The Means And Ways of Occupation In The Kindergarten

Portrait of Friedrich Froebel.

       Before entering into a description of the various means of occupation in the Kindergarten, it will be proper to state that Friedrich Froebel, the inventor of this system of education, calls all occupations in the Kindergarten "plays" and the materials for occupation "gifts." In these systematically-arranged plays, Froebel starts from the fundamental idea that all education should begin with a development of the desire for activity in mite in the child: and he has been, and is universally acknowledged, eminently successful in this part of his important work. Each step in the course of training is a logical sequence of the preceding one; and the various means of occupation are developed, one from another, in a perfectly natural order, beginning with the simplest and concluding with the most difficult features in all the varieties of occupation. Together they satisfy all the demands of the child's nature in respect both to mental and physical culture, and lay the surest foundation for all subsequent education in school and in life.

       The time of occupation in the Kindergarten is three or four hours on each week day, usually from 1) to 12 or 1 o'clock; and the time allotted to each separate occupation, including the changes from one to another, is from twenty to thirty minutes. Movement plays, so called, in which the children imitate the flying of birds, swimming of fish, the motions of sowing, mowing, threshing, etc., in connection with light gymnastics and vocal exercises, alternate with the plays performed in a sitting posture. All occupations that can be engaged in out of doors, are carried on in the garden whenever the season and weather permit.

       For the reason that the various occupations, as previously stated, are so intimately connected, glowing, as it were, out of each other, they are introduced very gradually, so as to afford each child ample time to become sufficiently prepared for the next step, without interfering, however, with the rapid progress of such as are of a more advanced age, or endowed with stronger or better developed faculties.

       The following is a list of the gifts or material and means of occupation in the Kindergarten, each of which will be specified and described separately hereafter.

       There are altogether twenty gifts, according to Froebel's general definition of the term, although the first six only are usually designated by this name. We choose to follow the classification and nomenclature of the great inventor of the system.

LIST OF FROEBEL'S 20 GIFTS:

1. Six rubber balls, covered with a net work of twine or worsted of various colors.
2. Sphere, cube and cylinder, made of wood.
3. Large cube, consisting of eight small cubes.
4. Large cube, consisting of eight oblong parts.
5. Large cube, consisting of whole, half, and quarter cubes.
6. Large cube consisting of doubly divided oblongs.
7. Square and triangular tablets for laying of figures.
8. Sticks for laying of figures.
9. Whole and half rings for laying of figures.
10. Material for drawing.
11. Material for perforating.
12. Material for embroidering.
13. Material for cutting of paper and combining pieces.
14. Material for braiding.
15. Slats for interlacing.
16. The slat with many links.
17. Material for intertwining.
18. Material for paper folding.
19. Material for peas-work.
20. Material for modeling.

Dolch Word Lists

       The Dolch word list is a list of frequently used English words compiled by Edward William Dolch, a major proponent of the "whole-word" method of beginning reading instruction. The list was prepared in 1936 and was originally published in his book Problems in Reading in 1948.

       Dolch compiled the list based on children's books of his era, which is why nouns such as "kitty" and "Santa Claus" appear on the list instead of more high-frequency words. The list contains 220 "service words" that have to be easily recognized in order to achieve reading fluency in the English language. The compilation excludes nouns, which comprise a separate 95-word list. Between 50% and 75% of all words used in schoolbooks, library books, newspapers, and magazines are a part of the Dolch basic sight word vocabulary.

       These lists of words are still assigned for memorization in American elementary schools. Although most of the 220 Dolch words are phonetic, children are sometimes told that they can't be "sounded out" using common sound-to-letter implicit phonics patterns and have to be learned by sight; hence the alternative term, "sight word". The list is divided according to the grades in which it was intended that children would memorize these words.

