The child's rainy day book

I. /s^jrjT^ I .^{\SX

Copyright, 1905, by

Doubleday, Page & Company

Published, October, 1905 j^II rights reserved^

including the Scandinavian.

5-3^0^^

To My Sister

AND HER CHILDREN

Contents

I. A Foreword to Mothers .

II. Simple Home-Made Toys and Games

III. Basket Weaving

II 15 16

17 18

20 21

PAGE 9

14 15 17 19

39 40

41 43 49 55 56 xu

List of Figures

FIGURE

25 26

27 28

39 40

41 42 43 44 45 46

47 48

49 50 51 52 53

List of Figures

Xlll

FIGURE

54 55 56 57 58

59 60

61 62 63 64

65 66

67 68 69 70

73 74 75 76

Leathe

Tag

Case

PAGE

99 100

175 176

XIV FIGURE

87 88

89 90

93 94 95 96

97 98

99 100

lOI

102 103 104

List of Figures

183 184

195 195 198 206 213

A Foreword to Mothers

Chapter I A Foreword To Mothers

How shall we answer the ever recurring rainy day question, "What shall I do?" We hear it wherever children are kept indoors — fnom whatever cause. All of us are concerned with the answer — mothers, fathers, teachers, big brothers and sisters — even maiden aunts. We all know what is coming when Jack turns from the rainsplashed window with a listless face and Dorothy, none too gently, thrusts her favourite doll into the corner with its face to the wall.

One might suppose that, with the hosts of mechanical toys, of costly French dolls, each with a wardrobe as much in keeping with fashion as that of a society woman, the small sons and daughters would be content for a year of rainy days. But that proves how little one knows about it. Such toys are too perfect, too complete, and very soon they are pushed into the background.

The boy's real treasures are the willow whistle that Uncle Tom taught him to make last summer, the boat that he is building and the game he invented — a favourite one with all the children. Bedtime and getting-up time for the French doll may come and go, while she lies forgotten in the corner, for is there not a dress to be made for the clothespin doll?

We need only to look back about twenty years to realise how natural all this is. What do we remember? Not the toys that were brought us when father and mother went on a journey. They are very hazy — these visions of a doll in silk and lace, and a donkey with real hair and a nodding head. What became of them afterward? We forget. But the games we "made up," the paper dolls we cut from fashion papers, the target we laboured to make of coiled straw — these are as fresh in our memories as if we had played with them yesterday.

Shall we not answer the question by giving the children something to do, not by entertaining them but by helping them to entertain themselves.

CHAPTER II A Bean Bag Game

Materials Required : i yard each of blue, red, yellow and green gingham, 3 quarts of small white beans, A length of No. 6 rattan, A bunch of red raffia, A tapestry needle, 3 screw eyes, 2 J yards of strong twine, A spool of No. 40 white cotton, A needle, Scissors.

Very many good games can be played with bean bags. The following is a simple one to prepare.

Cut from blue gingham three pieces, each five inches wide by twelve long. Other pieces of the same size are cut from red, yellow and green gingham — three of each colour. These pieces are made up into bags by doubling them and stitching up the sides with strong thread; leaving one end of each open. This will give a small girl something to do for more than one rainy day.

When they have all been stitched, fill each bag half full of small, white beans, turn in the edges of the open end and sew it up, over and over, with strong thread. Be very careful to sew the seams securely, for if you do you will have a good, durable bag instead of one from which the beans are always dropping.

The other part of the game is a large ring of rattan ten inches across, which is made as follows:

Soak a piece of No. 6 rattan in water for a few minutes. While you are waiting for it to get pliable thread a tapestry or darning needle with red raffia. Whittle an end of the rattan into a long point. Next coil the rattan into a ring, ten inches across ; lay the end of your raffia, with its tip turned to the right, on the rattan ring and bring the needle, threaded with raffia, around and over the ring. The raffia is then brought under the long end of rattan, around it and down under the ring, binding the second coil of rattan to the first with what is called a "Figure Eight" stitch (see Fig. i). Hold the ring firmly in your left hand while you sew with the right. First

Playing the bean-bag game under and around the lower coil, then up, under and around the upper one. It is pretty work,

besides making such a firm, light ring.

When you have bound the second coil to the first almost all the way round the ring, cut the rattan so that it Fig. I -^ill overlap the be-

ginning of the ring about an inch, and whittle it to a long, flat point. Continue the Figure Eight stitch as far as you can, then bind the raffia round and round the ring, and sew back and forth through the raffia covering till it is secure. You can then cut it close to the ring.

