The fashioning of people and animals from scraps of velvet glued on cardboard was a pleasant occupation which interested our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers when they wer...
Never cut all the leaves of plants growing from bulbs, but allow those that are unpicked to die down naturally. If they look very untidy, as the leaves of the Star of Bethlehem alw...
The players sit in a circle on the floor, with their knees a little gathered up. One stands in the middle with a slipper, and the game is begun by this one handing the slipper to a...
A box of letters is an unfailing help to pass the time. A word will sometimes keep a player puzzling for hours, which is, of course, too long. "Pomegranate," "Orchestra," and "Scyt...
Toy dogs are fairly intelligent, but noisy and wayward. They cannot be recommended as interesting pets, since they have little originality; but they can be taught tricks, and if tr...
_10 to 30 players._ _Children's party; adult house party._ All but one of the players stand in a circle. The odd player is blindfolded and placed in the center. He is given two sil...
The players sit in a circle. One is chosen as judge and he keeps tally. Each player in turn, rises, and names some well-known book. The first one to call out the name of the author...
Partners Pair The players divide themselves into ladies and gentlemen, if the ladies predominate they must personate gentlemen, and vice versa. The gentlemen then proceed to choose...
The farmer's wife also lets her visitors feed the chickens if they are gentle with them and thoughtful. It needs quite a little thought, because if you throw down the grain without...
The players sit in a ring, and the game is begun by one saying to the next, "I've just come back from shopping." "Yes," is the reply, "and what have you bought?" The first speaker...
III _20 to 40 players._ _Playground; gymnasium._ _Basket ball; volley ball._ This form of Captain Ball is the most strenuous of any, as freer mass play is encouraged among the guar...
Arrange all the children except one on chairs or a bench. This one is the leader and she stands on the floor in front of the children. Beginning at one end of the row, she pulls ea...
_4 to 60 players._ _Out of doors._ This is a very pretty form of tag, suitable for little children, and they delight in playing it. It hardly need be said that it requires a sunny...
There is also the game of "Telegrams." In this the first thing to write is the name of the person sending the telegram. The paper is then passed on, and the name of the person to w...
[Illustration: x x x x 13 14 15 16 x x 11 12 x x 9 10 x x x x 5 6 7 8 x x x x 1 2 3 4] The 'coach' is formed by children standing in position as shown on diagram. All the children...
The "football" for this game is an eggshell which has had the egg blown out of it. The players sit around the table with their captains, who have been previously chosen at each end...
"Charades" can be written in advance and carefully rehearsed, but in this book we are concerned more nearly with those that are arranged a few minutes (the fewer the better) before...
The company should be seated in two lines facing each other, and one of the party should then be elected to act as judge. Each person has to remember who is sitting exactly opposit...
To make a boat from a walnut shell, you scoop out the half shell and cut a piece of cardboard of a size to cover the top. Through the middle of this piece of cardboard you thrust a...
Throw a ball of yarn out of window but hold fast to one end and begin to wind. As you wind say, "I wind, who holds?" over and over again; before end of yarn is reached, face of fut...
A good thing to do in bed when getting better from an illness is to cut out pictures for scrapbooks. Any kind of cutting out can be done, as the scissors and paper are very light a...
Paper is handed round, and each player thinks of some public person, or friend or acquaintance of the company, and writes in full his or her Christian name (or names) and surname....
The wicket-keeper should not take the ball for the purpose of stumping, until it have passed the wicket. He shall stand at a proper distance behind the wicket, and shall not move t...
_4 to 30 or more players._ _Indoors; out of doors; schoolroom._ This game is a great favorite with boys for outdoor play, but may also be used in the gymnasium, various pieces of a...
All the players except one join a ring. This one, with a knotted handkerchief in his hand, walks round the outside of the ring for a while, and then, dropping the handkerchief behi...
Making plans is always interesting, but particularly so just before Christmas, when presents have to be arranged for.
This is a favourite game and can be played with very little noise. At home, all the children would go out of the room except the one who remains behind to hide the thimble, but whe...
Mice should have a cage with two compartments, one of which should have a door in the woodwork but no wires. In this room should be a bed of hay. The natural food of mice is grain,...
Two persons can have good competitions. They can agree beforehand that the game is to go to whichever of them sees the more horses, or cows, or sheep, or men driving, or bicyclists...
The player who is blindfolded is placed in the middle and all the other players touch him. He counts out loud as rapidly as possible up to ten, during which time the players rush a...