Home Occupations for Boys and Girls Part 12

Let the child paint an empty spool green, to be used as a tree box.

Insert a burnt match to which has been pasted some green paper, previously fringed, to represent foliage. The child can make a row of such trees as a little boulevard up which he can draw an empty match box for a carriage.

=Spool Tower Target= (_A number of spools_, _ball_)

Pile a number of spools one on top of another and let the child try to knock them down with his ball.

=Toy Road Roller= (_Spool_, _cord_, _toy horse_)

Tie a cord through a spool and hitch it as a road roller to the Noah's Ark horse.

=Pulley Elevator= (_Narrow cardboard box, such as a corset box or shorter one_, _spool_, _cord_, _another small box, either saved or made, narrow enough to fit inside the larger one_, _skewer_)

Stand the large box on its narrow end and near the top punch a hole on each side so that the holes are opposite to each other. Take a spool and run through it an axle made of a slender piece of wood like a skewer.

Then put the ends of the axle in the holes in the box. This makes the pulley. Use the smaller box as an elevator. Tie a string to this little box in such a way that you can hold it up evenly. To do this you must punch a hole in each of the opposite sides. Then tie one end of a longer string to the middle of the first named, and put the other end over the pulley. Revolve the spool by pulling one end of the string and the box will be raised.

=Matching Colors= (_Spools of silk or cotton of various colors_, _silk and cotton fabrics of different colors_)

Have a color game, asking the child to try to match the colors on the spools with those in the fabrics.

NEEDLES

=Breastpins= (_Broken needles_, _sealing wax_, _candle_)

Take a large broken needle, such that it is intact except for the eye.

Show the child how to make a pretty pin for dolly by melting the wax a little in the candle flame, inserting the head of the needle, and molding into shape the bit of wax that adheres.

=Threading Needles= (_Needles_, _thread_)

If eager to do something, give the child a number of needles with thread of white and black, and let him thread them and put them into a cushion so that they will be all ready for your use some morning when you are in a hurry to sew on a b.u.t.ton or take a st.i.tch in Tommy's little shirt.

MISCELLANEOUS

=Thimble Biscuits= (See page 104)

=Drawing Scissors= (_Scissors_, _paper_, _pencil_)

Give the child scissors and paper and let him place the scissors on the paper and draw the outline around them. Then tell him to cut out this outline. Make several such and play at keeping cutlery store. Draw scissors open at different angles and tell names of angles; right, acute, obtuse.

=Guessing Distances= (_Ruler or tape measure_)

Let the children guess the height and length of various objects in the room. Verify by measuring with the tape-measure. Tell them of Oliver Wendell Holmes, the great poet, who, whenever he drove into the country, carried a tape-measure with which to determine the girth of any large tree he saw.

Let children measure the size of the panes of gla.s.s, window-frames, etc.; have them tell how many feet it would take to carpet the floor.

Tell them to put father's hat on the floor, near the wall, and guess its height.

Such little exercises develop the powers of accurate observation in a way that may prove very helpful in an emergency.

CHAPTER V

THE PAINT BOX

or

EXPRESSION WITH PENCIL OR BRUSH

Let the child early be given charcoal or colored chalks, and later the three pigments--red, blue and yellow--wherewith to express his ideas.

Allow him some choice in the medium he uses--as pencil, charcoal or brush--as one may be best suited to his purpose one time, and another one at another time.

Encourage the child to tell a story by painting or drawing. The earliest graphic method by which man conveyed messages to one at a distance was through picture-writing.

LEARNING TO OBSERVE

=Painting From the Real Object= (_Paints_, _chalk or charcoal_)

Place before the child an apple, banana or flower of simple form and let him copy directly from the object without previous drawing. Encourage his efforts, however crude the results at first. It is more educative to draw from the real object than from a copy. Give him at first three colors only, in paints, till he learns how to get other colors by mixing these. For this purpose point out beautiful sunsets and cloud effects in Nature.

=Life Stages of Seedling= (_Paper_, _paints_, _seedling_)

Place before the child a bean or pea. Give him an oblong of paper 3 8 inches. Fold it into four parts. In the first let him draw or paint the seed as he sees it. Then let him plant the seed. In a day or so let him paint a picture of the seedling, after having grown so as to show the development of the seed leaves. Draw two other pictures to show later stages of growth. This gives a picture history of the little plant and while so occupied the child is learning to observe and note that which he sees.

ACQUIRING SKILL

=Calendars= (_Water-colors_, _brush_, _paper_, _calendar pad_)

Draw circles, squares, etc., and let the child fill in the outlines with color. A tiny calendar may be pasted in the center and ribbons put through wherewith to hang it up.

In filling in these figures show the child how to hold the brush lightly so as to secure freedom of stroke. Let him make long strokes beginning at the top of the paper and moving from side to side slowly downward, or rather as rapidly as is consistent with neatness. Have enough water on the brush so that the color will not dry from one long stroke before you are able to go back and carry it on to the next stroke. Practice making a clean, smooth surface.