| Materials Required: | 2 Japanese paper balls, |
| 2 palmleaf fans. |
A ball and fan race
Two children will find this race an interesting one for a rainy day. The best place in which to play it is a large room with very little furniture in it—a playroom for example. Each player stands at a corner of the room diagonally opposite the other, three feet out from the corner, and each has a Japanese paper ball in front of him and a large fan in his hand. They must face different ways and both count together "One, two, three, and away!" As they finish counting, the children begin to fan their balls around the room, close to the wall. There will be some lively skirmishing when they meet, as they are likely to do when half way around the room. Then each tries to send his opponent's ball back and his own forward. When each finally gets his ball back to the corner where he started, he must try to send it as quickly as possible to the middle of the room, where a chair is placed. The ball must be fanned through the legs of this chair and to the goal of his opponent. The player who first accomplishes this is the winner.
Fun with Popcorn
| Materials Required: | An open fire, |
| A corn popper, | |
| Several ears of popcorn, | |
| A prize, if desired. |
If the open fire burns brightly in your playroom, no matter how gray and bleak the day may be outside, you and your brothers and sisters can keep warm and cheerful over this delightful game. You may provide a prize for the winner, if you like, but the only things that are absolutely necessary are the fire, some popcorn and a popper. When the players are seated in a semicircle around the fire they may all help in shelling the corn. After this is done, divide the popcorn evenly between them, so that each shall have a small quantity. The player on the left side of the fireplace now takes the corn popper and pops his corn. When it is done, the kernels that are fully popped are counted, also the unpopped ones, and a record is made of each. The next player pops his corn and counts the result, and so on until all have finished. The child having the largest number of fully popped kernels is the winner, and may receive a prize. Afterward the winner and the defeated players will equally enjoy eating the fluffy popcorn, or if the cook is particularly amiable they may be allowed to flock to the kitchen and make popcorn balls.