[Illustration]
A little boy in Miss Harrison's kindergarten heard the story of the
legend of the Christ Child, told just prior to his going to Europe for
a three months trip with his father and mother. While there his mother
took him one day with her to see a collection of art photographs. He
looked at them quietly and thoughtfully for a time, and then picking
up a copy of the above picture he said, "Mamma, you told me I might
take a present home to Miss Harrison, and I would like to take her
this picture, because it looks just as I think the little Christ Child
that she read us about must have looked."
So beautiful was the thought embodied in the story that it left the
same impression upon the mind of the child that the great artist
Murillo had left upon canvas. This is but one instance that great
thoughts do make impressions upon the mind of the child.
CHRISTMAS-TIDE
BY
ELIZABETH HARRISON
CO-PRINCIPAL OF THE CHICAGO KINDERGARTEN COLLEGE
PUBLISHED BY
CHICAGO KINDERGARTEN COLLEGE
10 VAN BUREN STREET
CHICAGO
COPYRIGHTED 1902
BY
ELIZABETH HARRISON
DEDICATED TO MY FATHER
FROM WHOSE HEART AND LIFE AGE CANNOT
BANISH THE
PERPETUAL CHRISTMAS-TIDE
--E. H.
CONTENTS
PAGE
I. CHRISTMAS PRESENTS 9
II. THE PLACE OF TOYS IN THE EDUCATION OF A CHILD 25
III. HOW TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS 41
IV. SANTA CLAUS 49
V. A CHRISTMAS EXPERIENCE 55
VI. A CHRISTMAS CAROL 81
VII. CHRISTMAS STORIES FOR THE CHILDREN 219
VIII. A CHRISTMAS STORY FOR GROWN-UPS 237
IX. A CHRISTMAS SONG 247
X. BIBLE STORY OF CHRISTMAS 251
I.
CHRISTMAS PRESENTS.
Many mothers are sorely perplexed as the Christmas-tide approaches by
the problem of how to select such presents for their children as will
help them rather than hinder them in their much-needed self-activity.
Let the toys be _simple, strong, and durable, that your child may not
gain habits of reckless extravagance and destruction_ which flimsy
toys always engender. Remember a few good toys, like a few good books,
are far better than many poor toys. Toys in which the child's own
creative power has full play are far better than the finished toys
from the French manufacturers. In fact, too complex a toy is like too
highly seasoned food, too elaborately written books, too old society,
or any other mature thing forced upon the immature mind. Your choice
should be based, not so much on _what the toy is, as on what the child
can do with it_. The instinctive delight of putting their own thought
into their play-things instead of accepting the thought of the
manufacturer explains why simple toys are often more pleasing to
children than expensive ones.
The following list has been compiled from such toys as have delighted
as well as have helped the children of kindergarten-trained mothers.
TOYS FOR CHILDREN FROM ONE TO TWO YEARS OF AGE.
Linen picture-books, rubber animals, cotton-flannel animals, rubber
rings, worsted balls, strings of spools, knit dolls, rag dolls,
rubber dolls, wooden animals (unpainted), new silver dollars.
The kindergarten materials helpful at this period of the child's
development are the soft worsted balls of the first gift. When the
child begins to listen to sounds and to attempt to articulate, the
sphere, cube, and cylinder of the second gift may be given to him.
These two gifts, when rightly used, assist the clear, distinct, and
normal growth of the powers of observation and aid the little one in
expressing himself, even before he has language at his command. Songs
and games illustrative of the various ways in which these gifts can be
used with a young child, are to be found in the Kindergarten Guides
now published. Some very good ones are included in the first year's
course of study for mothers of the Kindergarten College. However,
almost any mother can invent plays with them for her child.
The kindergarten materials found most helpful for this period of the
average child's growth are the second gift and the divided cubes of
the third gift. With the latter the child can early be trained into
habits of _constructive_ play, rather than _destructive_ play. As all
children like to transform and rearrange their toys, this gift is
particularly adapted to that purpose. It is simple and easy to handle.
Much logical training can be given the child by teaching him to change
one form made with his blocks into another, without scattering, or
entirely destroying the first form. Many suggestive forms may also be
found in the various Kindergarten Guides already published. A series
of these are now being prepared by the College for general sale.
However, the child himself will oftentimes name the forms made by some
name of his own, which should be accepted by the mother. The wooden
tablets, sticks, rings, and points of the kindergarten can also be
used with a child from three to four years of age though they are, as
a rule, less satisfactory than the blocks. The second gift beads
furnish an almost exhaustless amusement for some children at this
stage of their growth. A long linen shoe-string with a firm knot tied
at one end has been found to be the most serviceable kind of a string
on which to string the beads. Knowledge of color, form, and number are
also incidentally taught the child by these beads.
Low sand tables are an almost endless pleasure to small children, as
sand is one of the most easily mastered of the materials of nature,
and can serve as a surface for the first efforts at drawing, or can be
the beginning of the childish attempts to mold the solid forms about
him. When lightly dampened it serves as an excellent substance on
which to leave the impress of various objects of interest. In fact,
there is scarcely any play in which the sand may not take part. The
child should be taught from the very beginning that he must not spill
the sand upon the floor nor throw it at any one. In case he violates
these laws of neatness and safety, the sand table may be removed for a
time.
