Evening star., 1932-02-11
Your Baby and Mine
BY MYRTLE MEYER ELDRED.
Pans Interest Baby.

Parents are prone to irritation be-
cause of the child's lack OF concentra'
ton. In their eyes there Is something
| Woefully wrong with the child wht
| dashes from one amusement to tht
next, who drops blocks for q doll, ane
the doll for q string Of beads, all IN
short space Of time.
Such play Is natural to childhood
The childs memory IS short and nj!
attention span limited. II he Is sur.
rounded by toys, their destinations leae
him astray. He is easily distracted. ;.
| At this stage, the parent thinks 1t !!
her duty to sit down on the floor ane
teach the child how to play. II sht
will show him how to build up the
blocks into a satisfying solid structure
she thinks, he'll know what blocks art
for. and will initiate her.
She insists that baby sit beside he
while she shows him how to use blocks
Baby watches. The blocks 60 up init
an intricate tower. Six blocks, theI
four, then two and then a neat one or
top. Baby looks at it, then with one
swoop he knocks them all over ane
laughs gleefully at the crash.
Mother tells father about 1t after
ward. II showed him how to build ur
the blocks, but he pays no attention.
don't know what is the matter with
that child. He's just destructive. He
doesn't know how to play"
Children learn how to play by being
given toys that interest them at each
stage Of their growth. My leaflet
types of toys suitable to the child a
each stage Of his growth. A self-ad'
dressed, stamped envelope should ac'
company your request The small baby
likes nothing better than a rattle tx
replace the joys of his fingers ano
toes, with which he has heretofore
been fascinated. He looks at the bright
color, gives the rattle an experimental
shake He listens intently to tha
lovely noise Then he puts the rattle
to his lips and licks its smooth surface
He's playing with the rattle.
From then until he is 2 years o.
whatever comes to his hand Hell
want big blocks that he can put to-
gether easily with a lot of putting ane
happy straining. He'll want big ball.
that he can throw. He'll want pot:
and pans and beads. He'll want OBJ.
jects to pull and carry out, and heI
run from one to the other busily
When he's tired of Juggling blocks
he'll sit and put pans one inside of thu
other. then dump them out and star
over. Carrying toy in one hand
he'll walk up and down stairs. as in
tent on this climbing as on the mos
fascinating game.
Children learn to play by being al
lowed to amuse themselves with toys a!
they wish The adult should seldom O
never enter in. II children tried t,
initiate the uses to which adults cal
put their toys, they would become s.
discouraged that playing would b
work instead Of fun.
The concentration with which chill
dren can pull out the pans from a cup
board, and stack them in, and pul
them out again with a bang seldom
brings any real satisfaction to the par
ent who yearns for quiet, concentrates
and tidy play. If mother can stiff
these yearnings, she will accept tn
child's play as his method of learning
and, therefore, untidy, experiments
and easily interrupted. The irritation
will disappear. supplanted by helpful
desire to furnish the material and tn
play place and let nature do the rest