Pre-primer: (40 words) a, and, away, big, blue, can, come, down, find, for, funny, go, help, here, I, in, is, it, jump, little, look, make, me, my, not, one, play, red, run, said, see, the, three, to, two, up, we, where, yellow, you

Primer: (52 words) all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, did, do, eat, four, get, good, have, he, into, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, there, they, this, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes

1st Grade: (41 words) after, again, an, any, as, ask, by, could, every, fly, from, give, giving, had, has, her, him, his, how, just, know, let, live, may, of, old, once, open, over, put, round, some, stop, take, thank, them, then, think, walk, were, when

2nd Grade: (46 words) always, around, because, been, before, best, both, buy, call, cold, does, don't, fast, first, five, found, gave, goes, green, its, made, many, off, or, pull, read, right, sing, sit, sleep, tell, their, these, those, upon, us, use, very, wash, which, why, wish, work, would, write, your

3rd Grade: (41 words) about, better, bring, carry, clean, cut, done, draw, drink, eight, fall, far, full, got, grow, hold, hot, hurt, if, keep, kind, laugh, light, long, much, myself, never, nine, only, own, pick, seven, shall, show, six, small, start, ten, today, together, try, warm

Dolch Listing of Nouns: (95 words) apple, baby, back, ball, bear, bed, bell, bird, birthday, boat, box, boy, bread, brother, cake, car, cat, chair, chicken, children, Christmas, coat, corn, cow, day, dog, doll, door, duck, egg, eye, farm, farmer, father, feet, fire, fish, floor, flower, game, garden, girl, good-bye, grass, ground, hand, head, hill, home, horse, house, kitty, leg, letter, man, men, milk, money, morning, mother, name, nest, night, paper, party, picture, pig, rabbit, rain, ring, robin, Santa Claus, school, seed, sheep, shoe, sister, snow, song, squirrel, stick, street, sun, table, thing, time, top, toy, tree, watch, water, way, wind, window, wood

Little Stories by Little Folks

      Celebrating Valentine's Day in school doesn't only need to include simple crafts and art lessons. This popular holiday affords wonderful opportunities to teach literary and handwriting lessons as well. Young students may be taught simple things like how to write their names and how to address a simple letter to a friend.

• Making valentines is a great activity for your children 
• Valentines Day Theme for Preschool
• How to make writing Valentine cards a learning experience for your pre-school child
• LessonPix: Valentines Day
• Helping your child write valentines for classmates

      As students graduate into higher grades, they should be given writing assignments like the example that I've included below. Writing longer letters to loved ones, writing stories for a contest or even writing a review about a simple Valentine story or film are all simple ways to plan for developing student literacy skills during St. Valentine's Day.

• Activities for Valentine's Day: these may be incorporated into a larger lesson
• Valentine's Day Literacy Unit: Common Core 4th and 5th Grade
• Valentine's Day Common Core Literacy - Original Stories and Activities for 4th Grade

      This selection of short stories appeared in "The Omaha Sunday Bee: February 20, 1910. American newspapers frequently promoted writing contests for young people 100 years ago. Books were usually given as first and second prizes. How do the writing skills of the children below compare with your students in the classroom today? These former students were in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade.

Rules For Young Writers

1. Write plainly on one side of the paper only and number the pages.
2. Use pen and ink, not pencil
3. Short and pointed articles will be given preferences. Do not use over 250 words.
4. Original stories or letters only will be used.
5. Write your name, age and address at the top of the first page.

First and second prizes of books will be given for the best two contributions to this page each week. Address all communications to Children's Department, Omaha Bee

(1rst Prize)

The Quarrel

By Aline Mitten, Aged 12 Years,

Tekamah, Nebraska

      One day the moon and stars were having a party. They were eating supper, when the moon said: "I think I am the greatest because I light up the paths for people to walk in and everybody looks up to me and trys to find the beautiful lady in the moon and sometimes they try to find the children." "Oh, well," said the stars, "you can brag all you want to but think of us. We help to light up the paths ad people look up at us and try to find the big and little dippers"

      Just then the sun stepped in and said: "It is all very well to talk, but listen to me. I light up all the world in the day time and the vegetables, flowers and trees look to me for light and assistance and I help to make the beautiful summer."