A blackboard and chalk are usually a source of much keen and innocent
enjoyment to three and four year old children, especially if the
mother sometimes enters into the making of pictures, or story-telling
by means of pictures, no matter how crudely drawn. Various other
kindergarten "occupations" may be used by the trained mother--but the
untrained mother often finds them confusing and of little use.
Whenever it is possible the back yard should have a sand pile, a load
of kindling, and a swing in it, that the child in his instinctive
desire to master material, to construct, and to be free, may find
these convenient friends to help him in his laudable aspirations. The
street has less temptations for children thus provided for.
TOYS FOR CHILDREN FROM THREE TO FIVE YEARS OF AGE.
Blackboard and crayon, building blocks, balls, train of cars, doll
and cradle, wooden beads to string, small glass beads to string,
rocking-chair, doll's carriage, books with pictures of trade life,
flowers, vegetables, etc., tracing cards and paper dolls, toy
poultry yard with fences, trees, a woman, and a dozen ducks and
chickens.
The more advanced gifts of the kindergarten now interest the child.
Clay modeling and paper folding can easily be taught him, and many of
the simpler formulas for the mat weaving, also some of the sewing. A
good kindergarten is the best play ground for a child at this stage of
his development, as he _needs_ comrades of his own age and ability. If
a kindergarten cannot be had the mother must be as nearly a child
herself as she knows how to be. Good, simple, wholesome stories now
become a part of the child's life. They form the door by which he is
later to be led into the great world of literature. Therefore,
story-books may be numbered among the suitable toys for four and five
year old children, though stories _told_ to the child are better.
Almost any mother who has her child's best interests at heart can
simplify the old Greek myths as retold by Hawthorne in his "Wonder
Book," or the Norse legends as given us by Hamilton Mabie in "Norse
Stories," or the rich, pithy experience of the Teutonic peoples as
collected in Grimm's "Fairy Tales." All of these contain the seeds of
wisdom which the early child races stored away in childish forms, and
therefore, they delight the heart of the child of to-day and aid
materially in cultivating his imagination in the right way.
TOYS FOR CHILDREN FROM FIVE TO SIX YEARS OF AGE.
Kitchen, laundry and baking sets, balls, building blocks, picture
puzzles, dissecting maps, historical story-books, outline
picture-books to color with paint or crayon, trumpet, music-box,
desk, blackboard, wagon, whip, sled, kite, pipe for soap bubbles,
train of cars, carpenter tools, jackstraws, hobby-horses,
substantial cook-stove, sand table, skates, rubber boots, broom,
Richter's stone blocks, shovel, spade, rake and hoe, marbles,
tops, swing and see-saw, strong milk-wagon equipped with cylinder
cans, substantial churn, a few bottles filled with water, spices,
coffee, sugar, etc., for a drug store.
Ordinarily children of this age still love their kindergarten tools,
and can be led to do really pretty work with their mats, folding,
pasting, etc. The fifth and sixth gifts[1] now come into use and aid
the child in more definite expression of his ideas. More stories
should be told, and the beginning made of collections of pictures for
scrap-books, also collections of stones, leaves, curios for his own
little cabinet. Many references may from time to time be made to the
books to be read by and by, which will tell him wonderful things about
these treasures. In this way a desire to learn to read is awakened,
and soon the world of nature and of books takes the place of toys,
except of course, those by means of which bodily skill is gained and
tested. These later belong in general to the period of boyhood and
girlhood.
[1] See "The Kindergarten Building Gifts" by Elizabeth
Harrison and Belle Woodson.
To this list of Christmas toys is added a list of books suitable for
Christmas gifts. Very handsome books are to be avoided, as the child
delights in handling his own books almost as much as his own toys. The
value of the right kind of books cannot be too much emphasized. Is not
the food which you give to your child's mind of as much importance as
that which you give to his body?
When your boy stops questioning you, he has not stopped questioning
concerning life and its problems; he has turned to those silent
companions which you have placed upon his bookshelf or on the library
table. Shall heroes and prophets be his counselors, or shall "Peck's
Bad Boy" and the villain of the dime novel teach him how to look at
life? _It rests with you._
There is a great difference between books which are to be read _to_
children, those which are to be read _with_ children, and those which
are to be read _by_ children.
The second kind, which are more profitable than the first, require the
mother's sympathetic and genuine interest in the subject-matter in
hand; and frequent stops for little talks about what has been read are
necessary.
The third class are books for older children who can read well enough
to peruse them alone; but, if the mother will take time to read them
before giving them to the child, she will strengthen the bonds of
intellectual sympathy between herself and him.
LIST No. 1.
FOR CHILDREN UNDER SIX YEARS OF AGE.
Mother-play and Nursery Song, by Frederick Froebel.
Nursery Finger Plays, by Emile Poulsson.
Mother Goose, in one syllable.
Songs for Little Ones, by Eleanor Smith.
Æsop's Fables, in one syllable, by Mary Mapes Dodge.
Boley's Own Æsop; illustrated by Walter Crane.
Baby World, by Mary Mapes Dodge.
Rhymes and Jingles.
Little People of the Air, by Olive Thorne Miller.
Nonsense Book, by Edward Sears.
LIST No. 2.
FOR CHILDREN FROM SIX TO EIGHT YEARS OF AGE.