Fasten a screw eye at the top of the ^^'^'^^^ ^^^^

frame of the playroom door and one on each side of the doorway, on the edge lo Child's Rainy Day Book

of the frame, four feet and a half from the floor.

Tie a piecfe of strong twine, about a yard long, at the top of the ring and another, three-quarters of a yard, on each side. Fasten the upper string to the screw eye above the doorway so that the ring will hang with its lower edge about four feet from the floor. Tie the other strings through the screw eyes to right and left of the doorway. The game is now complete. From two to four children can play it. Each has three bean bags of one colour and takes his turn at throwing them through the ring, standing on a mark eight feet from the doorway. One player keeps the score, and whenever a bean bag is sent through the ring the child who threw it is credited with five points. The one who first succeeds in making fifty points is the winner.

A Book House for Paper Dolls

Materials Required : A large blank book with a stiff cover, and preferably with unruled pages,

A number of old magazines.

Some pieces of wall paper the size of the book's pages,

Several pieces of lace or other fancy paper,

A tube of paste.

Scissors.

Simple Home Made Toys and Games ii

Any little girl who is looking for a home for a family of paper dolls will find a book the very best kind of a house for them. And then such fun as it will be to furnish it! First comes the house hunting. A large new blank book with unruled pages would be best of all, and that is what we want if we can get it, but of course all doll families cannot live in such luxury. An old account book with most of its pages unused will make an excellent house. I have even known a family of dolls to be cheerful and happy in an old city directory.

It will be easy to find furniture in the advertising pages of magazines, rugs can be cut from pictures in the same magazines and bits of wall paper are used for the walls of the book house. Tissue paper of different colours and papers with a lace edge make charming window curtains, while thicker fancy papers may be used for portieres. On the cover of the book a picture of the house, or just the doorway, may be pasted. The first two pages are of course the hall. For this you will need a broad staircase, hall seat, hardwood floor and rugs, with perhaps an open fireplace or a cushioned window seat to make it look hospitable. Try to find furniture all about the same size, or if you t2 Child's Rainy Day Book

cannot do this put the smaller pieces at the back of the room and the larger ones toward the front.

Next there will be the drawing room to furnish, then the library, the dining room and pantry, not forgetting the kitchen and laundry. Use two pages for each room, leaving several between the different rooms, so that the book shall not be too full at the front and empty at the back. If it does not close easily remove some of the blank pages. Cut out the different pieces of furniture as carefully as possible, paste them in as neatly as you can, and you will have a book house to be proud of.

Flowered papers will be the best for the bedrooms, or plain wall papers in light colours; and with brass bedsteads, pretty little dressing tables and curtains made of thin white tissue paper (which looks so like white muslin), they will be as dainty as can be. Now and then through the book it is interesting to have a page with just a bay window and a broad window seat with cushions and pillows — as if it were a part of a long hall. Hang curtains of coloured or figured paper in front of it so that they will have to be lifted if anyone wants to peep in. When you have finished the bathroom, playroom, maids' rooms and attic there will still be the piazza, the garden,

Planning a book house the stables and the golf course (covering several pages), to arrange. If you have a paint box and can colour tastefully you will be able to make your book house even more attractive than it is already.

United States Mail

Materials Required : A pasteboard box, about 3 by 6 inches, Some old white pasteboard boxes

with a glossy finish, A box of paints, 3 unused postal cards, A tube of paste, Pen and ink.

Scissors.

This is a fine game for rainy days. Any boy can make it and if he likes to use pencil and paint brush he will find it as interesting to make as to play with. Get a small pasteboard box about six inches long by three wide and an inch deep — such as spools of cotton come in. Cover it with white paper, pasting it neatly and securely. Then draw and colour on the lid a mail bag, which should almost cover it — either a brown leather sack or a white canvas one with "United States Mail" on it in large blue letters. Do not forget to draw the holes at the top of the bag and the rope which passes through them to close it. You have now something

to hold the counters for the game. These are made to look like letters and postal cards. To make the Pj^ 2 letters, rule a set of

lines three-quarters of an inch apart, across a box or cover of shiny white cardboard. Then another set, crossing the others at right angles. These should be an inch and a quarter apart. The postal cards are ruled in the same way (on real, unused postal cards), so as to make oblong spaces. Cut these out with a sharp pair of scissors. There should be thirty cardboard pieces and at least twenty-five of the postal cards. Now draw on the cards, with a fine pen and black ink, marks like those on a postal card — the stamp in the corner, the lettering and the address. Make pen lines on all of the pasteboard letters like Fig. 2 and paint a tiny red dot on each to look like sealing-wax. On the reverse side of one write something to look like an address, and paint in large letters " D.L.O.,"

(to stand for Dead Letter Office) in the corner. Six other letters are also addressed in the same way, but have instead of "D.L.O." a red stamp and a blue one, the latter wider than it is high, to represent a Special Deliverystamp. Nine pieces should also be cut from brown cardboard in the shape shown in Fig. 3 to represent packages. Paint three red stamps in the corner of each of these.

