Stacking Toys

Left, is a wooden donut stack, Center, a stackable penguin and Right, stackable block shapes.

 

       Stacking toys are generally given to babies or toddlers because the skills developed through the manipulating of them, are some of the most basic abilities humans need in order to survive. Once your baby can sit up without help, he or she will love to practice stacking, balancing, comparing, gripping and identifying with toys such as these.
       As you can see from my examples above, stacking toys come in a wide variety of shapes, colors and sizes. Pictured above from left to right are versions that are increasingly difficult for an infant to manipulate and each one challenges the baby in different ways.
       The first graduates donut shapes in size and each piece is a distinctly different color. The second configures the wooden blocks into the representation of a bird, (penguin) and the third challenges the baby to stack interlocking squares with both natural and painted surfaces according to size.

How can my child play with this toy in order to further develop his or her skills?

1. using the fingers to grip and place
2. stacking according to size
3. developing depth perception
4. balancing objects
5. comparing colors
6. identifying colors and shapes
7. balancing the body while doing an activity

A stacking toy that children can learn size, 

shape, color and balance with. Stacking 

toys like this one is far more challenging 

than others. This wooden toy train would 

be more age appropriate for a toddler. 

More About Stacking Toys:

• How stacking /nesting toys can develop early language and fine motor skills
• The Best Baby Stacking Toys That Help Cognitive Development
• 9 Ways the right toy helps development

 

Stackable wooden soldier doll/toy.

  Return to the Doll Guide Index Page 

What is an "Open-Ended" Toy?

Young children 100 years ago played at home and school with open-ended toys.
 Open-ended toys help children to develop their imaginations.

 

       Many child development experts prefer open-ended toys such as construction toys, blocks, dolls, etc. over digital/smart toys. For example, a cardboard box that the child turns into a pretend play house will be played with continuously by the child for many hours whereas an expensive smart toy can quickly exhaust the child's interest once its novelty has worn off.

       Widespread commercialization of smart or digital toys is mainly a 21st-century phenomenon. As they have gained acceptance in the marketplace, controversy has been brewing. One of the chief criticisms has been that despite often being technical marvels, many smart toys have only limited play value. In short, these toys neither involve the child in play activity nor do they stimulate his or her imagination. Consequently, regardless of store-shelf attractiveness, the child tires quickly of them after only one or two play sessions, and the parents' investment is largely wasted. Stevanne Auerbach, in her book Smart Play—Smart Toys introduces the notion of Play Quotient or simply PQ.

       Auerbach criticizes smart toys for often having low PQs. PQ is a rating system based upon a weighted average constructed from a comprehensive list of play value attributes. Playthings with higher PQs are desirable from the standpoint of stimulating the child's imagination, creativity, and inquisitiveness. Generally, children choose to play with these products over and over again. Those toys with low PQs are quickly set aside. The child finds them boring and uninteresting.

Things to keep in mind when purchasing or building open-ended toys:

1. They must be suggestive of play and made for play.
2. They should be selected in relation to each other.
3. They should be consistent with the environment of the child who is to use them.
4. They should be constructed simply so that they may serve as models for other toys to be constructed by the children.
5. They should suggest something besides domestic play so that the child's interest may be led to activities outside the home life.
6. They should be durable because they are the realities of a child's world and deserve the dignity of good workmanship.

More About Open-Ended Play:

• What is Open-Ended Play, and Why Is It So Important?
• The Value of Open-Ended Play
• How to Encourage Open Ended Play 

This Kewpie wants a hug!

Description of Coloring Page: mop cap, big bib, Kewpie doll with outstretched arms, baby doll

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Literature and "Purposeful Activities'

       The plea for a more unified curriculum, a more rational mode of approach, a more scientific method of procedure in organizing the school life of our little children is growing in intensity. It demands that the experiences and activities of the children be given fair play; that in order to enable their reactions to be the best possible, they be permitted to deal with real situations in school as they do elsewhere and to profit by their rich social inheritance. Much of this social inheritance is expressed in art form, in painting, sculpture, rhythm, song, poetry, story and drama. These are as much the privilege of every child as are the more obvious elements of his social inheritance, the economic and industrial. They should be equally taken for granted. This thought has been incidentally expressed before, but it is so far-reaching in its effects that it deserves to be given expression for its own sake. So long as art expression is considered a luxury rather than a necessity, the lives of children and mature people alike must be more meager and limited, less resourceful, convincing and rebounding than the promise of their original nature and the richness of their social inheritance warrant or justify.

       Literature deals with all phases of human experience; it is a source of inspiration; it lends zest and dignity to labor ; it expresses man's attempt to interpret the phenomena of nature; it clothes general truths in allegorical garb ; it shows human nature and nature in relation ; it enters into every activity of human life ; it conveys ethical standards of conduct in impersonal setting, thus constituting itself a force in the initiatory steps toward improvement of individual, personal conduct by furnishing objectives to be realized.