Doll World, by Mrs. O. Reilly.
Sparrow the Tramp, by Wesselhoeft.
The Joyous Story of Toto, by L. E. Richards.
Doings of the Bodley Family, by H. E. Scudder.
Bodleys Telling Stories, by H. E. Scudder.
The Bird's Christmas Carol, by K. D. Wiggin.
Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales, translated by H. S. Brackstad.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll.
Bible Stories from the Old Testament, by Richard G. Moulton.
Moon Folks, by Jane Austin.
Mopsa the Fairy, by Ingelow.
Evenings at Home, by Barbould and Aiken.
Posies for Children, by Anna Lowell.
Shanny and Light House.
LIST No. 3.
STORY-BOOKS.--FOR CHILDREN BETWEEN THE AGES OF EIGHT AND FOURTEEN.
Seven Little Sisters, by Miss Jane Andrews.
Each and All, by Miss Jane Andrews.
Ten Little Boys on the Way from Long Ago to Now, by Miss Jane
Andrews.
Story of a Short Life, by Mrs. Juliana Horatia Ewing.
Mary's Meadow, by Mrs. Juliana Horatia Ewing.
Jackanapes, by Mrs. Juliana Horatia Ewing.
Dandelion Clocks, by Mrs. Juliana Horatia Ewing.
The Wonder Book, by Nathaniel Hawthorne; illustrated by Howard
Pyle.
Tanglewood Tales, by Nathaniel Hawthorne; illustrated by Howard
Pyle.
True Tales, by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Fairy Tales, by Jean Macé.
Grimm's Household Tales.
Fairy Tales, by Hans Christian Andersen.
Two Grey Girls, by Ellen Haile.
Three Brown Boys, by Ellen Haile.
Chivalric Days.
Robinson Crusoe, by De Foe.
Hans Brinker, by Mary Mapes Dodge.
Arabian Nights; illustrated by A. H. Houghton.
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey; illustrated by John Flaxman.
Shakespeare's Tempest and Two Gentlemen of Verona; illustrated by
Walter Crane.
Gulliver's Travels, by Dean Swift; illustrated by Gordon Browne.
Legends of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving; illustrated by A.
H. Houghton.
Christmas Stories, by Dickens; illustrated by E. A. Abbey.
Child's Dream of a Star, by Dickens.
Water Babies, by Charles Kingsley.
A Child Garden of Verse, by Robert Louis Stevenson; illustrated by
Charles Robinson.
The Boy with an Idea, Putnam & Sons, publishers.
Young Merchants, Putnam & Sons, publishers.
Boy Engineer, Putnam & Sons, publishers.
Story of the Nations (8 vols.), Putnam & Sons, publishers.
Adventures of Ulysses, by Charles Lamb.
Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles Lamb.
Stories from Greek Tragedians, by Rev. A. J. Church.
The Golden Age, by James Baldwin.
The Vision of Dante, by Elizabeth Harrison; illustrated by Walter
Crane.
Æsop's Fables (without the moral explanations attached).
Swiss Family Robinson.
The Lame Prince, by Miss Mulock.
Parables from Nature, by Margaret Gattey.
Child Life, by J. G. Whittier.
Child's History of England, by Charles Dickens.
In Storyland, by Elizabeth Harrison.
Bible Stories from the New Testament, by Richard G. Moulton.
Nonsense Books, by Edward Lear.
The Monkey that Would Not Kill, by Henry Drummond.
The Heroes, by Charles Kingsley.
At the Back of the North Wind, by George MacDonald.
Uncle Remus, by Joel Chandler Harris.
Tom Brown at Rugby, by Thomas Hughes.
Nehe, by Anna Pierpont Siviter; illustrated by Chase Emerson.
The Princess Story Book.
The Cruise of the Cachalot, by Frank Bullen.
The American Boys' Handy Book, by D. C. Beard.
The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling.
Boyhood is pre-eminently the period of perception. Hence all books on
scientific subjects are helpful, if they are simple enough to aid the
child in seeing nature and her marvels. The mother should be careful
that the child does not rest in mere perception of the objects of
nature, but that he compares and classifies them, and above all, that
he is led to trace a purpose in created things, in order that he may
learn "to look through nature up to nature's God."
LIST OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS ON SCIENTIFIC SUBJECTS.
The Story Mother Nature Told, by Jane Andrews.
Child's Book of Nature (3 vols.), by Worthington Hooper.
Among the Stars, by Agnes Giberne.
History of a Mouthful of Bread, by Jean Macé.
Overhead, by Laura and Anna Moore.
Life and Her Children, by Arabella Buckley.
Winners in Life's Race, by Arabella Buckley.
Fairyland of Science, by Arabella Buckley.
Little Folks in Feathers and Furs, by Olive Thorne Miller.
Queer Pets.
Little Lucy's Wonderful Globe, by Charlotte M. Yonge.
Four Feet, Two Feet, and No Feet.
Odd Folks at Home, by C. L. Mateaux.
Tenants of an Old Farm Yard, by McCook.
Home Studies in Nature, by Mary Treat.
Many other valuable books might be added to this list. However, a few
good books are better than many less good ones. It is well to lead a
child to the world's _great books_ as soon as possible. Enough have
been given to show the kinds of books which are not hurtful to
children. Each book on the above list has been personally inspected.
