The Cat, the Rooster and the Young Mouse

"Do not trust alone to outward appearances."

       A very young Mouse, who had never seen anything of the world, almost came to grief the very first time he ventured out. And this is the story he told his mother about his adventures.

       "I was strolling along very peaceably when, just as I turned the corner into the next yard, I saw two strange creatures. One of them had a very kind and gracious look, but the other was the most fearful monster you can imagine. You should have seen him.

       "On top of his head and in front of his neck hung pieces of raw red meat. He walked about restlessly, tearing up the ground with his toes, and beating his arms savagely against his sides. The moment he caught sight of me he opened his pointed mouth as if to swallow me, and then he let out a piercing roar that frightened me almost to death."

       Can you guess who it was that our young Mouse was trying to describe to his mother? It was nobody but the Barnyard Rooster and the first one the little Mouse had ever seen.

       "If it had not been for that terrible monster," the Mouse went on, "I should have made the acquaintance of the pretty creature, who looked so good and gentle. He had thick, velvety fur, a meek face, and a look that was very modest, though his eyes were bright and shining. As he looked at me he waved his fine long tail and smiled.

       "I am sure he was just about to speak to me when the monster I have told you about let out a screaming yell, and I ran for my life."

       "My son," said the Mother Mouse, "that gentle creature you saw was none other than the Cat. Under his kindly appearance, he bears a grudge against every one of us. The other was nothing but a bird who wouldn't harm you in the least. As for the Cat, he eats us. So be thankful, my child, that you escaped with your life, and, as long as you live, never judge people by their looks." by Aesop

"Mouse Hunt" by Aarons Animals

Mouse bookplates for her or him! Printable for home computer use. Not for sale.

       His and her mouse bookplates for little ones to label their literary collections. Just write each child's name above the mouse graphic, cut out the bookplate and paste it inside the book cover or onto the first page of each book belonging to your child. The designs are by Martha Feller King. You can find more of her bookplates for children here.  Book plates are for personal projects only and should not be redistributed from any other website but this one. Do not sale the images.

Find more free bookplates:

• Bookplates for adults at Christian Clipart Review
• Bookplates for clergy, plus descriptions

Man builds an entire mouse 

village for photography.

Printable Hall Pass for Doll School

        This "Hall Pass" is for dollplay, not anything else folks. Sometimes our dolls need to visit the: nurse, bathroom, office, library, counselor or detention! Their teacher can fill out the form with the date, time, student's name and ''check'' off the location for the student. She must then sign it in order for her students to avoid the hall monitor's discipline.

The pink hall pass for doll school.

Classroom Achievement Award Printables

        Students may use a home printer to download the following printables for doll classroom play. Here there are printable paper copies of recognition concerning: positive attitudes, outstanding reading and a general award that may recognize a student's success in any field of study that the doll teacher wishes to fill out on the dotted line. I have also made two posters to hang on your doll's classroom walls to suggest to them the classroom goals. The awards are for play only, not for sale or redistribution from alternative websites.

"Good Apples" stand for "Great Attitudes!"

       "Good Apples" may be achieved reasonably by any student who tries his or her best. This is a recognition made by the teacher to encourage "progress." The teacher writes her students name on the line provided and gives the paper achievement to any one of her students who needs a boost in self-condfidence in order to maintain progress in learning.

Two posters for the doll classroom: one for "Outstanding Readers"
and the other for "Good Apples."

The printable reading achievement awards given to those students who reach
particular goals within a school year. The doll teacher fills in a line for a 
student's name and then signs the award herself to reaffirm the student's
success. 

The Super Achievement forms good for any successful performance.

       The Super Achievement forms above may be filled out concerning any academic subject just fill in the dotted line for example: "Super Achievement Award is given to Claudia for excellence in Social Studies.Then the doll teacher signs her own name and dates the form. The student may then take the award home and hang it on her memo board or include it in her scrapbook to remember her progress!

Valentine Clipart for Cards and Letters...

        Below is the Valentine printable made available for young students to craft their letters and Valentines with. There are hearts, flowers, cupids, heart-shaped harps, cupids with arrows and tiny rose motifs.

• Tiny Cherubim Printable Papers
• Old-Fashioned Valentines, cupids with arrows and treat box lids...
  

Print, cut and paste these sweet valentines onto cards, candy boxes and letters.

Castle Bookplates by Louise De. Tessin...

