The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1932-12-22
GROWING WITH YOUR CHILD.
Toys for Good Times and Bad


Tim senior was mighty proud of
Tim junior-he talked about him a
great deal at his lodge and club
meetings, but he wasn't home to
play with Junior very often When
Christmas came around, Tim felt
bit like the much fictionized uncle
who brought home a doll for his
eighteen-year-old niece.
Tim wanted something nice for
Junior; afterhabits of workmanshi
good for the youngster. According
ly he stepped into a toy store and
asked to be shown the newest and
most ingenious toys. what age is
the child?" asked the sales girl,
patiently bringing out toy after toy,
but Tim didn't hear her. He's
clever" he said, He'd get a kick
out of this-or this"
All in all Tim spent two hours in
the store gleefully examining and
trying out mechanical toys. He
finally purchased an ingenious con-
trivance, terribly expensive. He
could hardly wait until Christmas
to give the toy to his son-and
have another look at it himself.
Tim junior said Tank you, Dad"
when he received the package. He
watched the thing work for a while
that was all he had to do-just
wind it up with key and sit back
and watch it. Then he got out his
tool chest and began to take the
toy apart. Tim senior was terribly
disappointed; he guessed Junior
had been spoiled by having too
many toys.
The toys that delight us as adults
may still be below what the psyche
logist calls the child's develop
mental level'-he may be at any
age when he wants to do things
with his hands or explore and take
them apart to see how they are
put together. The market today is
flooded with flimsily constructed
toys, and toys that wind up with
nothing to do about them buta sit
back and watch them. Is it any
wonder that children are soon bor-
ed with such playthings?
Children want to be kept busy.
When they construct a fortress out
of packing boxes in the back yard,
they are building, though they do
not know it, musclar skills and
habits of workmanship. Playing
with materials that are construc-
tive-blocks and clay and. sand
and exercisers and games-requires
effort and invites real thinking and
will keep children amused for days
upon end. .aE..t 49,. =
There are three prime require
ments for good playthings. First,
they should be adapted to the
child's age and development. To a
child of four a Meccano set is
just a combination of odds and ends
which he juggles about a bit and
then loses piece by piece; to a boy
of seven it has endlessly fascina-
ting possibilities.
Second they should be ICON
Constructive" so that they can be
used over and over again in many
different ways, such as blocks and
building toys, old finery for dra-
matte play, paints, clay scissors,
tools, housekeeping toys, trucks,
trains, dolls, exercisers.
Third, they should be durable. If
a f1Imsy toy breaks in the child's
hands, he is irritated, hurt or frus-
trated, and these are not good emo
tional habits to start him off with.
Trucks and trains should be large
enough and strong enough really
to haul groceries and sometimes to
hold the small driver himself; doll
beds and chairs and wheelbarrows
and toy automobiles should be large
enough and stout enough to climb
on. It pays to buy unbreakable
dolls and sturdy buggy. Although
they are more expensive to begin
with, they are played with so long
and are subject to so much wear
and tear that they outlive a good
many more fragile ones. Good
durable toys may even be handed
down from one child to another in
the same family, and a few sub
stantial toys are to be preferred to
a great many purposeless or fimsy
ones.
Blocks lend themselves to so
many uses, they are splendid for
developmental play. Your carpent-
er will make for you an inexpensive
set from an ordinary two-byfour,
with the brick-size piece 2x2x4
inches. Carefully sandpaper to
smoothness and shellac or enamel.
A light wood that does not splint-
er easily is the best material; hard
woods may be too heavy. This set
is about the right size for home
play. Be sure that each piece is
multiple of the other, i. e, the
long piece two or three times the
length of the cube, the smaller
piece exactly half the cube-size, etc.
This makes it possible to build
houses of them, towers etc.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS