Home Occupations for Boys and Girls Part 32

[Ill.u.s.tration: Paper-Folding.]

4. Barn. Fold a square into sixteen little squares by making a tunnel in one direction and then folding a tunnel in the other direction, so that the creases cross each other at right angles. Open out and cut from the _left edge_ and from the _right edge_ three slits along the horizontal creases to the first intersecting vertical crease. (See ill.u.s.tration.) Now fold No. 1 over No. 2 so that one little square exactly covers the other and paste or pin together. Do the same at the other end. This draws the paper into shape of gable roof. Place remaining flaps so that one overlaps the other a trifle, as shown in the ill.u.s.tration. Then cut a door in the side. (See ill.u.s.tration.) This can be made of a large sheet of strong paper and will house very large paper animals.

5. Sailboat. Place a square of paper directly in front of you. Fold the front edge backward to meet exactly the back edge and crease. Open and fold the left edge over to meet exactly the right edge and crease. Open.

Turn the paper over so that _the under side is uppermost_, and place so that a _corner_ is directly in front of you. Fold the paper so that the front corner exactly meets the back corner and crease. Open and fold so that the left corner exactly meets the right corner.

You now have a square crossed by two diameters and by two diagonals.

Number the _corners_ thus: 1, 2, 3, 4, and the _center_ 0. Take the corners and hold in one hand so that 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 and 4-0 are back to back. Then crease in that position. The form is a square. Lay down so that the _folded corner_ faces you. Fold the loose back corner down to meet the front corner. Then turn over and again fold the remaining back corner down to meet the front corner, and two sails become visible. Fold back one-half of the hull to make a base, and the little boat will stand and move if breathed upon. It can be made water-tight by dipping in melted paraffine. Melt the paraffine by putting it in a double boiler with boiling water beneath.

=Cardboard Modeling= (_Cardboard_, _knife_, _pencil_, _scissors_)

This is another of Froebel's materials which is much used in the kindergarten. The regular kindergarten cardboard comes in large sheets measured off into inches, half inches and quarter inches by red and blue lines. These are to a.s.sist in the accurate cutting and folding of the stiff paper. The tinted Bristol board obtainable at stationery stores is also much used.

With this simple material older children acquire skill of both hand and eye. The higher school grades are now using it to a great extent in making geometrical figures, thus gaining practice in making objects after first making the working drawings for the same. A tinsmith who has had kindergarten training will find himself better equipped for his life work because of this early experience in cutting and measuring.

The directions here given a.s.sume that the unruled cardboard is used.

To _score_ is to make a long shallow cut or scratch in the cardboard with a knife, so that it will bend easily. We give a few simple objects in the order of their difficulty.

1. Book-Mark. Draw an oblong 1 8 inches. Cut it out and punch a series of holes down the middle, one inch apart. Run a bit of baby ribbon in and out and thus make a simple book-mark.

2. Toy Wash-Bench. Draw and cut an oblong 1 6 inches. Draw a line straight across this one inch from each end, and then score these lines lightly. Bend and you have a wash-bench for doll's house.

3. Sugar-Scoop. Draw and cut an oblong 2 4 inches. Draw a line lengthwise through the middle. Score this line, and _cut_ along the score _one inch from each end_. Score again from each end at _right angles_ to the previous crease. Bend up the scored ends and the side, and paste the flaps together. This may be used for the toy grocery store.

4. Box. Read these directions through once. Then begin and work along as you read again, and all will be clear.

Cut out a square measuring 4 4 inches. Place squarely before you, and then on the front edge, one inch from each side, make a dot. On the back edge, one inch from each side, make a dot. Unite the dots at front and back by straight lines. This gives two vertical lines.

Now, on the right hand edge, one inch from each end make a dot, and do the same on the left hand edge. Unite these dots by straight lines, which gives two horizontal lines crossing the ones previously made at right angles. With a sharp knife, and ruler to keep it straight, score along these lines so that they may be readily bent.

Now, from the right edge cut along each horizontal line a slit one inch long. From the left edge cut along each horizontal line a slit one inch long. These cuts will give four flaps. Bend up the four oblong sides and fold each flap over inside the box and paste.

A little experimentation on the part of older children will show how to elongate one side so as to make a cover.

Differences in the proportions of the original piece of cardboard will make boxes of different proportions.

5. Work-Box. Draw a five-inch pentagon. Look up in a geometry to find the rules for doing this.

Upon each side as a base erect another pentagon. Score at the line of junction and bend the side pentagons till the edges meet. In these edges punch holes opposite each other, and through these tie baby ribbon to hold them together.

=Clay Modeling= (_Potter's clay_, _oilcloth or small smooth board_, _curtain pole_)

Clay is one of the important kindergarten materials, and if used with care need give but little trouble. Buy at kindergarten supply store or art shop.