       Reading and literature are closely related in that reading, like oral language, is a vehicle by means of which literature is conveyed from generation to generation. Here- in lies the responsibility of using reading with small children as well as with older ones for the purposes of this transmission, rather than for the manipulation of value- less material required of them until recently.

       It is never too early to grow a taste for good literature. Is this not proven by the appreciation which even two- and three-year old children show for Mother Goose rhymes and simple, cumulative folk tales? Unless this stimulus is applied at an early age, a most valuable opportunity is neglected; it may never recur. A case illustrating this point Is that of an intelligent man above the age of thirty, who had never read poetry and who, realizing this fact, could not compel himself into a fondness for and an appreciation of this form of literature.

       It is in early childhood, not at a set time in an isolated period, but in close contact with all child experiences and activities, that the treasures of literature must be made accessible to the mind and heart, and by the process of absorption, as it were, be permitted to influence the life. The inheritance of literary treasures is so great, that only the best need be used. Even by the exercise of some elimination there is no danger of exhausting the supply, not though the life be one of four score years and ten.

       The esthetic value of literature must never be lost sight of. Literature must never become primarily a device for didactic teaching. However, the ethical value of literature is great, not merely because it holds up to the child high ideals and some of the best creations of man's brain. The love of literature may easily become an appetite merely, unless it becomes, as it were, part of the marrow of our bones. The opportunities for translating the ideals it presents into terms of human conduct are superior to the ordinary direct method because of the impersonal character of the appeal. To illustrate: A group of children is studying the King Arthur legends, reading Tennyson and other versions imbued with the atmosphere of the times. In the process of representing the story, characters are chosen not on the basis of who can render the best  'performance,' but on the basis of who will derive the greatest benefit from such an impersonation. 'Suppose a shy, loose-jointed, slouchy boy is selected for the part of King Arthur. Under the demand of the part, the boy begins to stand erect and to carry himself with a measure of the dignity required. If he does not, his companions remind him of his deficiency not in his private capacity, but as representative of the character chosen, bringing about the desired effect. Here is the teacher's opportunity in private to offer a fruitful suggestion: "You did splendidly. Do you realize how well you stood, spoke, looked? How you made the others play up to your part? How easy it would be to do this every day? How much it would help you in class, in getting a job, in business? etc., etc." Thus an ideal conceived by impersonation from literature may become fruitful by changing for the better many personal habits. In this manner does dramatization become educational. Illustrations of this type might be multiplied indefinitely.

       Here is another suggestion. Do not insist continually upon children's 'telling the story back' to you as a language exercise. This practice vitiates the main purpose of a good story. Let the children live the story, let them play it, creating their conversation as they go along or using that of the book. They will get all the language exercise necessary out of this and get it more sanely. Also, if you wish the story retold, have the child retell it as one character in the story, telling only what has come within the experience of that particular character. By thus representing one at a time the main characters, you will 'get back' the essentials. You will get a great deal more. Instead of a parrot-like repetition of the story, you will get from every child original thinking, a projection of himself into a new situation, a reconstruction of the story from a different angle and an exercise in discrimination and judgment worth immeasurably more than mere reproduction. Applied to the story of The Wolf and the Three Little Pigs, this would mean that the first two little pigs would tell their experience up to the time where the little house of straws and sticks tumbles in upon them, their conversation ending in a squeal as they are attacked by the wolf; the wolf would tell his tale up to the point possibly where he decides to climb down the chimney, ending with a howl as he falls into the water; the third little pig would tell his story from the meeting of the man with the bricks to the happy conclusion of the story. Such constructive story-telling has a distinct value in itself and paves the way for the telling by the children of wholly original stories.

       Tell or read the stories and the poems to the children at the proper time; love them and render them well. There is no excuse for poor or hurried presentation of literary gems. The children will love them because you do and because of their intrinsic appeal. They will without compulsion learn some gems; they will attempt to create some of their own; they will live the stories in play and understand the characters and situations by so doing. Their experience and their power of appreciation will grow. At the same time their knowledge of the meanings of words and their usage of language will improve beyond any goal attainable through formal, set language exercises.

       Language is a means of communication, a social achievement. It is as much a means of stimulating thought and action in others as it is an avenue for self-expression. Hence its function is primarily the transmission of thought. This interpretation of language should ever be in the mind of the teacher, because upon it depends her treatment of language in the schoolroom. In order most easily and adequately to produce thought and action in others, certain language forms have from time to time been accepted for universal usage; for this reason these correct and choice forms are taught in the school. To achieve this goal is always, however, merely a means to the larger end; it should be treated as of secondary importance.

       All of the children's interests, activities, and contacts find expression through oral and written language as well as through other forms of expression. The same principle underlies the learning of language, which is at the basis of all learning. Let us state it again.