Rules for Playing United States Mail

Two or more persons can play this game. When the pieces are equally divided among the players, the one on the right of the dealer throws a piece on the table, saying as he does so, "I send a letter to B ," for example, and then counts five, not running the numbers in together, but as deliberately as a clock ticks. Before he has stopped counting, the player on his right must name a city or town beginning

Fig. 3 i6 with B. If he succeeds in doing this he wins the piece, otherwise it goes to the player who threw it. When all the pieces have been played each player counts his score.

The value of the pieces is as follows: Each postal card counts one, each letter two, each package six. The Special Delivery letters are worth ten points each, and the person who is so unfortunate as to have the letter with "D.L.O." upon it loses ten points from his score.

Flying Rings

Materials Required :

A flour-barrel top,

f yard of yellow cheesecloth,

5 large wire nails,

3 lengths of No. 4 rattan.

A bunch of red raffia,

A bunch of green raffia,

A bunch of yellow raffia,

A tapestry needle.

Some small tacks,

A hammer,

A tube of glue,

A sheet of note paper.

Boys and girls will enjoy this game, and both can help in making it. The materials are simple and easily obtained, which is also an advantage. First of all we shall need a flour-barrel top. This

Simple Home Made Toys and Gam£S 17 should be covered with yellow cheesecloth drawn smooth and tight and tacked in place along the outer edge. Measure with a rule to find the exact centre and make a pencil mark on the cheesecloth at that point. Another mark is made above this one, half way between it and the edge. A third mark is placed at the right of the middle one and half way between it and the edge, as well as one to the left and one below it at the same distance from the centre. A large nail is driven into the barrel top at each of

the five marks (see Fig. 4). Two screw eyes are then put in at the top, about a foot apart, so that it can be easily hung. Next draw on note paper that is not too stiff the figures 5, 10, 15, 25 and 50. Make them about an inch high and quite thick and go over them with ink. With a small pair of scissors cut out these numbers and paste each under a nail, as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4

Next there are the rings to be made. Follow the directions given on pages 6 and 7, using No. 4 rattan instead of No. 6, and these rings should only be two and a half inches across. Make three ring5 of each colour, green, red and yellow, and the game is complete.

To Play It:

Hang the barrel top on the wall or against a screen and see who can throw the most rings on the nails standing six feet away. Each player has three rings of a different colour, and each in turn throws his rings at the mark. When he succeeds in tossing a ring on one of the nails he scores as many points as the number under the nail indicates.

How to Make a Cork Castle

Materials Required : A number of old corks, the larger' the better, A tube of glue, A penknife,

A piece of pasteboard a foot square, A sheet of dull green tissue paper.

Such fascinating castles can be made from old corks — or if you live near a cork factory you can get plenty of odds and ends of cork bark that will be even better for the purpose. With a penknife cut small bricks, half an inch long by quarter of an inch wide and an eighth of an inch thick. If you are planning a round tower, such as is shown in

Fig. 5

Fig. 5, make the bricks in the wedge shape shown in Fig. 6. Cut them as nearly alike as possible, but it will do no harm if they are not perfectly regular; the castle will only look more ancient and interesting. It is wonderful how much the bits of cork look like stone.

Fig 6

When you have a good supply of bricks ready you may begin to build. Use glue to stick the blocks together; the kind that comes in a tube is the easiest and cleanest to handle. Leave spaces for

doors and windows, and for the roof use a large fiat cork from a preserve jar.

Mark it off into battlements such as are shown in Fig. 5, and cut them out carefully. Then glue the roof securely on the walls of the castle.

Where shall we place it now that it is made? A green mountain side is a good location for a castle, and it can be made quite easily. Bend a piece of pasteboard about a foot square (an old box cover will do) into dents that will almost break it, these look quite like hills and valleys and sharp crags, especially when they have been covered with green tissue paper. To do this spread a layer of paste or glue all over the pasteboard and then press the paper upon it. If it wrinkles, so much the better, for it will look more like grass and growing things.

