CHAPTER VIII
ANIMALS AND TOYS
The circus and the zoölogical garden are always centers of interest to little children and may be used to great advantage to furnish the point of departure in the study of animal life. Making the animals in some form crystallizes the interest in the animals represented, and awakens interest in their habits and home.
The handwork may be used as an illustrative factor connected with geography and nature study, or the making of the circus may be the starting point, and incidentally furnish subject matter in several fields. For example, geography and nature study grow out of the search for facts concerning the animals themselves, i.e. size, color, food, home, value, etc. The desire for such information gives purpose to reading. Oral and written descriptions supply subject matter for practice in English. Reducing the actual proportions of animals to a definite scale and problems relating to their commercial value make practical use of the knowledge of number. Art enters into the making of free-hand sketches, cuttings, and patterns for wooden models.
Fig. 55.—A circus parade.
A good circus or "zoo" may be worked out in a variety of materials. Paper, cardboard, clay, and wood all serve well.
To get the best value from the problem it should be as free as possible from copy work. The children should consult the best sources of information at their disposal, which may range all the way from ordinary picture books to natural history and encyclopedia descriptions. They should find out, unaided, as much as possible concerning the animal in question: his size, color, food, home, values, etc.,—the teacher supplementing with interesting and necessary items not at the disposal of the class.
Free-hand cuttings and pencil sketches should be compared with the best pictures obtainable and the real animal whenever possible. Such patterns as are needed should be made by the children themselves. Ready-made patterns will produce better proportioned animals, but more dependent, less observant children also.