I

CHAPTER X.

PASTIMES AND AMUSEMENTS.

ENTER here upon the discussion of a topic which

presents in some of its parts unusual difficulties, from the fact that upon some points there is an unparalleled diversity of opinion. It is a matter of some importance to both teacher and parent to know in what pastimes or amusements children should engage. In general, it may be said, a close inspection is necessary, that children may indulge in those plays only which tend to elevate and create a proper sentiment, and that those should be discarded which may in any way have an evil tendency.

It is as natural for the child to play with its toys, as it is for the adult to be interested in such tools as he may have daily occasion to handle. Every child should have a supply of playthings. It is not necessary that this supply should be either extensive or costly. The doll which the little girl carries so carefully, possesses almost as much real interest for the child, as the babe in its mother's arms does for her; and no jockey or turfman is prouder of his steed, than is the little boy with his broomstick or hoe-handle as he capers and prances through the yard. Who shall say that the little girl's "pieces of chaney," as she calls them, are not a source of as much pleasure as is her mother's gilt China set to her? Who

can tell the wealth of the odds and ends of things, the buttons, marbles, scraps of leather, pieces of painted glass, bits of tin, horse-chestnuts, top, slate-pencils, sticks, and blocks which one finds on emptying a little urchin's pocket? Do we call them trash? They are a source of endless pleasure to him, and were his pocket thrice as large, he would have thrice the variety to fill it. He is not bothered with bank-notes and railway or government bonds. A few nickel cents in the corner of his pocket to spend now and then for candy is all the riches he cares for if he is permitted to enjoy himself in his own way.

It is not necessary to furnish children with a great quantity of expensive toys with which to amuse themselves. I have known a child to put aside the prettiest of dolls to carry around in its arms an old slipper or a boot, and it seemed to derive as much pleasure from this as from the other. Who shall say that the little daughter of poverty is not as much pleased with her ragdoll, with ink-spots for eyes, as is the dainty little pet of luxury with her ten-dollar wax-doll, with curls, and eyes that seem to close when it is put to sleep? The principle is true also in the case of other toys and playthings. Give children an opportunity to gather some playthings for themselves, and supply them with a few others such as their tastes seem to prefer, and you will have done much toward enabling them to enjoy themselves.

Picture-books form a source of great amusement to the child. When in the power of the parent, it should be furnished with these. Every one has noticed how

eagerly the child opens every new book it lays hold of, to see the pictures, and should nothing but bare words meet the eye, the book is soon put aside; but should it contain engravings or pictures, it amuses itself for hours in examining them, if they are such as please it. I doubt the policy, however, of placing in the hands of the child such pictures as it cannot understand, or those familiarly known as fairy-pictures. We can accomplish much greater good by giving the child a book containing pictures of such objects as surround it. It will be remembered here that I speak especially of small children. They take but little interest in those pictures which they do not comprehend, and if left to their own choice, they will select such as they are acquainted with

There is in every child an imitative faculty. When you read, as if to satirize you, it picks up a book, and when a stranger drops in, or while you sit in your easy chair, it makes its little self comfortable, and, with eyes bent closely on the book open before it, imitates you, innocently supposing that it is doing the same work that you are doing. The little girl, seeing her mother sew, is anxious to engage in the same employment, and feels herself particularly happy when she is allowed' the use of a needle and thread and is given a few patches to sew together. The boy, too, anxious to be engaged in the same work as the man, and being endowed with a constructive instinct — if we can call it such lays hold of the first tools he can and becomes a mock carpenter. Reader, did you never, when a boy, on a cold winter's night, when the snow and the storm without made you

feel glad to remain in the house, sit beside the kitchen fire and build yourself an imaginary house or church of corncobs? I think I can yet see myself with my playfellows sitting, when a boy, by the blazing wood-fire, and planning my imaginary houses and erecting them of these same rude materials. I was not the fortunate possessor of a set of building-blocks, so my resort was corncobs, and how I enjoyed them! You may smile, but I doubt if ever a son of luxury is more content than the farmer-boy with his little house constructed with his own hands. I would have a set of blocks, building-blocks, if attainable, in the hands of every child. If buildingblocks could not be readily secured, or if thought too expensive, any blocks that would enable the child to build houses, walls, or fences, would answer. Permit little girls to do all the sewing they wish. They may lose a needle now and then, but that is a matter of small moment compared with the amount of good accomplished.

Children are fond of studying nature and holding converse with her. They delight to ramble in the woods and through the meadows in search of berries and wild flowers. They delight in wandering along the gravelly beds of the meandering brooks in search of shells and pebbles. They take an interest in those things which, from their apparent insignificance, escape the attention of the adult. They find pleasure and amusement in that which we are accustomed to pass by unnoticed. them, as to the painter or the naturalist, every blade of grass or clump of moss, every shining shell or pearly

To

pebble possesses a peculiar beauty and interest unknown. to the careless observer. All this argues the necessity of granting them enjoyment of this kind. Often the disposition of teachers and parents is to curb this spirit in the child. They look upon it as the beginning of a vagabond sort of life, and sagely predict an indolent future, forgetting that this very life which the child is inclined to lead requires tenfold more labor and exertion than any task which they would assign it. So the little fellow is debarred the privilege and pleasure of rambling among the objects of nature, and is required to remain within the circumscribed limits of the enclosure which surrounds his home. I would, by no means, have the child unrestricted in its rambles. I think there is danger, in such a case, that it may become restive under restraint in time, if permitted too free a range. As a source of amusement and enjoyment, however, the child should now and then be permitted to roam at will. In addition to the enjoyment which it may derive, it also gleans much useful information, and cultivates its faculties for observation, and thus strengthens powers which, in the future, may put to blush the knowledge of many a young man who with egotistic pride flaunts his diploma in the face of the public.

Occasional excursions of the whole school may add much to the enjoyment of the children, and they will at the same time do much toward strengthening and developing the physical system, and thus be promotive of health. These excursions are also beneficial as recreation from too close, and sometimes too tedious, attention to