        The following bookplates are designed by Louise D. Tessin for your child's book collection. Print these from your home computer in black and white on any color of acid free paper. Write your child's name in the small spaces provided within each drawing, paste the bookplates on the inside covers of his or her childhood books using acid free glue. Personal projects only please, not for sale.

A castle themed bookplate for your child's collection.

Thanksgiving Day Party

Pumpkin Pilgrim Head Party Invitations. Print on bright orange construction paper.
Cut and paste onto doll sized cards to invite all of your friends to a wonderful
Thanksgiving Doll Celebration!

       Games for the Thanksgiving house party may be delightfully fun and as undignified as possible. The more riotous they are, the more charm they will have for the guests who celebrate this sweetest of all our holidays by playing along with their favorite doll. The games described form a jolly program of entertainment for the evening which follows our Doll's Thanksgiving dinner.

Barnyard Blind Man's Buff starts the list of games and is warranted to break up any row of wall flowers. As in the old favorite game of Blind Man's Buff, the players form a large circle about one player who is blindfolded. The circle moves about quickly, two or three times, and then stops, the blind man pointing a wand, or cane which he holds at one of the players who grasps it, and must immediately imitate the gobble of the Thanksgiving turkey, the crowing of a rooster, the baying of the barnyard donkey, or any of the sounds of the barnyard folks he chooses. The blind man tries to recognize the person's identity by the sound of his voice, no easy task, because the player is at liberty to disguise his speaking tones in any way he likes. The blind man has three guesses, and if he is successful in giving the player's name, he takes his place in the circle and the player whose identity was discovered is the next blind man.

Shooting the Turkey follows as the next game on the program. A paper turkey, painted with brilliant water colors, is fastened to a sheet of white paper, which is in turn fastened by thumb tacks to the wall. On the sheet, and around the turkey, black crayon lines indicate the target. The bows with which the guests are provided are made of curved willow twigs strung with elastic bands. Straight twigs having two or three hens' feathers tied to the end made the arrows. The guests stand at the end of the room opposite the target and shoot in turn, a prize rewarding the archer who hits the turkey bulls eye the greatest number of times.

A Turkey Hunt comes next. A large number of tiny turkeys are cut from brown paper and hidden in all sorts of out of the way places in the room in which the game is being played. Each player is provided with a small basket tied with ribbons - the basket being dainty enough to form a party souvenir, and at a signal everybody begins hunting for turkeys, filling their baskets as quickly as possible. At the end of five minutes the hunt stops and a prize is awarded the player who can count the most turkeys in his basket.

       The Thanksgiving guests will be ready to abandon these strenuous exercises soon, for a series of Progressive games arranged for them at a number of small card tables in another room. Four or six guests may be accomodated at each table, and at the end of each game they move on one table, the players at the table next them taking their places. The names of winners at each table are kept by an umpire who does not take part in the games, and a prize is awarded the person who wins the greatest number of games:

1. At the first table, big red apples, cloves, tooth picks and fruit knives are found, and the players make faces on the apples within a certain time limit, the game being won by the player whose apple on the umpire's decision presents the most grotesque face. It is possible to cut the apple skin in curls for these quaint figures, to carve most realistic features with the fruit knives, and the Apple Contest will prove one of the most popular in the game series.
2. At the next table, Peanut Jackstraws is played. A pile of peanuts lies in the middle of the table, and the players are given tiny fish poles with which to pull them out. These poles can be easily made at home. A wood meat skewer, wound with very narrow orange ribbon forms the handle, and a length of orange twine the line, to the end of which is tied a hook made of a bent hairpin. The players try to fish out as many peanuts as possible without moving any except the one for which they are fishing. As soon as a player disturbs the pile of peanuts he loses his turn, and must wait until each of the other players has fished. The biggest pile of peanuts wins the game, and the players move on to the next table. 
3. The next table is given up to a Nut Guessing  Contest. The players find slips of paper with the following lists of questions to which in fifteen minutes they must write the answers. There can be no comparison of answers or helps of any kind, and the longest list of correct answers wins the game. Sample questions may be: What nut grows at the seashore? (Beechnut) What nut encloses a city in China? (Walnut.) What nut does a schoolmaster love? (Hickory nut.) What nut did Captain Kid use? (Chestnut.) What nut colors eyes? (Hazelnut.) And as many other queer nuts as the clever hostess can think of.

       When the possibilities of the Progressive Game tables are exhausted, some freak feats will form a jolly end to the party. In one room a peanut maze has been prepared. A twisting, winding path outlined on either side by rows of peanuts, and only six inches wide is laid on the carpet. The guests start threading the maze in a long line. Any person who loses his balance or steps upon a peanut is disqualified at once, and at the end of five minutes the line will be a very short one.

