Remnants of cartridge paper or paper decorated in small designs can often be obtained of paper-hangers for a small sum. It may be fastened to the floor to serve as a large rug.
3. Soap-Box House (Three wooden soap-boxes, nails, saw, paint)
Take three soap-boxes, wooden. Remove the covers from two and place one upon the other to make a two-story house. Put in partitions thus: Take a thin piece of board (from a smaller box), saw to needed height and depth and nail it in place by driving nails from above, below or the side, as the case may require. A stiff piece of cardboard (taken from a large box) may be made to serve as partition. If cut to the right size the pressure from top and bottom will hold in place.
By taking two small boxes for the upper floor instead of one large one the space which would be naturally left between can be made into a hallway. Stairs may then be made of stiff cardboard, folded into steps, with a strip of obliquely-cut paper pasted along the edges of the steps to keep them in place.
If windows and doorways are desired they must be cut or sawed in after being drawn where desired in pencil.
The third box is for the gable roof. It is to be placed on top of the upper floor so that its sides slant for the roof. Put in place and then mark off all that needs to be sawed away. When ready to be fixed permanently put in place and nail through.
The furnishing of the little house gives much scope for ingenuity and invention as well as for the exercise of good sense and good taste.
The exterior of the house can be painted with house paint, and this gives occasion for the broad use of the larger muscles, and physiologists tell us that the little child should exercise the larger muscles and nerves while the finer ones are still undeveloped.
Tiling (Corrugated packing cardboard, tacks, hammer)
The roof may be given a tiled effect by covering with corrugated packing cardboard saved from packages. Tack this on.