HOBBIES FOR CHILDREN.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 159, 11 August 1914, Page 5

HOBBIES FOR CHILDREN.

A suitable hobby Is invaluable for children, not only for keeping them

amused and contented, but also as part _ ©f their, education, since children can B learn useful lessons in play as well as | in school; There are some points that must be followed if the hobby is not to do harm" as well as good. First, it should not entail much expense; children ought not to be encouraged to ask their parents for money on any and every pretext, but should learn to demise ingenious ways of obtaining what they want without much expenditure. Secondly, they should not expect the continual help of grown-ups; encouragement, advice, and occasional assistance are to be given, but the main part of the hard work should be done by the child himself. Thirdly, the hobby should develop manual dexterity, and train the intellect or bring out some moral qualities. The keeping of pets- is one of the "best methods of training a child in kindness and in the golden rule of doing'to others as we would wish them to do to us. The keeping and tendings of dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and many other kinds of animals should be encouraged when accommodation can be provided. ,A child-must be allowed to keep a pet only on condition that he attends to its wants with regular care; if he lieglects to" do this more than'once or twice the pet ought: to be given away, since the child is evidently not mature enough to have the responsibility of caring for an animal. When a young child thoughtlessly hurts an. animal, the mother Ought carefully to explain why he must behave differently. If the child after this instruction continues to be rough to a pet, and appears to take pleasure in hurting it, he evidently has a strain of cruelty in his nature. .The animal: ought to be put oijtof his reach. Gardening is an excellent hobby ■which parents as well as teachers do •well to encourage. A child's delight in having a corner of the garden set apart as his own private property, or as a domain' to be cultivated with his brothers and sisters, does much to encourage a love of Nature and of her products. Parents ought to insist that the garden shall be kept tidy and watered in summer; if these conditions are not complied with it ought to be taken away from the child. Furthermore, if he wants seeds or plants he ought to buy them with his own pocket money, and not ask his parents for an occasional sixpence or shilling for this purpose. The love of gardening is comparatively little developed in Australia as compared with other countries. There is a vast difference between the gailyflowering cottage gardens of the underpaid agricultural labourers in England and the dreary waste that surrounds many of our prosperous farm houses, even in irrigated districts where luxuriant vegetation ought to surround every house. It is good to teach children how to make collections that rouse an interest in natural science. Botanical collections can be a great resource to children in the bush, to those who live on the outskirts of towns, and perhaps still more to youthful town dwellers, who can thus be taught during their holidays in the country to have a greater understanding of nature. It is worth while spending some time on teaching a child to press and mount the specimens he or she has found, and to arrange them in a collection. Mineral collections give a child some notions of geology. Stamp collecting gives children an interest in geography and a sense of order and method, as well, as an agreeable pastime for wet. days and dark evenings. A stamp book judiciously presented on a birthday iff usually enough to start a child on this hobby. However, if a girl or a. boy has the;commercial instinct strongly developed, and

tries to get the better of other juvenile collectors over the' exchange of stamps, this hobby should be discouraged in favour of one into which the mercantile element does not enter so strongly. Carpentering is an excellent hobby both for boys and girls. However, it should be clearly understood that if parents spend money on lessons and tools, the child is to be willing and ready to do odd* jobs in the house. Some boys who are clever carpenters grumble when they are asked to "use their skill for the benefit of the family. This attitude with regard to hobbies is absolutely the wrong one; it tends to make a child conceited and selfish, and should be fi rm ty repressed. Parents are too inclined to look upon their children's hobbies merely as hea-ven-sent devices for keeping them quiet and out of mischief; they often neglect the useful lessons which can be given through the medium of pastimes. Sewing is a hobby that mothers strive to cultivate in girls, even in those who detest the sight of a needle. It would be superfluous to enumerate the advantages of this accomplishment where daughters are concerned. But mothers, strangely enough, usually fail to make any effort to teach this useful accomplishment to their boys, though many of them show an aptitude and a liking for it at an early age. For some inscrutable reason boys who like seeing are usually laughed at, though they may become tailors later on without exciting anyone's mirth. Sailors and Breton fishermen are good needleihen, together" with other men who can scarcely be called effeminate.

A list of the accomplishments that may be acquired by boy scouts and girl guides will give parents ah idea of the scope of the various hobbies which they can tactfully suggest to their children. In every case the hobby should 'follow the bent of a child's inclination and aptitude. Many a child who seems stupid at school develops a high amount of ingenuity and skill in his favourite pursuit at home. Lastly comes the love of reading, which, if it cannot be inculcated by parents, pan at any rate be fostered and rightly directed. Children ought not to be allowed "to devour storybooks indiscriminately. They should be given a few good books, the children's classics, and taught to understand and appreciate them. In this respect the children of to-day, with their many books beautifully illustrated, are not as well off as their parents, who had few picture-books, but those of high literary value. Too often the beautiful pictures of to-day serve as illustrations to the merest piffle, which produces on the .mind of the child the same effect as indulgence in chocolate creams produces on its body. The aim of the parent, * like that of the teacher,, should be to put into children's hands none but the best of stories, those which will develop the mind and cultivate the Ktcrary taste. In this category are the famous collections of fairy tales, such as Grimm's and Hans Andersen's, stories such as "Robinson Crusoe,'' and the '' Swiss Family Robinson," which have fascinated gene rations of children; books like Mrs Molesworth's amusing fantasies, such as '' Shock-Headed Peter.'' The children's libraiy ought to be small and well chosen.