       Another silly peanut game calls for four chairs, two side by side and two opposite the length of the room from the first ones. In two of the chairs that stand side by side there are piles of peanuts, the same number in each pile. Two guests station themselves by these chairs and with spoons carry the peanuts, one at a time, to the opposite chairs. The player who finishes first wins a prize.

Doll Sized Turkey Treats:

• Teeny Tiny Turkey Table
• Fall Leaf Cookies 

Cottage Garden Themed Bookplates

        The following bookplates are designed by Martha Feller King for your child's collection. Each bookplate illustrates a cottage garden theme: small girl with flowers, "Mary Quite Contrary" nursery rhyme, a butterfly and a view of a small cottage garden framed by tree branches. Print these from your home computer in black and white. Write your child's name in the small spaces provided within each drawing, paste the bookplates on the inside covers of her childhood books. Personal projects only please, not for sale.

Bookplate illustrating a child in a garden.

Bookplate "Ex Libris" of a cottage garden through the trees.

Bookplate of "Mary Quite Contrary" nursery rhyme.

Bookplate of printed butterflies.

Printable Doll Size Seed Packs

        Young students may print out these tiny seed packs to cut apart and carefully paste onto tiny paper envelopes. Fill these with seed beads and then tape them shut. Now your dolls have their very own seed packets to plant an entire veggie garden with this summer!

Our seed selection includes: squash, sweet corn, radish, tomato, lettuce, onion, radish, pumpkin,
 carrot, cauliflower, and lettuce. Our printables are not intended to be redistributed from alternate
 websites or blogs. They are for personal use only.

Antique honey jar labels for your doll crafting...

        These antique honey labels have been cleaned and resized for students to make their own grocery crafts with by kathy grimm. Go here to see how to DIY vintage foods for your doll kitchen or grocery store.

The printable above is not intended for redistribution from other web pages or blogs.
It is the property of The Doll Coloring Book and should
only be used for personal crafts.

Book Plates for Children

        If anything can add to a child's joy in owning a book it is these two things: to have her family and playmates know about it, and to stamp her book indelibly with the sign manual of possession. The latter, as a rule, consists of writing her name all over the inside cover.  
       With this pride of ownership in mind, and to encourage the young reader not only to care for her books, but to begin early to build up a little library of her own, I have prepared the following book plates below.
       At a glance, one can understand a child's delight in pasting on the inside cover of her book one of these hall marks of ownership--a card announcing to her world--"this book is mine."
       The plates encourage neatness. They do away with soiled pencil script and names scrawled much too large for the space. Besides giving to the child an individual design each plate has space for a printed name and a small illustration to give it unique identity in the home.

A little child reads her book (book plate).

"The guardians of books" book plate.

"The Land of Nod" book plate.

"The Princess Palace" book plate.

Printable Student IDs for Your Doll and You!

       Now your dolls can have student doll IDs for Trinity Church School and so can you! Download, print, cut, and paste photos inside the boxes provided. Fill out the information on each card and cover the cards with a transparent tape to keep them looking new. 

       The dolls could clip their IDs onto their uniforms for a few days while everyone learns their names. Then keep their IDs inside a backpack, folder or in a doll purse for future play.

• Back to Trinity Church School for Dolls index page

Print a doll school ID for Trinity Church School dolls.
Print, cut and fill out the information for your 18" dolls.
Paste a photo of your doll in the empty box.

Print a Doll School ID for yourself so that you can attend Trinity Church School as an older brother
or sister to your doll. Paste a photo of yourself in the box and fill out the information listed on the left hand side.

The About Me Name Game

       Now you can play the name game on your doll's first day of school. Just download the About Me name tag below. Print as many as you have dolls to give them to. Fill out their personal likes and dislikes. Mix the tags up to see if your friends or family can tell which doll each name tag belongs to before you reveal her name. Write her name at the top of the name tag so everyone will know your doll's information. 
        I've included the questions our pretend teachers wrote on the classroom chalkboard for every doll to read and respond to on their first day of school. Our doll's responses along with their photo under each of their custom character descriptions will appear this month.

• What is your age?
• What is your favorite color?
• What is your favorite food?
• What is your favorite book to read?
• What do you want to be when you grow up?

All doll students are asked to fill out the "About Me" name tag on the first day of school.

Back to Trinity Church School for Dolls index page