The story is told how the French magician Houdin trained the
observation of his son. They would go down the street together and stop
in front of a shop window. The father and son would both take a good
look at the contents of the window, and then walk on a little farther
and stop and write on a pad all the objects they could recall. Then
they would go back to the window and compare the lists, and go on to a
second window and do the same thing. This exercise was followed until
the boy had developed an unusual ability to remember what he saw.
When the father was performing his magical feats on the stage of Paris
he would ask people from the audience to come up onto the stage and
deposit any articles which they chose upon the table until there were
forty in all. The boy, blindfolded, was then brought onto the stage,
led up to the table, and, after the blindfold was removed, allowed one
glance. He was then blindfolded again and led to the front of the stage
with his back to the table. He would without hesitation name each of
the forty objects. This was considered magic, mental telepathy, etc. It
_was_ magic--the magic of practice.
Practice will work wonders for you and your children. The method
followed by this magician is one of the best exercises for developing
this faculty. The time you put in walking the streets is mostly wasted
as far as mental development is concerned. As you and the children
pass a store window look closely at the articles in it and as you walk
along see how many each of you can recall definitely. At first you will
not be able to name very many. Practice in this way several times a day
will soon enable you to recall the majority of things that you see.
Continual practice will result in your becoming an adept.
The same kind of practice can be indulged in on streets where there are
no store windows. Look at the front of a house and see how definitely
you can describe it after you are by. How many windows has it? Can you
see the color, trimmings, the style of windows, doors, porches, and
all the details clearly? Practice until all can do this. Then observe
the yard until you can describe the approximate size, the arrangement
of the shrubbery, walks, flower beds and trees. While walking with
the children continuously use these ideas. Call their attention to a
certain house and when you have passed ask questions regarding what
they have observed.
An excellent method of developing observation is to recall the definite
location of the furniture in the different rooms of the home, the
articles that are on the top of the dresser or library table.
In going to the home or office of a friend look around the room once
carefully, then look out of the window or at the floor, and recall the
furniture and other details of the furnishings. How many pictures are
on the walls, where are they and what are they?