After all, it is not so important what your child reads as what you
read. If the father reads _nothing_ but the newspapers and the mother
_nothing_ but novels, what then? Children are taught as much by the
general tone of conversation of their parents as by the books they are
given to read.
A LIST OF BOOKS HELPFUL TO MOTHERS AND TEACHERS IN THEIR STUDY OF
CHILD NATURE.
Mother-play and Nursery Song, by Frederick Froebel.
Letters to a Mother, by Susan E. Blow.
Symbolic Education, by Susan E. Blow.
Commentaries of Froebel's Mother-play Songs, by Denton J. Snider.
A Study of Child Nature, by Elizabeth Harrison.
The Child, by Madam Marenholtz von Bulow.
Household Education, by Harriet Martineau.
Levana, by Jean Paul Richter.
Christian Nurture, by Horace Bushnell.
Conscious Motherhood, by Emma Marwedel.
Bits of Talk about Home Matters, by H. H.
Reminiscences of Froebel, by Madam Marenholtz von Bulow.
The Children for Christ, by Rev. Andrew Murray.
From the Cradle to the School, by Bertha Meyer.
Gentle Measures in Training the Young, by Jacob Abbott.
Emil, by Jean Paul Rousseau.
Leonard and Gertrude, by Pestalozzi.
Hints on Early Education, Anonymous.
For Boys, a Special Physiology, by Mrs. E. R. Shepherd.
For Girls, a Special Physiology, by Mrs. E. R. Shepherd.
LIST OF BOOKS HELPFUL TO MOTHERS AND TEACHERS IN SCIENCE.
Steps in Scientific Knowledge, by Paul Bert.
History of a Mouthful of Bread, by Jean Macé.
Ministry of Nature, by Hugh Macmillan.
Bible Teachings in Nature, by Hugh Macmillan.
Sabbath in the Fields, by Hugh Macmillan.
Elementary Book of Zoölogy, by Packard.
Little Folks in Feathers and Furs, by Olive Thorne Miller.
The Geological Story Briefly Told, by Dana.
Science Primer--Geology, by Archibald Geikie.
Science Primer--Botany, by F. D. Hooker.
Science Primer--Chemistry, by H. E. Roscoe.
Madam How and Lady Why, by Charles Kingsley.
Principles of Geology, by Lyell.
How Plants Grow, by Gray.
How Plants Behave, by Gray.
Child's Book of Nature, by Hooker.
Elementary Botany, by Bessey.
Revised Manual of Botany, by Gray.
Plant Relations, by John M. Coulter.
II.
THE PLACE OF TOYS IN THE EDUCATION OF A CHILD.
As Christmas is peculiarly the season for toy-giving and
toy-receiving, it may be well for the mother to consider this subject.
Old Homer, back in the past ages, shows us a charming picture of
Nausicaa and her maidens, after a hard day's washing, resting
themselves with a game of ball. Thus we see this most free and
graceful plaything connected with that free and beautifully developed
nation which has been the admiration of the world ever since. Plato
has said, "The plays of children have the mightiest influence on the
maintenance or non-maintenance of laws"; and again, "During earliest
childhood, the soul of the nursling should be made cheerful and kind,
by keeping away from him sorrow and fear and pain, by soothing him
with sound of the pipe and of rhythmical movement." He still further
advised that the children should be brought to the temples, and
allowed to play under the supervision of nurses, presumably trained
for that purpose. Here we see plainly foreshadowed the Kindergarten,
whose foundation is "education by play"; as the study of the
Kindergarten system leads to the earnest, thoughtful consideration of
the office of play, and the exact value which the plaything or toy has
in the development of the child, when this is once understood, the
choice of what toys to give to children is easily made.
In the world of nature, we find the blossom comes before the fruit; in
history, art arose long before science was possible; in the human
race, the emotions are developed sooner than the reason. With the
individual child it is the same; the childish heart opens
spontaneously in play, the barriers are down, and the loving mother or
the wise teacher can find entrance into the inner court as in no other
way. The child's _sympathies_ can be attracted towards an object,
person, or line of conduct much earlier than his reason can grasp any
one of them. His emotional nature can and does receive impressions
long before his intellectual nature is ready for them; in other words,
he can _love_ before he can _understand_.
One of the mistakes of our age is, that we begin by educating our
children's _intellects_ rather than their _emotions_. We leave these
all-powerful factors, which give to life its coloring of light or
darkness, to the oftentimes insufficient training of the ordinary
family life--insufficient, owing to its thousand interruptions and
pre-occupations. The results are, that many children grow up cold,
hard, matter-of-fact, with little of poetry, sympathy, or ideality to
enrich their lives--mere Gradgrinds in God's world of beauty. We
starve the healthful emotions of children in order that we may
overfeed their intellects. Is not this doing them a great wrong? When
the sneering tone is heard, and the question "Will it pay?" is the
all-important one, do we not see the result of such training? Possibly
the unwise training of the emotional nature may give it undue
preponderance, producing morbid sentimentalists, who think that the
New Testament would be greatly improved if the account of Christ
driving the money-changers from the temple, or his denunciation of the
Pharisees, could be omitted. Such people feed every able-bodied tramp
brought by chance to their doors, and yet make no effort to lighten
the burden of the poor sewing-woman of our great cities, who is
working at almost starvation prices. This is a minor danger, however.
