Home Occupations for Boys and Girls Part 3

A carrot can also be used thus, but a part must be cut away at the bottom so as to secure a firm base.

ORANGES

=Baskets= (_Orange_, _smaller fruits_)

Cut an orange horizontally partly through the middle from each side so as to leave a part in the centre which can be cut into a handle. Hollow out the interior and put raisins, small nuts, etc., in it.

RED PEPPERS

=Lantern= (_Large red pepper_, _knife_)

Hollow out a large red pepper and cut into it eyes, nose and mouth, making a miniature Jack-o'-lantern. This makes a pretty table decoration.

Let the child help as much as possible by making these little table decorations. If you want boy and girl to love home, give them a share in making it interesting and attractive. Do not discourage them if their efforts are a little crude at times. It is the spirit of good-will which makes the blessed home.

EGG-Sh.e.l.lS

=Garden= (_Sh.e.l.l_, _earth_, _birdseed_)

Cut an egg-sh.e.l.l in half horizontally, with a sharp pair of scissors, and three days before Easter put into it a little earth, place in this a little canary seed, or a single pea or bean, and a little plant will delight the child.

=Doll's Cradle= (_Sh.e.l.l_, _ribbon half an inch wide_, _paste_, _cardboard_)

Take a smooth white egg and blow it. To do this make a tiny pin-hole in each end, and by blowing into one end steadily the contents can be emptied out of the other. Draw lines lengthwise and crosswise around the sh.e.l.l, dividing it into four equal parts. Then, following the line, cut away the upper quarter toward the small end. This leaves a cradle with a small canopy. Paste the ribbon neatly around for a binding round the edge. Rockers can be made by cutting curved pieces 1/4 inch wide out of thick cardboard, although such a cradle will rock without rockers.

Mattress for above. (_Thin white ribbon_, _milkweed down_, _needle_, _sewing silk_)

Cut and sew the ribbon into a tiny mattress for this fairy cradle, and stuff with milkweed down. If the ribbon is just the width of the cradle the edges of the mattress can be neatly overcast. A tiny doll may then be placed within the cradle.

=Boat= (_Goose-egg_, _leatherette paper_, _kindergarten slats_)

Blow the egg as described above. Cut in half lengthwise. Cut the paper into strips 1/2 inch wide. In each side of the sh.e.l.l cut an indentation 3/8 inches deep and 3/8 inches wide for oarlocks. Then bind neatly with the paper strips. Cut the slats (or a piece of berry box will do) into tiny oars and paste a seat across, which is also cut out of a slat.

Careful handling is required for these dainty toys, and if the child seems to get nervous let her do only a little at a time; but much neatness and skill is exercised in the making, and it is good practice for older children. The wise mother soon learns to detect the difference between the poor work which is the result of pure nervousness and that which is the consequence of carelessness. The latter should never be permitted to stand. See to it that what the child does is up to his best capacity.

=Humpty-Dumpty Eggs= (_Sh.e.l.l_, _shot_, _water-color paints_, _a bit of cotton-batting_, _and a bit of tough paper_)

Take a sh.e.l.l and empty of contents as described above. Enlarge the hole at one end sufficiently to drop in a dozen tiny shot obtainable at hardware store. Paste over the opening the bit of paper, and on that a little cotton to simulate hair. Paint upon the surface eyes, nose, and mouth. A comical little toy which always regains its balance, however placed, is the result. In playing with this the child unconsciously imbibes a few ideas about equilibrium, equipoise, etc. Tell him you want him to be a man that, however placed, will always be able to get upon his feet again.

=Foot-ball=, or rather it might be called Breath-ball (_Egg-sh.e.l.l_, _water-color paints_)

Take an empty sh.e.l.l and paint to resemble a football or in some college or High School colors. See page 99 for directions for game.

=Toy Lamp= (See under Doll-Houses)

PRUNES AND RAISINS

=Turtle= (_Raisin and five cloves_)

Take a plump raisin and stick into it five cloves for head and legs.

=Man= (_Raisins or prunes_, _toothpicks_)

Make a man by running a toothpick through three raisins for a body. Into the top one stick two other toothpicks, with two raisins each for arms and two other toothpicks with raisins make the legs. Each leg has a projecting raisin for a foot and another large raisin makes the head.

These are fun-makers for a children's party, one at each plate.

SEEDS

=Stringing= (_Squash seeds--dried_, _strong thread_, _needle_)

Little children can be happily occupied making chains of squash, pumpkin, and water-melon seeds that have been saved and made soft by soaking awhile in water. The black seeds of the water-melon alternate prettily with the white seeds of the other gourds. Variety can be introduced by stringing several of one color and then several of another, counting by twos, threes, etc. This gives exercise in counting, in pleasing grouping of colors, and so exercises both the invention and the taste of the very little child.

=Designing= (_Black seeds_, _white seeds_)

Let the child make designs of the seeds upon the table. Place a black one for a centre and a white one on each side. Repeat this figure for a foot or more, placing the groups an inch apart and observe the effect.

Tell him thus to make a design for the frieze of the room. Another effect is produced by placing a white seed as a centre and placing four or five around it. Vary still further by placing a circle of black seeds around the whole. These few examples will serve to indicate the endless variety that can be secured, and is a training in invention and taste.

Let the child always have in mind a design for some particular purpose, as of wall-paper, oil-cloth, etc. Lead him to observe similar effects in carpets, wall-paper, etc. The best of these attempts can be made comparatively permanent by pasting upon small sheets of tinted bristol-board. The chief value in preserving any such work is for purposes of comparison as the child improves.

=Counters=

Save out 24 white and 24 black seeds for counters in checkers, go-bang, etc.

=Squash-Seed Chicken= (_25 seeds_, _white thread_, _two quill toothpicks_, _bit of red flannel_, _feather from duster_)

Take 25 squash seeds and soak till soft. Take five of these and place side by side with pointed ends up. Above these place four, their wide ends coming between the points of the others. Above these place three in the same relative position. Above these put two, and above these and between them place the squash-seed which is to be the head of the chicken.

Now, beneath the original five, place four, pointed ends up; beneath these put three, then two, then one. If these are rightly placed, the pointed ends of one row come just at the sides of the wide end of the seeds above.

[Ill.u.s.tration: How to String the Seeds.]