AMUSING THE KIDDIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22391, 11 April 1936, Page 6 (Supplement)

AMUSING THE KIDDIES

FUN WITH HOME-MADE TOYS

There is no need in the planning of toys for children to go to the expense of buying, say, a Montessori outfit.. Such outfits are all very well in the nursery school or kindergarten; but the individual child can obtain the same enjoyment and education through simple, home-made devices. A set of tins of different sizes, with lids to be fitted on, are of absorbing interest to the toddler. So are coloured wooden beads to be threaded, and a box of odds and ends of wood bought for a few pence from the local carpenter. Such blocks should have their sharp edges sand-papered, and will then make .. fine constructional toys. There are also mother's discarded kitchen pots and pans which, together with a kerosene box and a little imagination, fierve for the domestic game. A bucket of water and half a dozen corks will keep a child absorbed manoeuvring his " fleet " for hours. A Band heap in the back yard is an endless source of joy, and all handleless cups and broken-spouted teapots will do yeoman service here. . Neighbours might combine, this summer, to buy a garden paddling pool—the kind made by tarpaulin fixed to a wooden frame. Pop the kiddies in their bathing suits and shady hats into this pool and you'll get ahead with the housework for hours without interruption! Upturned walnut shells

make excellent boats, with a match for a mast, and water-marbles can be played with a set of coloured pingpong balls. For wet days, proper blunt scissors should be provided, and old " fashion" books and magazines given to the children for cutting up for the purpose of making scrap-books. Tho best place for the children is the floor, provided it is properly covered with carpet and rugs. There, the child can change its position as often as necessary, and has greater freedom than when sitting at a table. For the budding artist, provide some sheets of white kitchen-shelf paper. It is not wise to confine the child's style to tiny scraps of paper. Coloured plasticine can bo fashioned into an exciting zoo.