      Thus the quarrel ended and they all went to their homes in the heavens. 

      When the sun went home its mother said: "I am ashamed of you for bragging. and hereafter I shall make your time shorter." And that is why the sun sets in the evening.

(2nd Prize)

How the Gold Ring Was Lost and Found

By Marie Pendleton, Aged 11 Years,

Lexington, Nebraska

Marie Pendleton, Lexington, Neb.

            Little Jack was almost a year old, but he could not walk a step or speak a word. All he could do was to sit upon the floor and play with blocks, and make his rubber doll squeak. One morning his mamma was going to make preserves, so she took off her gold ring and put it on the table in the dining room. Then she left Jack there on the floor wile she went into the kitchen. Pretty soon Daisy, the white kitten, came in and jumped upon the table. When she saw the ring she whisked it off, rolled it over the floor and had a fine time. At last as she was pushing it about in a corner it sunk into a small hole in the carpet that a moth had made. She tried to get it again, but by and by it slipped clear out of sight. After she had done this she strolled out of the house. Jack had watched her movements, but as he could not talk he was unable to report her wrong-doing. When his mamma looked for her ring she could not find it anywhere and she felt very sorry. For nearly three months that ring lay in its snug hiding place. During the time Jack had been growing and learning a great deal. He could get all around the floor now. One day when he was creeping in the corner he found the tiny moth-hole and put his finger into it. Then he would often go there and do the same thing, till the hole grew larger. At last he saw something shining down among the loose threads and he pulled out the lost ring. He crept to his mamma and held it up to her and, oh, how surprised she was! "Where did Jack get it?" she exclaimed. Then he crept back into the corner and showed her the hole in the carpet; but she could not think how the ring ever got there. When his sister, Wenonoha, came from school and heard about it, she said,"I believe Daisy was the rogue that lost it, for yesterday she pushed my ring off the table and rolled it over the floor for a long time." So they agreed that this was the way the mischief had been done.

(Honorable Mention)

The Diamond Dipper

By Ruth Bailey, Aged 11 Years

Alvo, Nebraska

      One upon a time it was very hot and very dry. No rain had fallen for days and days. The birds had stopped singing and the animals were dying for want of water. All people were praying for rain.
      One morning a little girl started out to find some water for her sick mother. In her hand she carried a tin dipper. She climbed a hill hoping to find a spring. Up and up she climbed. The sharp stones cut her feet. Their strange shapes filled her with fear, but she thought of her sick mother and would not turn back. At last she came to a great wall of rocks and could go no further.
      "Oh, that some good fairy would show me!" she cried. Then a beautiful fairy stood before her in a robe like the clouds at sunset. She pointed to a narrow path among the rocks. The child followed the path and soon came to a spring hidden under green fern leaves. She filled her dipper to the brim.
      The little girl hurried home, with a happy heart, and gave the water to her mother. The gentle mother raised the dipper to her lips, but she did not drink. "My faithful nurse, let her drink first," she said.
      As she gave the dipper to the nurse it was changed into a diamond. Afterward the dipper could never be found. On night the little girl was looking at the stars and saw her dipper.

Abraham Lincoln
By Hazel Nelson, Aged 12 Years
Omaha, Nebraska

      Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, February 12, 1809. His father's name was Thomas Lincoln. He was a lazy man. Abe's mother's name was Nancy Hanks. She was a kind hearted woman, but not educated. Little Abe went to backwood schools. He was very fond of reading books, such as Aesop's Fables, the Bible and other books.

      Abraham had to split rails and do all kinds of work. In 1816 the family moved to Indiana and in 1830 they moved to Illinois. Abraham had a sister named Sarah Lincoln. She was older then he. When Abraham was 10 years old his mother died. His father made a casket, dug a hole and buried her. Abe was found many and many a time at his mother's grave weeping and crying with grief and sorrow. When Abraham was 16 years old he clerked in a country store.

