174 



HOME AND FLOW EES 



chalk.* " Perhaps the benefit of this ad- 

 monition to herself was as great as if her 

 mother had thus talked to her. 



Another little girl of onr acquaintance 

 is endeavoring to have a healthy doll, and 

 asks many questions about the food which 

 should be given her. She teased her 

 mamma for a cup of coffee recently, and 

 was not happy in being refused. It was 

 not long before she denied her dolly a cu]d 

 of coffee, and said, "Mamma cannot let 

 her dolly have coffee, because it is not 

 good for her.'" 



AN ANXIOUS TIME WHEN DOLLY IS SICK 



After a time the pla3diouse is a favor- 

 ite pastime. Practical hints may be 

 dropped now and then which shall give 

 direction to the child's thought in a very 

 valuable line. She plans the kitchen and 

 the parlor, the sleeping room and the 

 verandas with as much real interest as the 

 older builder. She presides at the table 

 at the little spreads which she has for her 

 pla}TQates. 



Do you remember the playhouse you 

 built in the corner of the rail fence, rest- 

 ing the boards picked up around the place 

 on the rails, one board above the other? 



These answered for shelves upon which to 

 rest the broken pieces of china, the treas- 

 ures of childhood. Outside of school hour- 

 this formed the rendezvous for the chil- 

 dren of the community until tliey were 

 called to the more serious and less in- 

 viting task of washing real dishes m the 

 kitchen. 



When children are directed in their 

 construction of playhouses interest will 

 be developed that will make in after years 

 more careful and thoughtful builders of 

 real homes. 



Children are easily concerned over the 

 furnishings of their little houses, and ap- 

 ]3reciate every bit of material which may 

 aid them in this direction. Some little 

 people have all their hearts yearn for, and 

 others have so little they know how to ap- 

 preciate what they have. The child whr> 

 has had a rag doll, broken bits of china 

 to play with, and a crude playhouse con- 

 structed by her own imagination, has her 

 wants easily supplied later with something 

 altogether possible. The finished and 

 elaborate outfit, dainty tea sets, beautiful 

 dolls with complete wardrobe, playhouses 

 decorated and liirnished, leave very little 

 to satisfy the mind of the child always 

 longing for more. When the little ones 

 are old enough to go to school, still the 

 problem is, or should be. to educate for 

 life. Every child will be in the course of 

 a lifetime a part of some home-making 

 problem, whether in her own or in some 

 other home. 



Wlien the doll and playthings are more 

 and more put away, and the book and slate 

 are in evidence, there is still opportunity 

 to train for living in the home. The boys 

 and girls study various branches, and they 

 may or may not have presented to them 

 the practical application of subjects of 

 value in domestic life. Arithmetic pre- 

 sents its examples, and the rules by which 

 to solve them. The child may learn ac- 

 cording to rule to paper a room, compute 

 the amount of plastering needed, or the 

 number of yards of carpeting required for 

 the floor. Unless, when she has her own 