       The children's activities, interests and contacts furnish the motive which prompts expression in oral and written language. Tinder the pressure of this vital impulse, language is more fluent, more spontaneous than under any external compulsion ; greater effort is made by the children to convey exactly their meaning and to bring about the desired conduct on the part of others. The need for proper expression is more keenly felt and a greater willingness to cope with and overcome errors results. The gain includes a minimum amount of drill necessary to overcome errors, a maximum amount of improvement in language, an increase in time available for the real live issues at hand. (Read J. Dewey, Interest and Effort in Education.) One of these live issues is the love and appreciation of beautiful literature. 

• Teaching Emergent Literacy: Getting Young Children Ready to Read
• Activities to Promote Emergent Literacy

Nature Experience and Purposeful Activities

       It is very evident that social experience and nature experience are blended so constantly and naturally in everyday life, that they cannot be arbitrarily separated. The need for a clear-cut presentation and the limitations of the printed page have made a division necessary; again there arises the question of the shifting of emphasis rather than an elimination of relevant topics. One does not and cannot exclude the other. Both emphasize largely the same principles and provide for the building up of the physical and mental health of the children.
       The mere getting acquainted with nature is one of the most vital impulses of the active child; the identification, enumeration, observation, appreciation of all phenomena that come within his reach. Especially is he concerned in every living thing, largely because of the elements of motion and change contained in it; hence animals and plants engross his attention, how they live and move and react. Inorganic nature is part of this moving, changing life, a sort of background for it; besides it has its own fascination, so it should not be neglected.
       The seasonal choice of topics for young children is the most natural, because of its direct appeal; the everyday occurrences in nature are of value for the same reason and should constitute the bulk of the material. Should an unusual event occur, a circus come to town, a rare specimen be brought in, it should, of course, be exploited to its full extent. However, to hunt for the exceptional and startling is neither necessary nor desirable, and largely defeats the aim of the work.
       Nature experience for little children must be first hand. Stuffed specimens and pictures are good in their place for identification, for illustration of story and geography material, but they can never hope to fulfill the function of nature study. They are dead; nature is alive. This brings us to the method of approach and to the method of dealing with nature experience.
       Children are constantly asking for the why? what? how? what for? when? where? of things. This should be the clue as to material handled, the data emphasized the functional side of life being the significant one, the structure being subordinate and touched upon only in so far as it helps to understand and illuminate expressions of nature activity. How a bird lives; what he eats; how he gets his food; where he finds it; where he has his home; how he makes it; how he looks after his babies, etc.; these are the problems to follow up. To illustrate: The number, size, position of teeth are immaterial so far as the child is concerned; the significant factor being the food of the squirrel for which it needs more resistant teeth than we have. By approaching nature from the side of her expression of herself, the children gradually come to know that the creatures all about them have problems similar to their own, that they are all in various ways dependent, that there are causes which produce the effects they observe, and that respect for all creation is one of the lessons necessary to learn. Also they gradually learn to think of themselves as only one in a vast universe of wonderful living and changing identities; this should be one of the elements developed by nature study and geography, leading on to the understanding which makes the whole world kin. The ethical and appreciative values of nature experience can hardly Toe overestimated; the economic value is of importance, though to a greater degree a little later, when the children are more mature and the love, sympathy, and appreciation necessary for the best attitude have begun to take root. The scientific value at this time lies largely in the habits of work and attitudes of mind established in nature experience as well as in other lines of work. The social value is emphasized in excursions, gardening, utilization for social purposes of the fruits of the work, and in other similar ways involving normal relations among children, and team-work.
       Pollination of pussy willows, fertilization by bees for older children, the life history of the chick, the egg as the treasure house of many animals, the tiny kittens, the care of animals for their offspring, the function and distribution of the seed in plants, all of these data form a valuable and indispensable background to the outlook upon life. Add to these, good habits of cleanliness of mind and body formed in little children, and the much-discussed problem of adolescence ought to be simplified. The child by means of his nature experience follows interests which are vital to him at the time, and at the same time lays the foundation for something which leads him on to a life project.
       It is most important that facts told by the teacher should come under the possible observation of the child. Care should be taken : 

1. To keep him in an open-minded, 'suspended judgment' attitude; to avoid forcing him into making generalizations for which he has not sufficient data, thus keeping his interest alive, as well as working for truthfulness and accuracy of attitude and statement. 
2. To avoid injudicious, indiscriminate telling by the teacher of facts, which take the zest from further original investigation. Wise and skillful is the teacher who can tell just enough and at the proper time to whet the appetite and stimulate to further research. The problem of the teacher consists in encouraging towards nature an open-minded much-varied, sympathetic appreciation and attitude, a habit of mind in dealing with phenomena by means of specific details under observation. To the little child the personal element is very close, permeating all his relations with his environment.

