Evening star., 1935-07-13

picking up Illy
turtles, whose backs were glorified by
hand-painted designs-and all the
other manifestations of the boarding
complex in the very young.
I had not, however, realized that
all these things were helping my chill
dren to develop mentally in any par
ticular way, and was much interested
to hear the viewpoint of the learned
gentleman on the subject.
X X
IT seems that children must have
= something in their lives that is
their very own-their creation; sprung
from the recesses of their own imagi-
nations, and carried out by them
alone. So often, in modern life, there
is little actual space or opportunity
for the manufacture of definite
object, such as we used to make
when children. I remember afro
cities committed by me, in the name
of affection. and wished on parents
who certainly had super developed
sporting instinct, which they displayed
when accepting the horror. Half the
time had no definite object In mind
when I began the laundry-bag. or the
hair-pin tie-rack, but before the arti-
Gle was finished it had attained per-
lection in my imagination, and the
presentation ceremony was a thrilling
occasion.
My children do the same thing of
course, but have endeavored to teach
them as far as possible the value OF
planning, and intelligent gift-giving,
as well as careful execution. The
consequence is that both donor and
recipient have a better time Of it,
and every one is happy.
But to get back to the main idea
the psychiatrist says that if children
cannot actually manufacture articles
as an outlet for their creative instinct
much can be done to help them in this
respect by allowing them to take up a
serious collection hobby. So many
children collect useless things, with nc
beauty value or interesting worth
simply because they are undirected in
their choice. (This statement, must
confess, took with small grain Of
salt. 1 know that no amount of di-
rection would persuade my son or
daughter that old porcelain was more
interesting than cigar bands If once
their minds we're fastened on cigar
bands. However, my children may be
particularly "set in their ways.")
X X X X
A WELL-CHOSEN collection Is said
to be an educational project, but,
II the child Is forced into 1t. defeats its
own purpose by becoming chore in
stead of pleasure. Therefore, the angle
from which to interest a child in a
certain thing, is that Of the unusual
and amusing. and being something
quite exciting by virtue of its rarity.
tThere again the eminent gentleman
and I disagree. I have found that
children have a highly developed sheep
complex, and their one aim in life is
not to be different from their con-
temporaries. Therefore, If Mary Jane
is collecting match folders, then Susie
must, too-and there Is added zest in
the endless swapping and trading pos
sibiities that thus present themselves.
If Johnny has bottle tops-then Jim
must have bottle tops. and the one who
has the greatest number reposing in
a band box under the bed Is q clever
and proud fellow. So it goes, and, as
in all grown-up collections, the rivalry
is the spice Of the situation.)
But I do agree, seriously, with the
professor, that much can be done to
turn the collectors instinct into reality
that does good in the home. Many
pretty and lasting groups may be as
sembled, that will give the child pride
and pleasure for many years.
For instance, pigs. No, don't
mean real ones, or big ones, but tiny
china ones, such as you see in thee
toy shops everywhere. They may
be found also in glass, in wood, or
some other lasting material, in all
shapes, sizes and groups. On the
average they are very inexpensive.
Get your child one Of the small hang
ing sets of shelves and encourage him
to collect little pigs. Pigs are par
ticularly popular now on account of
the celebrated Three, and quite an