THE SEWING-BASKET
While busy with thread and needle, the mother may find it necessary to
suggest some happy employment for the little one who asks for something
to do. What do the contents of the sewing-basket hint?
BUTTONS
=Spinning Button= (_Button_, _thread_)
Show the child a button strung upon a strong thread about 12 inches
long. Then hold the thread firmly between thumb and finger of each hand
and twirl it rapidly, drawing it suddenly taut. The button whirls round,
making a pretty spinning figure.
=Stringing Buttons= (_Buttons_, _waxed thread_)
If baby is so old that he is not tempted to swallow a pretty button,
give him a strong thread waxed at the end to make it stiff, and let him
make a chain of buttons. They may be strung according to size or color
or shape, giving practice in counting, in arrangement, and in choice.
=Buttons as Counters= (_Buttons_)
Save disused buttons of the same kind and let the child classify into
two or more sets to be used as counters in games like checkers or
go-bang. See page 62.
=Button-Mold Wheels= (_Molds_, _brush_, _water-color paints_)
Give the child four wooden button-molds of the same size and let him
paint spokes upon them so that they will be ready any time to use as
wheels for a toy wagon. Call him a little wheelwright.
=Button-Mold Tops= (_Molds_, _match or toothpick_, _gilding or paint_)
Paint or gild a button-mold and then stick through the hole a toothpick
or burnt match whittled to right size and show the child how to spin it.
=Button-Mold Counters= (See page 62)
SPOOLS
=Toy Furniture= (See page 15)
=Toy Tree Boxes= (_Spools_, _green paint_, _matches_, _green paper_,
_scissors_, _paste_)
Let the child paint an empty spool green, to be used as a tree box.
Insert a burnt match to which has been pasted some green paper,
previously fringed, to represent foliage. The child can make a row of
such trees as a little boulevard up which he can draw an empty match box
for a carriage.
=Spool Tower Target= (_A number of spools_, _ball_)
Pile a number of spools one on top of another and let the child try to
knock them down with his ball.
=Toy Road Roller= (_Spool_, _cord_, _toy horse_)
Tie a cord through a spool and hitch it as a road roller to the Noah's
Ark horse.
=Pulley Elevator= (_Narrow cardboard box, such as a corset box or
shorter one_, _spool_, _cord_, _another small box, either saved or
made, narrow enough to fit inside the larger one_, _skewer_)
Stand the large box on its narrow end and near the top punch a hole on
each side so that the holes are opposite to each other. Take a spool and
run through it an axle made of a slender piece of wood like a skewer.
Then put the ends of the axle in the holes in the box. This makes the
pulley. Use the smaller box as an elevator. Tie a string to this little
box in such a way that you can hold it up evenly. To do this you must
punch a hole in each of the opposite sides. Then tie one end of a longer
string to the middle of the first named, and put the other end over the
pulley. Revolve the spool by pulling one end of the string and the box
will be raised.
=Matching Colors= (_Spools of silk or cotton of various colors_, _silk
and cotton fabrics of different colors_)
Have a color game, asking the child to try to match the colors on the
spools with those in the fabrics.
NEEDLES
=Breastpins= (_Broken needles_, _sealing wax_, _candle_)
Take a large broken needle, such that it is intact except for the eye.
Show the child how to make a pretty pin for dolly by melting the wax a
little in the candle flame, inserting the head of the needle, and
molding into shape the bit of wax that adheres.
=Threading Needles= (_Needles_, _thread_)
If eager to do something, give the child a number of needles with thread
of white and black, and let him thread them and put them into a cushion
so that they will be all ready for your use some morning when you are in
a hurry to sew on a button or take a stitch in Tommy's little shirt.
MISCELLANEOUS
=Thimble Biscuits= (See page 104)
=Drawing Scissors= (_Scissors_, _paper_, _pencil_)
Give the child scissors and paper and let him place the scissors on the
paper and draw the outline around them. Then tell him to cut out this
outline. Make several such and play at keeping cutlery store. Draw
scissors open at different angles and tell names of angles; right,
acute, obtuse.
=Guessing Distances= (_Ruler or tape measure_)
Let the children guess the height and length of various objects in the
room. Verify by measuring with the tape-measure. Tell them of Oliver
Wendell Holmes, the great poet, who, whenever he drove into the country,
carried a tape-measure with which to determine the girth of any large
tree he saw.
Let children measure the size of the panes of glass, window-frames,
etc.; have them tell how many feet it would take to carpet the floor.
Tell them to put father's hat on the floor, near the wall, and guess its
height.
Such little exercises develop the powers of accurate observation in a
way that may prove very helpful in an emergency.