       The amount of material covered, the time devoted to it, the sequence followed, the adaptations made will depend in each case upon local conditions, individual preference, experiences and maturity of the children, administrative difficulties and so on. At best a scheme of work such as is given here can only indicate the point of approach, the attitude toward the problem and suggestions and data towards its solution. The individual teacher must assimilate and recreate according to the peculiar needs of her situation, otherwise the best plan becomes stereo-typed and artificial. In the higher grades, beginning with the third and fourth, more mature problems and greater detail may be worked out and the economic side of nature experience can be stressed to a greater extent.

       It is in the hope that these suggestions may prove helpful in themselves and lay the basis for future agricultural and geographic, social, and historic studies that this plan has been written. The general scheme has been to indicate the scope of the subject, to present in detail certain portions of it, and to point out the connections which exist between nature experience and other phases of experience in the child's life. These points of contact should be the starting point of any study or investigation made. In this way it will present itself to the child's mind as a problem to be solved and related to other problems. It is hoped by these means to avoid the ordinary fallacy of the primary program which consists in separating into 'compartments' the naturally unified life of the child.

       The divisions into animal life, plant life, weather and so on are necessarily arbitrary and overlap frequently. All that has been said about play, children's projects and problems, expression through oral language and the use of literature in connection with social experience bears equally upon the field of nature experience.

Escape, Explore, Experience!

Suggestive Studies/Outlines: 

• Birds: Habitats, Care Of, Pets
• Animal Life
• Seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall
• Plant Life
• Gardening
• Weather As It Affects Our Life

Nature Experiences by R. W. Emerson

"For Nature, true and like in every place,
Will hint her secret in a garden patch,
Or in lone corners of a doleful heath."
R. W. Emerson. 

"To read the sense the woods impart,
You must bring the throbbing heart."
R. W. Emerson. 

"See yonder leafless trees against the sky,

How they diffuse themselves into  the air

And ever subdividing, separate

Limbs into branches, branches into twigs;

As if they loved the element, and hasted

To dissipate their being into it."

R. W. Emerson.

"I thought the sparrow's note from heaven,

Singing at eve on the alder bough;

I brought him home, in his nest, at even;

He sings the song, but it cheers not now;

For I did not bring home the river and sky;

He sang to my ear, they sang to my eye.

The delicate shells lay on the shore;

The bubbles of the latest wave 

Fresh pearls to their enamel gave;

And the bellowing of the savage sea

Greeted their safe escape to me.

I wiped away the weeds and foam,

I fetched my sea-born treasures home;

But the poor unsightly, noisome things

Had left their beauty on the shore

With the sun and the sand and the wild uproar."

R. W. Emerson.

"As I spoke, beneath my feet

The ground-pine curled its pretty wreath,

Running over the club moss burs;

I inhaled the violet's breath;

Around me stood the oaks and firs;

Pine-cones and acorns lay on the ground;

Over me soared the eternal sky,

Full of light and of deity;

Again I saw, again I heard,

The rolling river, the morning bird;

Beauty through my senses stole;

I yielded myself to the perfect whole."

R. W. Emerson.

The Ethical Aspect

       The question has been asked, "Is it ethical to care more for those near one than for those more remote?" Aside from the fact that for reasons to be stated it is more usual to do so, the answer would seem to be 'Yes' and 'No'/'Yes' because first-hand contact with people is the only basis for personal experience with them and first-hand contact with personal experience is essential to the development of the elements in character, such as sympathy, understanding, willingness to share, readiness to serve and to cooperate, controlled emotion, directed intelligence, conscious team-work and others, which make up the complexes of ethical conduct. The fuller and richer the individual experience, the greater are the possibilities for fondness of those near at hand, for the transference of this 'caring' to the more remote, and for the expression of this 'caring' in conscious co-operative effort. Moreover, only through first-hand contact and personal experience can the projection come of the response to and the co-operation with a more remote group, a wider field of ideas, a larger vision and greater mutual helpfulness.

       The answer to the question asked will be 'No,' if the response becomes limited solely to the personal contact, if it excludes and hinders the expansion indicated, more still, if it results in an alien attitude of mind and action towards those groups, ideas and visions which lie outside the close contact and personal experience.

       We Americans have a peculiar and unique privilege and responsibility with regard to both the close contact and the larger vision. The immigration question is preeminently our problem. Nowhere else is there such a medley of peoples welded into one whole. To make this whole, not homogeneous altogether, but organically unified, so as to produce the type most to be desired, while encouraging variations which will preserve and perpetuate all valuable ingredients, is the supreme ethical problem. Much has been done by the public school in the assimilation of this heterogeneous material; more needs to be done. At the same time, however, that our ideals, purposes, customs and practices are transmitted to the newcomer and conditions are provided so that he may normally react and make them his own, another aspect heretofore greatly neglected needs to be emphasized, if family life is not to be seriously endangered, and if much of the rich social inheritance is not to be irredeemably lost. The point is this: If the children are thoroughly assimilated and the parents remain foreign in thought and action, there arises an unavoidable tension and friction between the two generations which is as disintegrating to the children and the group as a whole, as it is tragic for the older generation. There are two ways of avoiding this result, both of which are equally imperative: (1) The parents, too, must become imbued with the ideals, purposes, customs and practices of their new country. (2) The ideals, purposes, customs and lore of the groups to which the parents belonged must take their legitimate place in the home and school life of the children, and bring to them and to their companions the special contribution each of them has to give. If properly utilized this contribution may become in school a strong socializing agent and the stepping stone by means of which the children will make the transition in thought and action from the first-hand contact of home, school and community to the larger vision of appreciation of and cooperation with all human groups. To do this is the function of geography and history teaching.

