Too long seated application to work at a table is also injurious. Half an hour is long enough for any child under nine years to sit still at work. If he is voluntarily absorbed longer, some active diversion should be arranged for a quarter hour, at least.
Work suggested that is too difficult for the child to do alone either discourages him by its impossibility, or develops dependence upon others.
Educational Values. The handwork is, educationally, a means of giving concrete expression to imaginative ideas, and of making the experience of the child more vivid. Stories, scenes from history, records of the child’s own experience, can be portrayed. The child does not naturally copy literally from objects.
Handwork that Utilizes Fundamental Muscles.
In the School of Mothercraft Child Garden.
No effort should be made, before six years, to produce finished products. Technique or skill in production do not belong to this period. Vividness, self-expression, development of motor control of arms and hands, coördination of eye and hand, the joy of workmanship, the confidence in creating,—these are the purposes of handwork in early childhood.
The genetic method in handwork is to start with your idea of what you want to make, and then make it of such material as you can find. This is Nature’s process, the child’s process, of creating.
The list of ideas to be realized will fall into a few groups:
Dolls in great variety
Animals
Trains
Wagons and other vehicles
Boats
Houses, animal cages, churches, barns, stores
Doll clothes
Furniture
Dishes
Toys for store-keeping—all lines of merchandise
Toys for playing at occupation—all lines of industry
Games