KIDDIES IN A SMALL GARDEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22711, 25 October 1935, Page 17

KIDDIES IN A SMALL GARDEN

If they are tinies, first of all do let them have a sandpit in a corner (says an English magazine). This can surely be spared from the very smallest garden There, with a plentiful load of sea sand purchased from a builder, they will pass many happy hours digging, raising castles with moats and walls, and making cakes and pies. A summer-house, or even a tent, is always a boon when youngsters have to play in a small garden, for in mild weather they can sit out in it with their books, and the bigger ones can do their homework in peace and the fresh air. Also, in the case of a summer-house, when the; space is sufficient, a cheap chest of drawers or a shelf or two should be put up to hold outdoor playthings and precious litter. A frequent worry when children live in thickly-populated districts is that they cannot be allowed to shriek and shout and laugh to their hearts’ content for fear of disturbing neighbours. They have to be taught to speak gently and amuse themselves with quiet recreations. Up to the age of 10 they are very imitative, and the game they enjoy best is pretending to follow those occupations which, to grown ups, are completely- serious. Thus, playing at shops and shopping furnishes a never-failing source of delight both to boys and girls. The shop is laid out on a garden bench with greengrocery, tin lids full of make-believe goods to sell, and the children shopkeep and shop alter-. nately. Schools, too, miniature homes, farms, hospitals, can all be contrived with the aid of a board or bench raised above the ground, and a pile of flints and stones; and long journeys by air, water or land can be adventurously undertaken with a few landmarks to serve as stations. The fashion for small families has resulted in many lonely mites longing for playmates, and in one big suburb three or four friendly mothers in the same road, with families whose ageS very from eight to five, have settled that each shall take charge of the whole bunch for games and tea after school once every week, which is a great benefit to the young fry, and also furnishes the mothers and nannies with real holidays. For a little children's party in a small garden some of the excellent games played on board ship may be adopted. Deck tennis is very jolly, and all that it requires is 18 square feet of lawn, which need be neither smooth nor level, 14 feet of netting stretched across it rather high, and a home-made rope ring five inches across inside, covered with strips of flannel. The marking of the lawn is similar to tennis, and the counting the same, and though the ring must not touch the ground, neither must it be volleyed. It may only be held for a second in the hand before returning. Beans bags need at least 1C players. The children are divided into two sides under a leader, who gives the signal to begin. Each side is supplied with a dozen cotton bags stuffed with beans or corn, and these are thrown in turn from one to the other across and across until all are deposited in a basket or bos at the opposite end. If a bag is dropped in transit it must be sent back and started off again, and the party which completes its quota of bean bags most rapidly in five tries is the winner.