       It is obvious that in the higher grades of the elementary school the study of geography, history, literature, art, music, if presented on the basis of universal appreciation, of worthy achievement, will have a share in the developing of this larger consciousness to the extent to which it demands and fosters it as a habitual attitude of mind. The possibilities are great indeed. What, however, has this discussion to do with early childhood? The following incident may make clear the connection: A group of college students in child lore were sent to a 'Baby welfare exhibit,' representing the needs of children below the age of two years. The suggestion was made that they render a critical constructive report of the significance of the exhibit. They returned enthusiastically praising the exhibit on the side of physical hygiene. "But," was the question asked, "Why was there nothing to indicate the importance of caring for the mental hygiene of little children? It is clear to every observer of children even under the age of two, that many of their 'mind sets' are initiated and many 'habits' formed as soon as the children become conscious of their social contacts. The waste involved in breaking wrong habits and establishing correct ones later on is great; also, the chances for non-elimination and non-modifiability of early established habits must always be reckoned with. May we make posters which will attract the attention of and carry conviction to the public mind, showing the importance of educating for early attitudes and habits of mind?" These students had grasped the psychological and pedagogical bearings of this question and the posters produced were simple, direct, dramatic, and carried conviction to the observer. Good mental attitudes and habits must be provided for from the very beginning, if we would reap the best possible results and avoid friction and waste of effort through the necessity of breaking bonds which should never have been established.

       There are three main points to be emphasized in the working out of the problem set in these pages. 

1. The desirable attitude of mind and habits of response must be developed early, the earlier the better, and must be grounded in daily conduct for which conditions must be provided in the social and physical environment of the children. 
2. The material used in school to establish a closer bond between parents and children on the one hand and between children and the larger human groups on the other, must be appreciated and acknowledged as coming from respective human groups, and may consist of folk games, folk dances, folk stories and poetry, folk music and art; also of a well planned course in history and geography, in which the interest centers about child life in communities remote from the home group, as well as in home geography. In these groups life must be relatively simple so as to come within the interpretive ability of little children, and so as to enlarge their personal experience by thinking and living as members of the group studied. For example, taking as point of departure our most severe winter weather with its snow and ice and its discomforts as well as its pleasures, the life of Eskimo boys and girls may be approached through this home experience, and interpreted in terms of longer periods of time, more extreme conditions, greater isolation and increased distance from the comforts available to us. The question, "What would you do if you were in this boy's or girl's place?" if properly provided with the determining background, and to a large extent with the means of execution will lead our children to intelligent thinking, sympathetic appreciation of handicaps as well as of achievement, and reasonable adjustments and responses to existing conditions.
3. The proper and ethical use of the material suggested will lead to the ability of living in close contact with others on a basis of mutual regard and helpfulness; to the growing respect for personality and its legitimate demands; to the appreciation of worthy achievement in whatever human group it has been produced; to the desire to add a contribution of one's own to the general fund of valuable inheritance to be used for the good of all.

with keen appreciation of Stevenson's charm and insight it may be pointed out that his:

"Of speckled eggs the birdie sings

And nests among the trees;

The sailor sings of ropes and things

In ships upon the seas."

"The children sing in far Japan,

The children sing in Spain.

The organ with the organ man,

Is singing in the rain."

with its touch of universal comradeship and common ideals represents more adequately the hoped-for permanent 'mind set' than his:

"Little Indian Sioux or Crow,

Little frosty Eskimo,

Little Turk or Japanee,

O, don't you wish that you were me!"

       The exuberance and physical exaltation which prompts the latter expression is, of course, normal, legitimate and innocent if it stands for a temporary ebullition of joy rather than for a dominant attitude of thought.

       Little children must, of course, be largely unconscious of these ethical aims and purposes which are carried constantly in mind by the teacher. The responsibility of bringing about the desired results rests with her; it is her task tactfully and skillfully to provide the proper conditions which will insure in the children the responses necessary for continued growth along the lines indicated.

