LEAVES
Festoons and Wreaths (Leaves, fresh or dried, thorns or needle and thread)
City children may need to be told what seems to be handed down to the country child from generation to generation, that leaves may be made into wreaths for the head or decoration for the room either by overlapping one upon another and fastening together with a thorn or sharp twig, or by stringing together on a stout thread.
To Dry or Press (Blotting paper, two small smooth boards, strap, wax or linseed oil)
Gather and press pretty autumn leaves thus: Have ready two boards measuring about one by two feet. Put the leaves between sheets of blotting paper and place these between the boards and then strap them tightly together, or if no straps are convenient, put the boards beneath a heavy weight (a book will do). Change the paper every day or so till sure that they are quite dry.
To preserve and brighten the colors after drying dip in melted wax and press a moment with a hot iron, or clear, boiled linseed oil will do in place of the wax, using, however, as little as possible.
Decoration for Curtains
Pin to lace curtains in attractive arrangement.
Transparency (Leaves, bolting-cloth, 1 yard white India silk, sewing silk, needle)
1. Take a piece of bolting-cloth twice the length of the largest leaf and fold over evenly. Open again and place the leaves upon the bolting-cloth artistically in a row; fold the cloth over again and baste. Bind the edges with white ribbon, and at the two upper corners sew the ends of a narrow ribbon with which to suspend the transparency in the window.
2. Or, if preferred, sew the bolting-cloth transparency as a border to the end of a yard of India silk as a scarf for shelf or piano.
Frieze of Leaves (Leaves, cartridge or other strong paper of good tone, glue)
A pretty frieze for a room can be made by pasting leaves on a long, foot-high strip of paper which forms a background. The effect will depend largely upon the harmony between the color of the leaves and the background, as well as upon the arrangement of the leaves. They may be arranged in an irregular line, or may be placed so as to form artistic groups of twos and threes or fours.
Collections of Leaves
When the collecting instinct is upon him, let the child collect and classify leaves according to shape. See if he can tell by the leaf what tree it came from, and if he recognizes the different varieties of leaves.
Four-Leaved Clovers
Look for four-leaved clovers when on your country walks, and save to press and afterwards use in writing letters of good-will as decoration for paper, pasting on at upper left hand corner; or use to decorate place cards for dinners. It will hardly be necessary to state that the four-leaved clover has for long years been the symbol of good-luck.
Shadow Game (See under [Sun and Shadow] )