The education of the heart must advance along with that of the head,
if well-balanced character is to be developed.
Pedagogy tells us that "_the science of education is the science of
interesting_"; and yet, but few pedagogues have realized the
importance of _educating the interest of the child_. In other words,
little or no value has been attached to the likes and dislikes of
children; but in reality they are very important.
A child can be given any quantity of information, he can be made to
get his lessons, he can even be crowded through a series of
examinations, but that is not _educating_ him. Unless his interest in
the subject has been awakened, the process has been a failure. _Once
get him thoroughly interested and he can educate himself, along that
line, at least._
Hence the value of toys; they are not only promoters of play, but they
appeal to the sympathies and give exercise to the emotions; in this
way a hold is gotten upon the child, by interesting him before more
intellectual training can make much impression. The two next great
obstacles to the exercise of the right emotions are _fear_ and _pity_;
these do not come into the toy-world, hence we can see how toys,
according to their own tendencies, help in the healthful education of
the child's emotions, through his emotions the education of his
thoughts, through his thoughts the education of his will, and hence
his character. One can readily see how this is so. By means of their
dolls, wagons, drums, or other toys, children's thoughts are turned in
certain directions. They play that they are mothers and fathers, or
shop-keepers, or soldiers, as the case may be. Through their dramatic
play, they become interested more and more in those phases of life
which they have imitated, and that which they watch and imitate they
become like.
The toy-shops of any great city are to him who can read the signs of
the times, prophecies of the future of that city. They not only
predict the future career of a people, but they tell us of national
tendencies. Seguin, in his report on the educational exhibit at Vienna
a few years ago, said: "The nations which had the most toys had, too,
more individuality, ideality, and heroism." And again: "The nations
which have been made famous by their artists, artisans, and idealists
supplied their infants with toys." It needs but a moment's thought to
recognize the truth of this statement. Children who have toys exercise
their _own_ imagination, put into action their _own ideals_. Ah me,
how much that means! What ideals have been strangled in the breasts of
most of us because others did not think as we did! With the toy, an
outline only is drawn; the child must fill in the details. On the
other hand, in story-books the details are given. Both kinds of
training are needed: individual development, and participation in the
development of others--of the world, of the past, of the _All_. With
this thought of the influence of toys upon the life of nations, a
visit to any large toy-shop becomes an interesting and curious study.
The following is the testimony, unconsciously given, by the shelves
and counters in one of the large importing establishments which gather
together and send out the playthings of the world. The _French_ toys
include nearly all the pewter soldiers, all guns and swords; surely,
such would be the toys of the nation which produced a Napoleon. All
Punch and Judy shows are of French manufacture; almost all miniature
theaters; all doll tea-sets which have wine-glasses and finger-bowls
attached. The French _dolls_ mirror the fashionable world, with all
its finery and unneeded luxury, and hand it down to the little child.
No wonder Frances Willard made a protest against dolls, if she had in
mind the _French_ doll.
"You see," said the guileless saleswoman, as she handed me first one
and then another of these dolls, thinking doubtless that she had a
slow purchaser whom she had to assist in making a selection, "you can
dress one of these dolls as a lady, or as a little girl, just as you
like." And sure enough, the very baby dolls had upon their faces the
smile of the society flirt, or the deep, passionate look of the woman
who had seen the world. I beheld the French Salons of the eighteenth
century still lingering in the nineteenth-century dolls. All their
toys are dainty, artistic, exquisitely put together, but lack strength
and power of endurance, are low or shallow in aim, and are oftentimes
inappropriate in the extreme. For instance, I was shown a Noah's Ark
with a rose-window of stained glass in one end of it. Do we not see
the same thing in French literature? Racine's Orestes, bowing and
complimenting his Iphigenia, is the same French adornment of the
strong, simple, Greek story that the pretty window was of the Hebrew
Ark.
The _German_ toys take another tone. They are heavier, stronger, and
not so artistic, and largely represent the home and the more primitive
forms of trade-life. From Germany we get all our ready-made
doll-houses, with their clean tile floors and clumsy porcelain stoves,
their parlors with round iron center-tables, and stiff, ugly chairs
with the inevitable lace tidies. Here and there in these miniature
houses we see a tiny pot of artificial flowers. All such playthings
tend to draw the child's thoughts to the home life. Next come the
countless number of toy butcher shops, bakers, blacksmiths, and other
representations of the small, thrifty, healthful trade-life which one
sees all over Germany. Nor is the child's love attracted toward the
home and the shops alone. Almost all of the better class of toy horses
and carts are of German manufacture. The "woolly sheep," so dear to
childish heart, is of the same origin. Thus a love for simple,
wholesome out-of-door activities is instilled.
And then the German dolls! One would know from the dolls alone that
Germany was the land of Froebel and the birthplace of the
Kindergarten, that it was the country where even the beer-gardens are
softened and refined by the family presence. All the regulation
ornaments for Christmas trees come from this nation, bringing with
them memories of Luther; of his breaking away from the celibacy
enjoined by the church; of his entering into the joyous family life,
and trying to bring with him into the home life all that was sacred in
the church--Christmas festivals along with the rest. Very few firearms
come from this nation, but among them I saw some strong cast-iron
cannons from Berlin; they looked as if Bismarck himself might have
ordered their manufacture.