Simple Home Made Toys and Games 21 A Doll's Shaker Bonnet

Materials Required t A piece of fine straw about 4x6

inches.

Some scraps of plain-coloured china

silk, § yard of straw-coloured ribbon, J of

an inch wide> I yard of narrow ribbon the colour of

the china silk, A spool of straw-coloured sewing

silk.

The daintiest little Shaker bonnet may be easily made by a little girl to fit one of her dolls. From the brim of an old leghorn, or other fine straw hat, cut two pieces, the shapes shown in Figs. 7 and 8. For a doll six or eight inches long the front piece will need to be about five inches long by an inch

Fig. 7

and a half wide. Bind the curved edge of the front piece with the straw-coloured ribbon, sewing it through and through with small stitches, using straw-coloured sewing silk. Sew one edge of a piece of the straw-coloured ribbon close to the curved edge of the back piece from A to AA (see Fig. 8). Mark, with a pencil, a dot at the middle of the curved edge of the back portion and one at the middle of the straight edge of the front

-^Y_ /a part. Pin the two parts

Pj(, 8 together at these dots

and sew the edges together. In doing this you will have to turn back the ribbon which edges the back portion. Next bring the ribbon forward to cover the rough edges of the straw where the two parts join and sew its loose edge along on the front portion. Cut a piece of China silk seven and three-quarters inches long by an inch and three-quarters wide. Make a narrow hem all around it. A tiny pencil mark is then made on the lower edge of the back piece and another at the middle of the silk strip. Gather the silk just below the hem on the upper edge and sew it to the lower edge of the bonnet at the back. Stitch a piece of narrow ribbon eight inches long at each side of the front, for strings, and the bonnet is done.

Simple Home Made Toys and Games 23 Leather and String Puzzle

Materials Required : A strip of thick leather, 7 inches

long by 2 wide, A piece of heavy linen string a foot

long, A knife.

With a sharp knife, a small strip of leather and a

bit of strong string any boy can make this simple

puzzle. It is easier to make, however, than it is

to do, as the boy's friends will discover. Fig. 9

will show how it is made. A strip

of leather five and a half inches long,

an inch and a quarter wide at one

end and five-eighths of an inch at the

other, is first cut. Then, starting

at about five-eighths of an inch

from the narrow end, cut with a

sharp knife two slits down the middle

of the piece three-eighths of an inch

apart and three inches long. At

three-eighths of an inch from the

wide end a small piece, one-quarter

of an inch square, is cut out of the

. Fig. 9

middle of the strip (see Fig. 9).

From the scraps of leather remaining cut two pieces,

each one inch long by five-eighths of an inch wide.

Make a hole in the middle of each. Then pass a piece of stout linen cord eleven inches long back of

the long, open strip in the large piece of leather, leaving the ends of equal length.

Pass both ends down through the square hole and tie each of them securely through the hole in the middle of one of the small pieces of leather. This completes it.

The object is to try to get the string, with the small piece of leather at either end, off the large piece of leather without cutting or untying it. The only way to do this is shown in Fig. 10. Holding both ends of the string, close to where it passes back of the narrow strip in the middle of the large piece of leather, pull the strip out through the small square hole. One of the small pieces of leather can then be slipped through the loop thus formed, releasing the string.

Fig. io

A Bed for a Little Doll

Materials Required : An oblong pasteboard box an inch

or more longer than the doll it is

to hold,

§ yard of flowered or striped muslin,

I yard of blue and white seersucker

or other cotton, Some cotton or wool wadding, § yard of thin white cotton cloth, J yard of outing flannel, \ yard of white piqu6.

Almost any little girl who chooses to do so can make this dainty bed for one of her small dolls. She will only need an oblong pasteboard box with a cover, and large enough to hold the doll comfortably. If mamma will let her have some pieces of cotton, flowered, striped and plain and a little cotton or wool wadding, she will have all the materials she needs.

First cut from blue and white striped cotton a bag the length and width of the box. Stitch it neatly together around three sides, turn it right side out and fill it with cotton or wool wadding. Turn in the edges on the fourth side and sew them together over and over. With a darning needle threaded with blue cotton or silk the mattress can be tufted here and there. The needle is first run through to the under side, then one little stitch is taken, bringing the thread back again to the right side, where the two ends are tied tightly together and cut close to the knot. If these tufts are made

Fig. II at equal distances, say one inch apart, all over the mattress it will make it look very "real."