Take a yard of table oilcloth and sew tapes to the corners so long that the oilcloth may be tied to a table and thus held smooth and firm. When not in use keep rolled up on a curtain-pole, broom-handle or dowel. This preserves it from untimely cracking. Upon this oilcloth the child can easily work with the clay, and the small pieces which may stick to it are readily wiped off with a damp cloth. If preferred, a small board about a foot square may be used instead of oilcloth. The child soon learns not to scatter the pieces. It is well for him to wear a little ap.r.o.n when making his small works of art. When finished with the clay, let him remove as much as possible from the hands as a rule, what remains may be rubbed away with a brisk clapping of the hands or is washed off very readily.

1. If his first impulse is to pound and thump the clay, show the child how pretty things may be made by gently pressing and molding the clay between thumb and fingers. If he is still interested in pounding, show him how to make a sphere by rolling the clay between the palms, and then by striking it four times hard against the table it is transformed into a rough sort of cube which further effort will improve.

2. If he inclines to make a number of b.a.l.l.s, show him if possible one of the cheap clay marbles, and tell him to make some like it, though his will have no glazing.

3. If you see that he is rolling the clay into long lengths, suggest that he make a snake or links of a chain.

4. Older children may be shown how to roll it with the palm into long slender cylinders. Then coil these round and round spirally upon themselves and so build up a jar, as certain primitive races do. Then smooth it outside and inside until well shaped.

5. Bowls and crude vases are easily made, and these when dried may be painted and used to hold matches or pencils.

6. Sometimes, to stir the imagination, break off a rough piece of clay and ask the child if it looks like anything to him. If it suggest a bird or fish or fruit, show him how the crude form may be made more nearly perfect.

7. Take a bit of clay and upon it press another bit, and so little by little smooth and press and build up a plaque 1/2 inch high and four inches square. Upon this as a background, build up in the same way, little by little, a raised leaf, or a geometrical figure, such as a square or a Maltese cross. If a leaf is made, copy from a real leaf.

When thus interested, let the older children read Longfellow's beautiful poem, "Keramis," and the work of the potter will have a meaning it never had before.

The children who thus make crude efforts to express the beautiful gain in power little by little, and will have added capacity to appreciate the wonderful works of art to be seen in every gallery. They will gain in discrimination as to what is really beautiful, and will know how to choose those decorations and ornaments which will make their homes truly artistic.

Clay lends itself so readily to the slightest turn of thought, and is so easily employed by the smallest pair of hands, that it is one of the best materials to give to the little child. He soon learns to tell with it what he may be able to say in no other way.

When ready to put away, break into small pieces, put the pieces together, knead a little till made into a ma.s.s, punch a few holes in the ma.s.s, fill these with water, put into a stone jar and cover with a damp cloth. Or put the clay into a cloth, dampen, and then, twisting the four corners of the cloth together, drop the ma.s.s on the floor. Do this several times and it will be found welded together. Then put into the stone jar. Disinfect clay by exposing to suns.h.i.+ne.

=Sand-Table= (_Kitchen table_, _saw_, _boards_, _nails_, _zinc_)

From Germany we have finally learned the value of the sand-table and the sand-pile as means of development to the child, not to speak of their virtues as pure givers of joy.

Sand-tables may be bought at kindergarten stores, or one may be made of a kitchen table by sawing off the legs to the size which brings the table top within reach of the child. Then the top should be fenced in with boards, from three to six inches high, to keep the sand in. It is a good plan to line the table with zinc, since it is sometimes desirable to have the sand pretty wet, although it generally suffices to make it just damp enough to mold readily. It can be dampened with a sprinkling-can.

1. The child will play a long while without much suggestion. A little pail or bottle to be filled and emptied and refilled will furnish material for his embryonic experiments.

2. A tiny cast-iron spade (price one cent) will add materially to his happiness.

3. Sh.e.l.ls and patty-pans of different shapes and convolutions suggest bakery plays, and mother must sample the baby's cookery. When houses and forts and churches are the order of the day, paths must be laid and bordered with stones and sh.e.l.ls; twigs and elderberry branches make tiny trees for tiny orchards; and a little pan of water or a bit of mirror makes a wee lake. The kindergarten building gifts make substantial structures, bridges, park-benches, etc. A winding river can be painted with blue paint on the zinc. When the child's imagination flags, a word from the mother or a timely story will start a new series of plays next time.

4. Older children will enjoy reproducing in the sand the hills and valleys of their environment, the roads, woods and streams which they know, etc.

5. Tell of the western plant which, when uprooted from its loose hold in the desert sand, is sent flying by the wind over the sand, and wherever it touches makes a perfect spiral. Let the children make such spirals with a coiled piece of wire.

6. Having noticed the impression made upon the sand by the patty-pans, the child can be led to make designs with them by making a row of impressions equal distances apart, arranging these in twos, in threes, etc.