The _Swiss_ toys are largely the bluntly carved wooden cattle, sheep
and goats, with equally blunt shepherds and shepherdesses, reminding
one forcibly of the dull faces of those much-enduring beasts of burden
called Swiss peasants. I once saw a Swiss girl who had sold to an
American woman, for a few francs, three handkerchiefs, the
embroidering of which had occupied the evenings of her entire winter;
there was no look of discontent or disgust as the American tossed them
into her trunk with a lot of other trinkets, utterly oblivious of the
amount of human life which had been patiently worked into them. What
kind of toys could come from a people among whom such scenes are
accepted as a matter of course?
The _English_ rag doll is particularly national in its placidity of
countenance. The British people stand pre-eminent in the matter of
story-books for children, but, so far as I have been able to observe,
are somewhat lacking in originality as to toys; possibly this is due
to the out-of-door life encouraged among them.
When I asked to see the _American_ toys, my guide turned, and with a
sweep of her hand, said: "These _trunks_ are American. All doll-trunks
are manufactured in this country." Surely our Emerson was right when
he said that "the tape-worm of travel was in every American." Here we
see the beginning of the restless, migratory spirit of our people;
even these children's toys suggest, "How nice it would be to pack up
and go somewhere!" All tool-chests are of domestic origin. Seemingly,
all the inventions of the Yankee mind are reproduced in miniature form
to stimulate the young genius of our country.
The _Japanese_ and _Chinese_ toys are a curious study, telling of
national traits as clearly as do their laws or their religion. They
are endurable, made to last unchanged a long time; no flimsy tinsel is
used which can be admired for the hour, then cast aside. If "the hand
of Confucius reaches down through twenty-four centuries of time still
governing his people," so, too, can the carved ivory or inlaid wooden
toy be used without injury or change by at least one or two successive
generations of children.
Let us turn to the study of the development of the race as a whole,
that we may the better grasp this thought. The toy not only directs
the emotional activity of the child, but also forms a bridge between
the great realities of life and his small capacities. To man was given
the dominion over the earth, but it was a potential dominion. He had
to conquer the beasts of the field; to develop the resources of the
earth; by his _own effort_ to subordinate all things else unto
himself. We see the faint foreshadowing, or presentiment, of this in
the myths and legends of the race. The famous wooden horse of Troy,
accounts of which have come down to us in a dozen different channels
of literature and history, seems to have been the forerunner of the
nineteenth-century bomb, which defies walls and leaps into the enemy's
camp, scattering death and destruction in every direction. At least,
the two have the same effect; they speedily put an end to physical
resistance, and bring about consultation and settlement by
arbitration. The labors of Hercules tell the same story in another
form--man's power to make nature perform the labors appointed to him;
the winged sandals of Hermes, Perseus' cloak of invisibility, the
armor of Achilles, and a hundred other charming myths, all tell us of
man's sense of his sovereignty over nature. The old Oriental stories
of the enchanted carpet tell us that the sultan and his court had but
to step upon it, ere it rose majestically and sailed unimpeded through
the air, and landed its precious freight at the desired destination.
Is not this the dim feeling in the breasts of the childish race that
_man_ ought to have power to transcend space, and by his intelligence
contrive to convey himself from place to place? Are not our luxurious
palace cars almost fulfilling these early dreams? What are the fairy
tales of the Teutonic people, which Grimm has so laboriously collected
for us? They have lived through centuries of time, because they have
told of genii and giant, governed by the will of puny man and made to
do his bidding. Eagerly the race has read them, pleased to see
symbolically pictured forth man's power over elements stronger than
himself. In fact, the study of the race development is much like the
study of those huge, almost obliterated outlines upon the walls of
Egyptian temples--dim, vague, fragmentary, yet giving us glimpses of
insight and flashes of light, which aid much in the understanding of
the meaning of to-day. We find the instincts of the race renewed in
each new-born infant. Each individual child desires to master his
surroundings. He cannot yet drive a real horse and wagon, but his very
soul delights in the three-inch horse and the gayly painted wagon
attached; he cannot tame real tigers and lions, but his eyes dance
with pleasure as he places and replaces the animals of his toy
menagerie; he cannot at present run engines or direct railways, but he
can control for a whole half-hour the movement of his miniature train;
he is not yet ready for real fatherhood, but he can pet and play with,
and rock to sleep, and tenderly guard the doll baby.
Dr. Seguin also calls attention to the fact that a handsomely dressed
lady will be passed by unnoticed by a child, whereas her counterpart
in a foot-long doll will call forth his most rapt attention; the one
is too much for the small brain, the other is just enough.
The boy who has a toy gun marches and drills and camps and fights many
a battle before the real battle comes. The little girl who has a toy
stove plays at building a fire and putting on a kettle long before
these real responsibilities come to her.
