After the forms and colors have been learned, they may be woven into an
interesting story, thus:
“A man had a large piece of land to make into a garden; he gave a piece
to each of his children, and said they might make small beds of any
shape that they liked.
“So Johnnie made a _round_ bed” (draw shape on board, and let children
copy on slate), “and Willie had a _square_ bed; Mary said her bed should
be _oblong_, and Nellie made hers _oval_” (draw each on board, and let
the children copy). “Then Gerty wanted hers to be the shape of a
_semicircle_, and Harry said his should be very pretty, for he would
make it _crescent_ shape, like the moon.”
When the blackboard is full of shapes the teacher might say: “Now you
would like to know what these children had growing in their beds.
Johnnie had a _pink_ rose-bush in the middle of his bed.
“Willie sowed red Poppy seeds in rows in his square bed, and Mary had a
yellow Iris in the center of hers, with blue Forget-me-nots all round.
You remember that blue and yellow look pretty together.”
Whenever possible, pin the flower named on the shape representing the
flower bed.
The story should be continued until all the “beds” have flowers in them.
The children may be allowed to suggest names of flowers and should be
encouraged to choose colors that will harmonize.