       Once a woman came in and bought some things and paid for them and went home. Abraham counted the money and he saw she had given him 2 cents more then she should have. And when he went home he walked eight miles with the 2 cents, just to show how thoughtful he was.

      One day his father went away alone and come home with his second wife, Mrs. Sarah Bush. She was very well educated. Abraham married a girl named Mary Todd. She had four children, one still living in Chicago. He is president of the Pullman Car company. His name is Robert Todd Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was president of the United States in the years of 1861 to 1865. He was shot in Ford's theater April 14, 1865, and died April 15, 1865. His memory is kept by celebrating his birthday, February 12.

The Dialogue
By Ina Smith, Aged 12 Years
Tekamah, Nebraska

      "Silence," said Miss Dixon. "Have you seen the program for the literary society. You know it is Friday, and you have four days to get it in." Two hands went up, "Helen, go up and see." "Jeanettea and John are on for a dialogue," said Helen.

      This was in the afternoon, and the night Jeannetta called John on the telephone and asked about the dialogue. He said he wouldn't have it and had asked the program committee to change it. "All right, you see Miss Dixon about it," said Jeannetta. Next morning John told Jeannetta that Miss Dixon said they had to have it. "But I intend to keep the dialogue book and say nothing about it," he added. Jeannetta wasn't anxious for the dialogue and said no more about it. Friday afternoon came and the program went nicely until the secretary called for Jeannetta's and John's dialogue. John answered, "Not prepared." Miss Dixon questioned him and said, "Mr. Barnes will see Jeannetta and John in the office immediately." Jeannetta and John followed to the office. Mr. Barnes took twenty-five off their grade and had them recite the dialogue the next Monday. You may be sure they never neglected to prepare their part for the literary society again.

Helping Mother
By Esther Knight, Aged 12 Years
Omaha, Nebraska

      Alice liked to play very much and did not like to work. She would go out with her friends early in the morning and play all day; so one day her mother was very ill and Alice went out to play anyway, and when it was drawing toward lunch time Alice grew hungry, and the other girls went home. She went in the house and her brother had come home for dinner and told Alice she would get a scolding form her father, so Alice hurried and got the best lunch she could, and her mother was ill for a long time and Alice had to keep house, and she liked to so well that Alice always helped her mother ever after.

Ariel's Captivity and Freedom
By Ann Axtell, Aged 9 Years
Omaha, Nebraska

      Once, long ago, there lived on an enchanted island an old witch named Asair. 

      There were may sprites on this island, such as sprites of water, sprites of song, but the one I am going to tell about is Ariel, a delicate little sprite of air which the old witch held in captivity because he would not run on her hateful errands.

      He was shut up in a pine tree and left to moan to the winds. By and by the old witch Asair died, leaving Ariel shut up in the pine tree.

      But after long years a man named Orlando was cast upon the island.

      Orlando was kind of a magician, and he soon set Ariel free.

The Valentine Party 

By Esther Knight, Aged 12 Years

Davenport, Omaha

      It was two days before Valentine's day and Grace and Bol Taylor were going to have a party. Grace and Bol were  twins and they were 8 years old. Their mamma had planned to give them a good time because they had never had a party before. Grace wrote invitations and Bol took them to the houses. There were going to be three girls and three boys, so that just made six children. The day came at last and the children woke up very early that morning to help. It was going to be a lovely day, so the children helped all they could, and a half and hour before the children came Grace and Bol got all ready and sat down in the parlor waiting. Well the visitors came one by one until all were there. They played nice valentine games and then at lunch Mrs. Taylor cut paper napkins in two pieces and pasted them to each child and they had to find partners in this way, the ones that napkins matched were partners. Well they had a delightful time and Grace and Bol did too. When each child was ready to leave Grace and Bol gave each one a very pretty valentine and they never afterward forgot that lovely valentine party.