A young mother, whose daughter had been for some time in a
Kindergarten, came to me and said, "I have been surprised to see how
my little Katherine handles the baby, and how sweetly and gently she
talks to him." I said to the daughter, "Katherine, where did you learn
how to talk to baby, and to take care of one so nicely?" "Why, that's
the way we talk to the dolly at Kindergarten!" she replied. Her powers
of baby-loving had been developed definitely by the toy baby, so that
when the real baby came, she was ready to transfer her tenderness to
the larger sphere. Thus, as I said before, toys form a bridge between
the great realities and possibilities of life, and the small
capacities of the child. If wisely selected, they lead him on from
conquering yet to conquer. Thus he enters ever widening and increasing
fields of activity, until he stands as God intended he should stand,
the master of all the elements and forces about him, until he can bid
the solid earth, "Bring forth thy treasures"; until he can say unto
the great ocean, "Thus far shalt thou go and no farther"; until he can
call unto the quick lightning, "Speak thou my words across a
continent"; until he can command the fierce fire, "Do thou my
bidding"; and earth, and air, and fire, and water, become the servants
of the divine intelligence which is within him.
III.
HOW TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS.
SUGGESTIONS FOR MOTHERS AND KINDERGARTNERS.
All festival occasions, when rightly used, have a unifying effect upon
the family, neighborhood, Sunday-school, church, state, or nation, in
that they direct all minds, for the time being, away from self, and in
one direction, toward one central thought. The family festivals are an
enormous power in the hands of the mother who knows how to use them
aright. By means of the birthday anniversaries, Fourth of July,
Thanksgiving, and above all, Christmas, she can direct her children's
activities into channels of unselfish endeavor.
Of all festivals of the year the Christmas festival is perhaps the
least understood, that is, if one is to judge by the manner in which
the day is generally observed. _Why do we celebrate Christmas? What
are we celebrating?_ Is it not the greatest manifestation of love,
unselfish love, that has ever been revealed to man? And how, as a
rule, are children taught to observe it? Usually by expecting an undue
amount of attention, an unlimited amount of injudicious feeding, and a
selfish exaction of unneeded presents; thus egotism, greed, and
selfishness are fostered, where love, generosity, and self-denial
should be exercised.
The Christmas season is the season in which _the joy of giving_ should
be so much greater than that of receiving, that the child, through his
own experiences, is prepared somewhat to comprehend that great truth,
"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son."
For weeks beforehand the mother can lay her plans by means of which
each child in the family may be led to make something, or may do
without something, or may earn money for the purchase of something,
which is to add to his Christmas joy by enabling him to give to those
he loves, and also to some less fortunate child who, but for his
thoughtfulness, would be without any Christmas "cheer." In this
endeavor, of course, the mother must join with heart and soul, else
the giving is liable to become a mere formal fulfillment of a taxing
obligation.
Little children, when rightly dealt with, enjoy putting _themselves_
into the preparations with which they are to surprise and please
others fully as much, if not more, than they enjoy receiving presents.
So near as yet are they to the hand of God that unselfish love is an
easy thing to inculcate. Let me contrast two preparations for
Christmas which have passed under my own eye. In the first case I
chanced to be in one of those crowded toy-shops where hurried, tired
women are trying to fill out their lists of supposed obligations for
the Christmas season. All was confusion and haste, impatience, and
more or less ill-humor. My attention was directed towards a handsomely
dressed mother, leading by the hand an over-dressed little girl of
about eight years of age. The tones of the woman's voice struck like a
discord through my soul. "Come on!" said she petulantly to the child
who had stopped for a moment to admire some new toy. "Come on, we have
to give her something and we may as well buy her a couple of dolls.
They'll be broken to pieces in three weeks' time, but that's no matter
to us. Come on, I've no time to wait." This last was accompanied by an
impatient jerk of the loitering child's arm. Thus what _should have
been the joy of Christmas-giving was made to that child a
disagreeable, unwilling and useless expenditure of money_. What part
of the real Christmas spirit, the God spirit "which so loved the
world," could possibly come to a child from such a preparation for
Christmas as this? Nor is it an unusual occurrence. Go into any of our
large stores and shops just before Christmas and you will see scores
of women checking off their lists in a way which shows the relief of
having "one more present settled." All the great, true, and beautiful
spirit of Christmas joy is gone and a mere commercial transaction,
oftentimes a vulgar display of wealth, has taken its place.
On the other hand, go with me into one of our quiet Kindergartens,
where the sunshine without is rivaled by the sunshine within. See the
white-aproned teacher seat herself and gather around her the group of
eager children. Listen to the tones of her voice when she says, "Oh,
children, children! You don't know what a happy time I am going to let
you have this Christmas! Just guess, each one of you, what we are
going to do to make this the gladdest, brightest, happiest Christmas
that ever was!" Look into the eager little faces anticipating a new
joy, knowing from past experience that the joy means effort, endeavor,
self-control, and self-denial; nevertheless, that it means happiness
too. Listen to the eager questions and plans of the children. Some of
them, alas, are showing their past training in selfishness, by their
"You're going to give each of us a present," or "You're going to have
a party!" Then hear her gleeful answer, "No, guess again, it is better
than that!--better even than that!" Then, after a pause, during which
expectation stands on tiptoe, "I am going to let each one of you be a
little Santa Claus. We are going to make not only mamma and papa
happy, but also some dear little child who might not have a happy
Christmas unless we gave one to him!" Listen, as I have listened, to
the clapping of hands after such an announcement. Look at the light
which comes into the eyes. Notice the eager look of interest upon each
childish face as all seat themselves at the work-table and the plan of
work is more definitely laid out. Go, as I have gone, morning after
morning, and see these same children working patiently, earnestly, and
continuously upon the little gifts which are to make Christmas happier
for some one else. Will you then need to ask the question as to which
is the truer way of celebrating the holy Christmas time? Not that I
would have any mother deprived of the pleasure of giving to her
children, any more than I would have her children robbed of their
pleasure of giving to others. Let us be careful that our gifts are not
gifts of useless profusion, of such articles as cultivate
self-indulgence, vanity, or indolence. Gifts for children should be
few and simple, such as are suggestive and will aid them in the future
drawing out of their own inner thoughts or ideals. Above all let the
joy of having given of his best to some one else be the chief thought
of the glad Christmas time.
