Let the frame rest against the wall at a slight angle. Bean bags thrown at the animals will knock them down as they go through the holes. The bean bags should be made by the children. Various number games may be played with bean bags.
CHAPTER IX
HOLIDAYS
The various holidays which come during the year mean so much to little children that they should receive special notice and should suggest the form of handwork to be done at the time.
Thanksgiving suggests attention to harvest products, to be modeled in clay, cut from paper, or drawn with crayon; the making of sand-table scenes showing early New England life in various phases; the making of various utensils and commodities of the primitive home which differ from our own; as, for example, the making of candles, the hour glass, and the sundial.
Christmas suggests the making of toys and all sorts of things suitable for gifts. If the work centers around the Christmas tree, it offers opportunity for coöperation in making trimming such as paper chains, pop-corn strings, etc., as well as individual gifts. If a tree is not obtainable, a box may be dressed up in imitation of Santa's sleigh drawn by cardboard reindeer. Whatever else is done in honor of the visit of St. Nicholas, the spirit of giving should be cultivated by making gifts to some younger or less fortunate groups. Picture books may be made for sick children, doll furniture and other toys for the orphans' home or some family of unfortunates. A sack might arrive a week or two before Christmas accompanied by a telegram from Santa requesting contributions to help him out in some specific way and stating that it would be called for at a certain time. When a "real Santa" calls for the sack, he may leave in its place another containing some unexpected treat for the children themselves. The gifts which the children contribute should be of their own making, that they may have a full sense of real giving and not merely the pleasure of delivering the parcels mother has provided.
Valentine's Day offers an opportunity for developing appreciation of a higher form of art than the shop windows frequently offer, and also investing with pure, sweet sentiment a day which means, in some quarters, only vulgar sentimentality and coarse jests.
Easter offers a similar opportunity for emphasis on the fine things in color and subjects for greeting cards. The season also suggests emphasis on study of budding plants and young animal life by means of cutting, painting, and modeling.