The pillow is made in the same way as the mattress, except that it is not tufted. Cut the sheets and pillowcase from thin white cotton, allowing enough for hems. Make the pillowcase a quarter of an inch wider and about an inch and a quarter longer than the pillow. Stitch it around both sides and on one end and hem the other end. Tiny blankets may be cut from outing flannel, and a spread made from a piece of white pique or other thick white wash material. The bed can now be made up, but it will look very plain. A fluffy canopy and valance (or flounce) of flowered or striped white muslin will improve it wonderfully. The cover is set on end and the head of the bedstead is pressed into it (see Fig. 11), making a frame for the canopy. Measure from the front corner of this frame to the middle of the front and cut a piece of muslin half again as wide as this measurement and long enough to reach from the top of the frame to the bottom of the bed. Another piece the same size is cut, and then both are turned in and gathered at the top, hemmed on the other edges and sewed into place on the top edge of the canopy frame, so that the two will meet in the middle. They are both looped back against the front edge of the frame, see Fig. 11, and sewed there securely. The valance or flounce around the lower part of the bed is cut wide enough to allow for hemming at the bottom and to turn in at the top. It should be long enough to reach once and a half around the bed. Turn in the upper edge of the valance, gather it to fit the bed and pin it in position. Then sew it with a strong needle and coarse thread on to the box through and through. This makes as comfortable and pretty a bed as dolly could wish.

Floor Baseball

Materials Required : A piece of white chalk,

A piece of sheet lead, 2 by 2 inches, and as thick as a fifty-cent piece, 3 or 4 strands of scarlet rafiia, A tapestry needle, A gimlet.

This is a delightful game for a rainy day, and the preparations for it are very simple. In fact, when you have fashioned the disk of lead with a rafiia covering, there is nothing to provide but a piece of chalk. You can buy, from almost any plumber or tinsmith, for a few cents, a scrap of sheet lead two or three inches square and about as thick as a half dollar. Upon this piece of lead lay a half dollar, draw around it with a pencil and cut out the circle with a sharp, strong pair of scissors. It cuts as easily as cardboard of the same thickness. Bore a hole one-quarter of an inch across through the centre of the disk with a gimlet or sharp-pointed awl.

It is possible to

use the disk just

as it is, but it

makes less noise

if it is covered with

raffia. To do this,

thread a worsted

(or tapestry) needle

with raffia — the

grass-like material

that you have seen

used for making

baskets. Tie the other end of the raffia through

the disk, as shown in Fig. 12 A, put the needle

down through the hole in the centre, up through the loop in the raffia (see Fig, 12 B) and pull your strand up close to the Fig. 12 B edge. This

Fig. 12 A will make a stitch like that shown in Fig. 12 C — what sailors call a half hitch and mothers a

buttonhole stitch.

Make more of these stitches around the disk, until finally it i s entirely covered (see Fig. 13). If the strand of rafha gives out before the disk is covered sew the short end through the last two or three stitches on the edge of the disk and start a new piece by bringing the end through the last stitch on the edge. The short ends of both strands should be covered with the buttonhole stitches as you go on.

Now mark the diagram shown in Fig. 14 on the Fig. 13

Fig.

playroom floor with chalk, making the diamond

two feet long by a foot and a half wide. In the

centre of it is a circle, four inches across, which is

home. Each player takes his turn at throwing

the disk, standing on a line eight feet away. If

he throws the disk into the

space marked i he counts

that he has a man on first

base; if on 2, that he has

one on second; and if on H,

a home run is counted. If

by chance with his first and

second throws he puts the

disk into 2 and 3 and with

the third throw sends it into

H he will have three runs to

his credit. Should he throw

the disk into F he loses one point from his score,

and when he has thrown the disk outside the

diamond three times he is out.

A Rug for the DolVs House

Fig. 14

Materials Required J

A small wooden frame, A piece of cream-coloured canvas, A ball of dull green worsted, A ball of cream white worsted, A steel crochet needle, No. 2.

Hooked rugs such as our grandmothers used to make are great fun to do. Why should not a Httle girl make one of finer materials for the floor of her doll's house? Either an empty slate frame or a wooden frame such as is sold by dealers in kindergarten supplies for chair caning will do very well to hold the canvas of which the rug is made. Instead of strips of woolen we shall use worsted of various colours, and a strong steel crochet needle will be needed for "hooking."