To summarize:--

1. The teacher must be able to illustrate by demonstration that everywhere human groups have produced achievements worthy of being included in the social inheritance.
2. She must in dealing with little children place the emphasis upon similarities among human groups common needs, ideals, thoughts and so on rather than upon differences.
3. She must know in how large a degree differences in human groups are due to variations in environment, and lead others to see this.
4. She must be able to trace the relation between environment and opportunity, and show its expression in the general life of different human groups.
5. She must have the knowledge and insight to interpret conduct in various human groups in terms of growth, of conquest, of environment, of contribution to human achievement.
6. She must herself understand and creatively react to the human group in which she is working in order to develop in the little children the same ability. (Read: Angelo Patri's, The Schoolmaster of a Great City, Macmillan Co.) She must herself have faith in the larger vision and in the integrity and possibility of growth in the various human groups. She must through her own life and through that of the little children carry the conviction that cooperation, 'teamwork' is not merely possible, but the universal end greatly to be desired among individuals and among human groups alike.

       It is not necessary here to enumerate at length projects which little children will want to carry out in working for these results. The children's social experience provides for a number; the 'safety first' movement; the policeman's function as 'helper'; the letter carrier bringing us into touch with home and foreign lands; the festivals Christmas, Easter, Harvest, Thanksgiving in which all do their share; the life of other little children in other lands, all of these projects are part of the children's lives and furnish the possibilities needed for growth.

       During this period of international stress and reconstruction the principles involved which are constructive and which are valuable at all times are the ones to be emphasized with our children by means of concrete projects. In conservation of all kinds, in Red Cross work, in the thrift saving movement, in the spirit of general helpfulness and service are found the tasks which are within the strength and comprehension of little children, and which will fill their minds with the thoughts that establish the bonds of good fellowship and brotherhood. Happiness and joy are the birthright of the children. They make for mental health and vigor and those qualities of character which are needed most in a social world.

"But there is neither East nor "West, Border nor

Breed nor Birth,

When two strong men stand face and face, tho' they

come from the ends of the earth!"

by Kipling.

Draw old-fashioned dolls, step-by-step

 
       You can try drawing four little old-fashioned dolls, step-by-step. Each doll drawing starts with simple shapes and lines. Each little girl doll is dressed with ruffles and bows. After you've drawn your doll, color it with any color that you think would look nice. Now try it again. The more your practice, the better your drawings will get!

• Find more dolls and toys to color at Crayon Palace
• Visit our collection here at the Doll Coloring Book

How to draw a doll and color her in.

Cut, Color and Paste Paper Doll Furniture

       Paper dolls are sold in every toy-store ; the dresses and furniture being printed on thick paper, which will bear a good deal of handling, ready for cutting out. In the country, where it may not be easy to buy them ready-made, a doll can be cut from the fashion-plate of a magazine, and a pattern made, from which the dresses and hats may be cut. If you have only plain white paper, it can be colored from the paints in your color-box ; and it is really more interesting to plan a doll's wardrobe in this way than to have it all ready-made. 

• Craft paper dolls, paper dolls and additional furnishings from Thrifty Scissors
• Craft paper dolls from Easter Egg Crafts

       Diagrams for bed, chair, table, and sofa, are given below; and the furniture can be cut from bristol-board, and colored, or from thin, smooth cardboard.
       In cutting out this furniture, patterns of it may first be taken by laying a piece of thin paper over each diagram, and carefully copying every line. These can be laid on the cardboard, and a pencil-line drawn around them. There are three sorts of lines, each one meaning different treatment, as you will see in the description of how to cut out the rocking-chair. If you have only white cardboard to use, you will have to paint your furniture, - either dark-brown, like walnut; or in colors, like the enameled sets.

       First of all, cut round the outside of the rocking-chair ; and, if you begin by cutting off the greater part of the waste cardboard, you can turn your scissors more easily. Now lay it down; take a flat ruler, or something with a straight edge, and mark over all the parts which are to be turned down with the point of your scissors, or with a penknife, but not deep enough to cut through: these parts are indicated in little dots; thus, (as seen in the lines from A to A). Now the lines marked thus are to be  marked in the same manner; but, as those parts are to be turned up you must mark them on the reverse side. As there are no lines on that side, make a little hole with the point of a pin at the extreme end of these lines (B and B), to show you where to draw your knife when the rocking-chair is turned over. Next you must cut through the lines marked thus (as seen in lines from C to C): now bend the parts up or down, as the lines direct. You will find, when you have cut out and bent your furniture as  directed, little tabs, that are to go underneath, to gum or sew the other parts too.

Paper pattern for a paper doll's rocking chair and tiny ottomans.
Click directly on the images to download the largest available size.

Paper pattern for a paper doll's bed.

Paper dolls pattern for a bureau and mirror.

Paper patterns for a paper doll's dining room chairs.

Paper doll's pattern for a parlor table.

Paper doll's pattern for a paper sofa.

A paper doll's washstand pattern.

