" Let me do it. Let me make it," is the cry when a child sees an older person putting together the different parts of an interesting piece of work; and it is this desire to do things himself, this impulse toward self-expression, that, when properly directed, forms so great a factor in his all-around development and education. Using the hands and brain together stimulates interest and quickens observation and intelligence, and, as the object takes form beneath the little fingers, the act of makin

Make your building cards of ordinary writing-paper. You may have as many cards as you like, though twelve are all that are used to make the things shown in our photographs. For each card cut an oblong of paper five inches long and two and a half inches wide. This is a very good size, but you can make them a little larger or smaller. Always remember, however, to have them just twice as long as they are wide, and all of one size. When you have cut out the oblong ( Fig. 1 ) fold it through the midd

Use a one-quart wooden berry-box for the china closet ( Fig. 7 ). Turn the empty box facing you, and slide the prongs of a clothespin up through the open crack at the lower right hand of the box. Allow one prong of the clothespin to come on the outside and the other prong on the inside of the thin wooden side of the box; adjust the clothespin well to the front edge of the box, and it will form the right-hand front leg of the china closet. Add another leg in like manner on the same side of the bo

A handful of straws, such as are used for lemonade and soda-water, several large sheets of writing-paper, and some small-sized pins—these are your materials. A pair of sharp scissors, a ruler marked off into whole, half, and quarter inches, and a lead pencil—these are your tools. We will begin with the old-fashioned four-post bedstead with its canopy and valances ( Fig. 17 ). It is easily put together, but you must be careful to cut the straws for the posts all exactly the same length, making th

You can fold a thirteen-and-a-half-inch square of newspaper into a fine boat measuring thirteen inches from stem to stern. It will be a good, stanch craft like Fig. 25 , to float and sail out in the open on pond, lake, or river, or at home in basin or bath tub. Cut your square of paper even and straight. Place it out flat on top of a bare table and fold at the centre along the dotted line ( Fig. 26 ), which will make Fig. 27 . Bend each side of this down outwardly along its centre at the dotted

Ordinary brown wrapping paper is the best to use for this paper jewelry. Indeed the pale, creamy yellow of some wrapping paper is much like ivory in color, and the chains and ornaments made of it are really charming. See how simply the necklace is made without glue or paste. It is a system of double rings that shift and slide in one's hands like the links of a metal chain. When the principle is understood it is all very easy. The rings may be cut out free-hand by folding the paper as in Fig. 34

Gather up all the spools you can find, big, little, thick, and thin; no matter how many, you can use them all. There is no end of fun to be had with these always-on-hand, easily found toys; they may be made into almost everything. Make the yard into a cheerful The trees are easy to make and are very effective; they are simply fringed strips of paper rolled like a paper lighter with the large ends stuck into spools. Cut a strip of green tissue-paper fifteen inches long and five wide; then cut one

Don't throw away your old envelopes; see what amusing toys can be made of them simply by folding and cutting. No paste or glue is needed, and any one of the toys given here can be made in five minutes or less. The frog is one of the simplest and at the same time the funniest of the collection. Fig. 86 gives a side view in which his beautiful open mouth can be seen to advantage. Fig. 87 shows him sprawled out on the table. Fig. 88 gives the pattern of the frog as it appears when drawn on the enve

You can make cunning, soft, downy hens and roosters simply of raw cotton and clothespins ( Fig. 101 ). The little creatures may be pure white, dark colored, or part dark and part light, according to the cotton used. All of With a string tie a piece of raw cotton over the head of one clothespin; have the string tight, but the cotton cover rather loose. Bring the cotton partly down the clothespin and tie it again ( Fig. 103 ); then use your fingers to shape the top cotton into the form of a rooste

The nursery scrap-books made of linen or colored cambric are, perhaps, familiar to most of our readers; but for the benefit of those who may not yet have seen these durable little books, we will give the following directions for making one: Cut from a piece of strong linen, colored cambric, or white muslin, four oblongs twenty-four inches long by twelve inches wide. Buttonhole-stitch the edges all around with some bright-colored worsted, then place the oblongs neatly together and stitch them dir

Just a glance at a pile of ordinary every-day kindling wood could hardly suggest to one the possibilities existing in the crude material for building all sorts of interesting and realistic things for the little folks, but experiment and you will find that Klondike log-houses, rail-fences and lumber camps, bridges, and substantial little rafts which will float on water in laundry or bath tub, pond or stream, can be easily and readily built from the little sticks we use to start our fires. Let us

Have you seen the little people who live up in the trees? Little twig people who dance and swing and bob about, who nod and bow and flutter hither and yon; some astride funny twig horses, others dangling head down, many waiting to run a race when a stiff breeze comes along, and all as merry as merry can be, tossing their long, thin arms and legs in the air just for the fun of it. Perhaps some of these queer folk are outside your window now, and it may be near enough to the ground for even the li

From old visiting cards you can build all the different houses and furniture seen in the accompanying illustrations. For the little Place two of the cards together and cut two slashes, one on each side of the centre, through one end of the double layer ( Fig. 157 ). Slide the two cut ends together, allowing the centre divisions, A ( Fig. 157 ), to lie, one over and one under the two cards. This will bring under the side divisions B and B ( Fig. 157 ), on the card whose centre division A comes on

The best framework for a newspaper wigwam can be made of long-handled feather dusters, but long-handled brushes, or poles of any kind you may happen to have, will answer the purpose; all that is necessary is something you can make into a framework similar to Fig. 168 . Tie your poles together at the top and spread them out at the base, tent-fashion. Make the Only three poles will be needed when the covering is of newspaper, but if you do not happen to have enough newspapers on hand for the entir

Fig. 183 is the photograph of a Christmas tree whose trimming is entirely home-made. The brilliant colors and shining gilt of the papers used, give a sparkle and life that are most captivating, and the ornaments are so easily made that the children themselves can do much toward decorating a tree in this manner. At the top of the tree, shining above all other ornaments, is From a piece of cardboard cut an oblong with the top and bottom edges five and a quarter inches long and the side edges just

" Merry Christmas ! Merry Christmas!" calls out Santa Claus cheerily as the guests come trooping into the room. Laughing and joking, his eyes twinkling with fun, Santa Claus names each person as he hands out the gifts from his fat Christmas bag and from the generous pile at his feet. All this merriment happens at Christmastide when you play the part of good "Kris Kringle" in your own home, in the schoolroom, the Sunday-school, or in any place where Christmas is celebrated and where children are

A natural flower, some tissue-paper, a pair of scissors, a spool of thread, and nimble fingers are all you need. There are no patterns, only circles and squares and strips of paper which you gather here, spread out there, wrap and tie somewhere else, and, with deft fingers, model into almost exact reproductions of the natural flower before you. With its unfamiliar terms to be committed to memory and the many parts of the flower to be distinguished, botany is apt to prove dry and tiresome to the