At about five years of age children instinctively pour and measure. Instead of leaving this to chance play, it is possible to make it of permanent (educational) value by providing (a) a play space for various kinds of measuring; (b) a variety of substances to measure, as sand, sawdust, pebbles, water, colored water, long strips of paper, cheap tape or cloth, clothespins, even “real” fruits and vegetables; (c) standard measures,—pint, quart, gallon, dry quart, peck, bushel; later, gill and ounce, and the pound and ounce weights; (d) bottles with wide mouths, and other receptacles for pouring into, that will cultivate steadiness and carefulness. Begin with two or three measures, teaching their relation, as pint and quart, gradually adding more as these become known. Give at first measures and bottles easy to pour into, later those more difficult, requiring better coördination. Set a standard of neatness and accuracy. Watch for indications of fatigue and let the play stop before there is any strain.
Normal children in a normal environment do not wish to be amused, but they are full of ideas of their own that they wish to express. The adult very often desires to amuse children,—not primarily for their benefit but for his personal pleasure in watching them and participating with them; he (or she) needs a training in self-control and a deeper understanding of child nature, that he may come to find as keen satisfaction in standing aside and watching the child’s self-development, bringing forward his own personality only where it will be of educational or social value.
Children’s Parties. Children’s parties may be a means of social, physical, and spiritual grace, or they may be made a cause of nervousness, dissipation, corruptive ideals. As a means of grace, they should (a) be held in the daytime and last about two hours for children under six, three hours for the older group; (b) preferably outdoors; (c) include a small group of guests—only four or five for children three to five years, ten or twelve for children five to seven, and about twenty as a maximum for children seven to ten; (d) require simple dressing; (e) little preliminary excitement of preparation; (f) games carefully conducted, and alternated with stories to prevent fatigue or too much excitement; (g) a small amount of very simple refreshments, as fruit juice and lady fingers, or milk and animal crackers for children under five; or a small portion of pure ice cream and sponge cake for children five to seven; or a small amount of simple candy, nuts, popcorn for children over seven.
Play Room and Ground. The best playground is the home yard, where mother can keep an oversight; where other children can come so she knows the playmates, and where the child is kept in sympathy with home influences. For indoor play, there should be a room kept sacred to the uses of childhood. In this way both adults and children have more freedom, with less conflict of comfort and convenience. For children under three or four years this room will naturally be the nursery; for older children it should include facilities of a workshop.
The playroom should be well lighted and ventilated, with floors bare except rugs for small children to sit upon. The walls, curtains, and rugs should be washable. The color scheme should be cheerful and attractive to childhood. Yellow, warm gray, or green are especially good; red is too stimulating; violet is oppressive. Touches of rose or light blue might be added. The wall covering should preferably be a hard paint or Sanitas, at least to a four-foot wainscoting. Pictures should be easily removed, frequently changed, arranged with some regard to unity and symmetry. Pictures for little children should be hung low enough to be easily seen.
The furnishings should include tables adapted to the child’s height, chairs of hygienic design, cupboards and window seats for toys, apparatus, tools, books, where they will be kept out of the dust and in a reasonable order. The children should be responsible for the orderliness of rooms and cupboards, good condition of walls and furniture, and ordinary care of playground and playroom. Children over seven may well be responsible for sweeping, dusting, wiping of floors and woodwork.
Playground Apparatus. Sand pile, in framework or box, with cover for protection from stray animals and weather. White sea sand is cleanest.
Swings adapted to size and development of children
Playhouse
Place for pets and garden