Social Experience and 'Purposeful Activities'

       It may be well to repeat here that the diversity of reaction by the children at different times will sometimes place the emphasis on constructive activities, at other times subordinate these to some other activity. It is this proposed change of emphasis which insures the flexibility of the program, makes possible a rational balance, and gives room on the one hand for the initiative of the children, on the other hand for the guiding purposes of the teacher. It is this change of emphasis which will make it essential at times to deal with social experience through the channels of oral language, representative play and the playing of social and folk games; also through the enriching influence of literature in the form of song, poetry and story. Reading, writing and number take their place as forms of expression used because of the demand of the situation, rather than because of external compulsion.

       In dealing with social experience much the same approach is made as in dealing with nature experience. The motive may be inherent in certain specific situations, or it may show itself in a desire consciously to take stock of, follow up, and investigate existing conditions heretofore taken for granted. In either case the nature and extent of the material used must depend upon the experience, maturity, and specific demand of the children; it must be subject to such a conscious purpose in the mind of the teacher as will lead to greater ability for cooperation, appreciation, and participation for service on the part of the children, including necessarily better understanding of mutual relationships and of the needs and expression of others as well as of ourselves.

       In connection with the study a few of the features often overlooked have been emphasized here; others have only been suggested. The main thoughts are concerned with:

1. The formation of good habits.
2. The necessity for cooperation, and the service of all.
3. Adequate knowledge for the best possible co-operation.
4. Provision for participation on the part of the children.
5. Complexity of modern life as compared with that of indigenous man and animal life.
6. General needs of all.
7. The joy of living.
8. Art appreciation in our life.

       So much has been said about community life in other courses of study, that it will not be enlarged upon here. Among the results to be obtained are a growing consciousness of interdependence and of the necessity for co-operation and service on the part of every individual, children included.

• The Home
• The Community
• The Farm
• Our School
• Features of Local Interest

Children's 'Purposeful Activities'

       Children's lives are full of activity. They are constantly carrying out projects and solving problems of their own. In the process of living they learn to think, because of the fact that in their activity they are most often carrying out a definite purpose; that in order to do so they must weigh and judge among ideas and material details, and select from among these the ones most pertinent to the fulfillment of their immediate end; that in working out their definite purpose, they meet difficulties which need to be overcome before the desired end can be obtained. (Read Dr. John Dewey 's Reasoning in Early Childhood, Teachers' College Record, Jan., 1914.)

       Since this is the method of procedure of a normal child or of any normal human being when under no constraint, the school should adopt it. ' Purposeful activity ' on the part of the children then becomes the aim of the school. The teacher's part is to guide towards such 'purposeful activities' as will prove of greatest benefit to the children, choosing among those directly available for first-hand experience.

       In attempting to discuss the relative values of these activities, we are frequently using the words 'problems' and 'projects' as common terms of understanding. Any 'purposeful activity' determined upon and carried to a successful conclusion becomes a project. There are various types of projects. One of these types involves mental processes alone, without manipulation of material and without the necessity of outward expression; this is the problem type. It goes without saying that while this type may exist by itself, it is not likely to do so in the child's world. On the other hand, all other types of projects include the problem type in so far as they are not merely unconscious responses. The process of carrying out projects and problems includes thoughts, suggestions and activities rejected as well as those finally selected as pertinent. If no steps are taken toward the attainment of a definite purpose, the mental problem may remain in the child's mind, but there is no solution of it and there is no project involved. This state of affairs is detrimental to the child and has existed too frequently in the process of formal education.

       The problem is the situation which demands the exercise of choice. In this lies its value for children, who must be taught to establish the habit of thinking clearly, relatedly, and to some definite purpose. Here also lies the responsibility of the teacher, who must provide conditions so that fruitful problems shall arise. Fruitful problems are such as will demand solution because of their appeal to children, and because of their opening up to them new and larger fields of action.

       The problem may be very simple and may be solved by means of a single project of short duration. It may be more complex and demand a longer period of time as well as necessitate a more complex project. The project itself may contain new problems to be solved by minor projects. Thus arises a linking of mental processes and physical activities all subsidiary to the main problem, all subordinate and yet indispensable to the essential project, working toward the solution of the main problem. We may think in this connection of the relation of the twigs to the branches, the branches to the trunk of the tree; all contributing their quota to the life of the complete tree; the sap coursing through all being the connecting thought (which is the main problem), by its permeating and vitalizing quality, giving vigor and growth to the whole.

       The following illustration is borrowed from Miss Grace Brown, of Teachers' College, in her talk on Dressing Dolls a project. She shows how little children will at first be content with wrapping the doll, putting on clothing regardless of arms and legs; -... 'how the problem arises of making provision for their freedom and the next project becomes the carrying out of this idea; how the problem of clothing 'to be put on and taken off' in permanent form arises next and gives opportunity for guidance by the teacher in the project of pattern making, the process of fitting, transferring to cloth and constructing the desired object; how the problem of making pretty clothing leads from selection of color to the project of decoration; how finally the making of doll's clothing suggests the problem of making clothes for one's self as 'mother does it,' and of the realization of this problem in the project of making a dress for one's self from the pattern fitted by the teacher. This illustration serves not only to make clear the place of the problem and the project in the daily life of the children, but also to show the possibility of starting on a very simple basis and leading to more complex activities by following the children's own interests and development.