IV.
SANTA CLAUS.
All little children are poets if not marred by the prosaic parent or
teacher who unintentionally dulls the imaginative faculties by
insisting upon their minds dwelling exclusively on _facts_ which can
be verified by the five senses.
Much innocent pleasure as well as much development of intellectual
power is lost by this misapprehension of a child's needs. _All great
truth must come to the immature mind in an embodied form_ or by means
of a symbol. In fact, we of more mature culture still cling to the
sacred symbols of the church by means of which communion with the
Divine and the regenerating power of the spirit of God are expressed.
The spire of a church, the flag of our nation, the medal with which we
decorate the breast of a hero, are but a few of the symbols with which
we are all familiar. Indeed, if symbols were banished from our daily
lives much of pleasure and beauty would be lost.
Again, when we insist upon mere facts being presented to our children
we rob them of the great heirloom which has come down to them from the
past in the form of those inexhaustible mythical stories by means of
which the race has learned its most beautiful lessons of the true
nobility and grandeur of life; stories so rich and full and
significant that two or three thousand years have not dimmed their
luster, nor lessened their power to hold and impress the childish
mind.
As the Christmas season approaches many honest, earnest parents are
perplexed as to what to do with the time-honored legend of Santa
Claus. They do not realize that he is but the poetic embodiment of the
Christian thought of great love manifesting itself through giving. The
joyous loving nature of the innocent Santa Claus brings closer to the
childish heart the realization of the willingness with which the
Divine Father gave to his children--mankind. The traditional fireplace
through which the beloved Santa Claus gains entrance into the house is
but a symbol of that center of light and warmth and cheer which love
lights in every true home. The mystery of the coming and going of this
great-hearted lover of good little children is but the embodied way of
expressing that mystery of love which makes labor light and sacrifice
a pleasure. The whole legend of Santa Claus, when rightly understood,
is but the necessarily crude--and therefore more easily
grasped--foreshadowing of the sacred thought of God's infinite love
which lies at the very center of the Christmas thought. No one can
deplore more than we Kindergartners do the coarse and oftentimes
grotesque representations of Santa Claus which are to be seen in many
advertisements and shop windows at this season of the year.
Almost all children gradually outgrow the idea of Santa Claus as they
do other childish conceptions after they have served their purpose of
training the emotional nature in the right direction. The transition
is the more easily made if the child is gradually led to make and to
give Christmas gifts to those he loves. Thus, as I have tried to show
in a previous article, the mere material thought of Christmas as a
time for a jolly lot of fun is gradually changed into the higher
thought of a joyful festival, _through the child's own deeds_.
No mother need expect her child to understand the Christian Christmas
by one celebration. His own experiences of the joy which arises from
unselfish giving must be repeated many times before he can enter into
the thought that God, in whose image he has been made, must have shown
his love to mankind by some such manifestation as that which the
celebration of Christmas commemorates.
V.
CHRISTMAS TIME.[2]
A memory which will always remain with me comes up as I approach the
end of these chronicles. And although it did not arise from any one
picture or song of the "Mother-Play-Book," it was caused by the
Kindergarten study which had become part of our inmost life.
[2] Reprinted, by request, from "Two Children of the
Foothills."
The long, dry season was over. Half a dozen rains had refreshed the
land and caused it to blossom like a garden. It was hard to realize,
midst the roses and lilies, tender green foliage and fragrant
orange-blossoms, rippling streams and songs of mocking-birds, that
Christmas was approaching; our northern minds had always associated
the season with sleigh-bells and ice and snow, and yet it was amidst
just such semitropical surroundings as these, that in the faraway
Palestine was born the Babe, the celebration of whose returning
birthday each year fills all Christendom with the spirit of
self-sacrifice, love, and joy, and binds, as does no other festal day,
a multitude of the human race into one common brotherhood.
Margaret and I decided that whatever else we did or did not do, during
the remainder of our sojourn among the hills, the children should have
a _real Christmas_. In order that we might make it an inner Christmas
as well as an outer one, we began at the approach of Advent to show
them how to make Christmas presents. It took no small amount of
patience to pin down to definite work, which must be neatly and
daintily done, the two little mortals who had lived almost as free
from tasks as the lilies of the field. However, we both realized that
the children must make a real effort to give genuinely to others
something which they themselves had made, if they were to have the
real joy which ought to come with the receiving of presents.
Far too often children accept Christmas presents as so many added,
material possessions, not as expressions of love and service from
others. We had both long ago learned that only he who gives can truly,
spiritually receive, and that a gift without this comprehension of its
inner meaning is no gift at all, but merely something gained which
oftentimes awakens greed and selfishness.