TOYS

In selecting toys for the infant, it must be borne in mind that they will be put to the mouth, and hence they should not be:

  1. Toys with sharp points.
  2. Small enough to swallow, or to push into the nose.
  3. Covered with hair or wool.
  4. Glass that is easily broken.
  5. Painted toys.
  6. Toys that may be taken apart and the small parts swallowed.
  7. Paper books that may be chewed or torn.

Bear in mind that babies are easily amused with such simple toys as:

  1. A half-dozen clothes pins.
  2. An aluminum pan and a spoon.
  3. Rubber toys (easily washed).
  4. Celluloid dolls, ducks, and other floating toys.
  5. Blocks.
  6. A large rubber ball.

The older children have wonderfully good times out of doors with a spade, a cart, and the sandpile. Boys most thoroughly enjoy a track with its engine and cars, switches, etc. They build sham fortifications, truly works of art, with their blocks, while the girls are happiest with dolls and household sets. However, occasionally we meet a mother who has a girl who is really a boy in her tastes for toys, and so we say to that mother: give the little girl the desire of her heart; if it's a train instead of a doll, or a toy gun instead of a doll's trunk, well and good, let her have them. What we want are free and easy, natural, children. They are much more likely to have good nerves, clean thoughts, sound digestion, and equalized circulation.

CHAPTER XXIV

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

The newborn baby comes into the world in an absolutely helpless condition and completely unconscious of his surroundings. He unconsciously performs certain acts, such as opening his eyes, crying, urination, movement of the bowels, and even nursing of the breast; but there is probably no distinct voluntary action connected with any of these acts. All of his senses at birth are practically dormant, but as the days and weeks go by, they begin to awaken.