       In the solution of a problem the end may be immediate, as is the case when the problem is very simple; it is, however, likely to be more or less remote. The ability to hold in mind and to work toward a more remote end should be one goal achieved by children through the education given them. In the working out of a project the end always consists in the fulfilling of a definite purpose. The achieving of the purpose may cover a long period of time and involve accessory problems and minor projects as has been pointed out.

• Illustration of the foregoing from the field of reading...

From worms to wall street: project based learning...

The Problem With Needing To Read

       Suppose the children have unconsciously absorbed the notion of the importance of reading in daily life by seeing their relatives read letters, the newspaper, magazines, cook books, advertisements, books, etc.; suppose reading material and picture books have formed part of their environment; suppose they have been read to or told stories which they know are to be found in books; suppose on street cars, walks, or elsewhere the desire has come to them to decipher for themselves the large print on brilliantly colored background accompanied by pictures they do not understand. The problem comes to them in their own feeling, "I want to learn to read." * Learning to read then, becomes the large project or definite purpose to be worked out in concrete terms. During the process, however, minor problems arise, felt rather than clearly thought out by the children. Among these are, "How can I get what I want without asking older people?" This problem shows a 'felt need' and a proper time for the introduction of phonics. Another problem felt rather than thought out is: "How can I share what I like unless I can interpret the meaning of the page in such a way as to make people wish to listen to my reading?" This introduces the most vital motive for class reading, the social motive. That it is a real one to children is evidenced by the little girl, who persistently followed her elders about with a book under her arm, begging to be permitted to read to them and rejoicing when given the privilege to do so.

       These minor problems arising out of the pursuit of the main project demand lesser projects for their solution. So the ramification goes on as has been suggested in the simile of the tree with its twigs and branches and the sap coursing through all. To carry the picture somewhat farther in illustration of the point to follow in the next paragraph concerning standards for the selection of problems and projects, it may be said, that the dead twigs and branches, through which the sap no longer courses, and the individual twigs at the foot of the trunk which take from the strength of the tree without contributing to its growth had better be chopped off so as to conserve and concentrate the life of the whole in it's integral parts.

       Problems and projects arise in connection with the daily experience of children. Not all problems or projects need or should receive attention at school. The basis for determining which shall be utilized and which rejected includes the following questions:

1. Does the problem or project appeal to the majority of the group?
2. Is it of sufficient value to the individual to enable him to make by means of it a distinct contribution to himself or to the group?
3. Does it open up to the individual or the group, consciously or unconsciously, visions of new problems to be solved and projects to be worked out in consequence?
4. Does it help illumine some phase of child experience or activity worth preserving and fixing even temporarily?
5. Does it help lengthen gradually the pupil's 'interest span,' his power of sustained attention?
6. May a solution of the problem by means of a certain project, by contrast possibly, point the way better than a seemingly more profitable project may do at a particular time? To illustrate: If a child has his heart set on solving a problem by means of a certain project, might the experience gained in doing this and finding the result unsatisfactory more than offset a safe direction towards his immediate goal? (This, of course, opens up the questions of 'trial and error'; the validity and extent of the use of this method ; the basis for measuring results and the weighing of values ; the economy of time; the elimination of waste.)

       A word as to the complexity of projects for young children. There are, of course, inherent in the experience of children many larger units which hold their attention for days and weeks intermittently or consecutively. Such are the making and using of the play house; the school-garden fair, depending for its success upon the spring gardening, the care in the summer and the fall harvesting; playing store; the various social functions growing out of the utilization of garden products and the observance of holidays; the camping, either as white campers or as Indians in the living of that gem for primary grades Hiawatha; the life of indigenous man as revealed in Miss Dopp's books; the farmer's activities I carried through the year in a rural community, and other activities growing out of local conditions.

       It is, however, not necessary or even desirable that all projects undertaken by small children shall be large ones. Their interests are varied, their interest 'spans' are short; many of their legitimate desires are very simple and of short duration ; many of them are still enjoyed and valued as ends in themselves; some of them form a connected series in a larger unit held in mind only by the teacher. Some may cover merely a recitation or a day or two in point of time.

      The problem or the project may precede in point of time. With little children frequently the project precedes the problem, because of the unconsciousness of their reaction and the immediacy of their purpose. Since this is true and little children solve a large number of their problems by means of projects involving manipulation of materials, a separate chapter has been devoted to constructive activities. Play is given first place because of its irrepressibility and because of its value in all child activity. It is implied throughout, though it need hardly be said, that a school which provides opportunity for purposeful activity does most to build up the health of the children. This question of the health of herself and her children should be one of the purposeful activities of the teacher.

Playful ways to teach reading through short games/projects...