-
sign may then be sewed from hole to
hole with a bright-colored yarn of
embroidery cotton. All children like
to string beads. Large and small
wooden beads in different colors may
be strung on fine wires and bent in
numerous funny shapes. Nuts, seeds,
picks can be used to make a lot of
pretty things. 1t is god plan to
make path leading from the play
house to the house.
Summer House for Older Children.
Select four trees for the corners of
the playhouse; now drive a post into
the ground three feet away from one
Q! the trees; the post should be as
nigh as you wish, to give the neces-
sary shade and privacy; that is. as
nigh as the wire fencing that Won arc
going to use. The space between the
post and the tree is to be used for
foormay; now s! stretch poultry-wire
Iencing as nigh as you wish around
the trees to the post, leaving an end
OF the Wire fencing loose from the
tree to form the door. This wire door
must now be nailed to simple door
lame s made or four strips of wood.
me door can be made to fasten to the
post with paddock if you wish.
Plant quick growing vines. morn
ing glorles or any other trailing vines
or mowers around the entire outside
Oh oau TINS wire fence. They will soon
VIII give a delightful air of seclu-
sion to the entire spot. A table and
seats for this lovely playhouse can
be easily made out of packing boxes
or by mailing boards to blocks of
wood, or to posts driven into the
ground if the things are to remain
stationary: swinging shelves can also
be suspended by wires from the
branches of the trees if you wish.
one boy uses playhouse like this
TOT his summer workshop, and a
young girl, who did all the work on
her house herself. put into it an old
stove. and learned to cook out there.
Her girl friends regard it as great
fun to spend the day with her, and
help prepare their own picnic lunch
con In Kitchen that has green trees
for a roof.
A Nursery Corner for Rainy Day.
This nursery corner was made by
clever fourteen-year-oId girl as a
first aid to her busy mother. The
little folks persisted in staying in
the kitchen when their mother was
there, and. naturally enough, it was
ihen the most attractive place in the
house, but most of the kitchen at
fractions were not suitable play
things for little folks, and the most
fascinating ones seemed to be the
most troublesome. such as the coal
nod. the ashes. the burners of the gas
kept-in fact. almost everything in
the kitchen was of the don't -touch"
variety.
The nursery corner was made in the
alcove between the kitchen dresser
and the wall, space of about five
feet, which the clotheshorse and IRON
ing board formerly occupied. First,
broad low shelf was made, about If
teen inches from the floor; this was
the play shelf. Here wonderful struc-
lures of blocks could be built. trains
might be run, or the dolls dishes set
out and remain undisturbed as long
as the little folks liked. all without
being in the slightest degree in their
mothers way. On the wall were past
ed pictures that the children liked,
chleny farm pictures; there were
horses and cows and calves and hens
and chickens and rabbits and guinea
pigs Round the corner were lions and
tigers, around which were pasted
narrow brown paper strips to form
cages" lest the wild animals should
n1,s toll hale
A small table was made from gro
Gerry box, neatly stained. and the |
chlidren's little chairs were placed |
around it. box was installed of a i
convenient size to slip under the |
shelf. In it were kept some of the |
children's toys-in fact, any plaything |
found in the kitchen went into that |
box until convenient time was found |
to put 1t in it's proper place.
Every morning the children would !
breakfast happily at their little table |
while their mother was preparing |
breakfast for the rest of the family. |
They would be under her eye, but |
not at all in the way. and were de-
lighted to be so much in the morning |
rush of events.
simple arrangement. 1t is merely a |
definite place for the little folks in |
a room in which they are sure to be |
and in which. otherwise, there is no |
place that they may call their own,
and it is of infinite help to the mother. |
For very young baby low fence
is convenience, so that the little |
one will be securely out of harms |
way.
A nursery corner can be made in |
A low shelf is more convenient for
child's play than the floor, and If |
the only room a child has for his |
play is the living room or his moth