Maggie's Valentine

By Dorothy Taylor, Aged 9 Years

Abbott, Nebraska

      It was St. Valentine's day and Maggie was waiting to get some valentines from her schoolmates. Every year she had got valentines, and she expected some this year. Every time her father went to the postoffice and came back there were no valentines. She had sent all of her friends a valentine and wondered why they did not send her any. She went to the nursery and sat down by the window. Hardly had she taken her seat when the doorbell rang. Maggie went to the door and there was a big pile of valentines. They were all very pretty. Some had lace around the edges. The one she liked best was a plain card with a verse written on it.

      It was from a poor little girl named Kate Smith. Maggie saw her friends running away from the house as fast as they could run. And now you see'all of Maggie's friends sent her a valentine. Maggie was sure they had forgot it was Valentine's day.

May's Surprise Party

By Anna Voss, Aged 12 Years

Grand Island, Nebraska

      Mary's birthday was the next day and she was to be 9 years old. So May went to mother and asked her if she could have a party and Mrs. Jones (May's mother) said, "No, dear: go and play and be a nice girl." 

      May ran off to play. So Mrs. Jones thought she would have a surprise party on May and have eight girls about the age of May, and May would be the ninth girl, as that was May's age. So Mrs. Jones wrote the invitations and sent them to the girls. When the next day came all the girls were to arrive at 2:30 o'clock and it was now 2 o'clock. So Mrs. Jones called May to her and told her her brother was going to take her for a ride and May enjoyed her ride very much, and when she came home she found the parlor full of girls. They played lots of games and lunch was served and when the girls were going home they said they never had such a good time as they had then. When night came May told her mother that she was glad that she did as her mother told her.

The Valentines

By Helen Verrill, Age 13 Years

Omaha, Nebraska

      Emmit and Ellen were brother and sister. They were very poor and lived in a two-room hut with their mother.

     It was two days before Valentine's day and Emmit and Ellen were very sure St. Valentine wouldn't forget them. So when the day before Valentine's day came, the children wrote a letter to St. Valentine and asked him not to forget them. They put their address in the letter and put it out on the window sill. The wind blew it away and it landed in a yard where a rich little girl lived. Her name was Ethel. She saw the letter and ran down and got it. She read it and then called her maid and went down town. She bought lots of valentines and early on Valentine's day went over to see the children. When they saw all the valentines they were very happy.

      The next day Ethel's mother went over to see Emmit and Ellen's mother. She engaged their mother to come and be the housekeeper and live there with her children. She went there the next day and you may be sure Emmit and Ellen gave valentines to other poor children and made them happy. 

      What Ethel and Emmit and Ellen had, and they were always treated as Ethel's brother and sister, and were very happy.  

How Harry Spent Valentine's Day 

By George Nicholson, King Bee. Age 13

Abbott, Nebraska

      It was Valentine's day and a boy named Harry was sitting looking out of the window in his home. He was wondering if he would get any valentines. Harry had sent some to a lot of his schoolmates. As he was sitting at the window he heard a knock at the door, he ran to the door and opened it, and he saw two valentines laying on the floor. He looked up and down the street to see who had left the valentines, but he could not see anybody, so he went back into the house and looked at the valentines. Harry knew who had sent one of them, because he could tell by the writing, so Harry got a valentine and took it over an hour and when he got back to his house he found a lot of valentines there. He looked at them all, but he could not tell who had sent them. As Harry went to school the next day he met a lot of boys. They asked him if he had gotten any valentines. Harry told them he had gotten a lot. They said they had too. They told Harry that they had sent some to him. Harry told them that he knew who had sent them now.

The Fairy Queen
By Margaret Matthews, Aged 9 Years
Omaha, Nebraska

      There was once a fairy queen, She was very kind and lived in the middle of dense woods, and she had power to do everything. When little children got lost she would send a flying horse to them and it would bring them to her palace. Her palace was of gold and the furniture was made of silver. She had beautiful pictures hanging on the walls. The palace was so large one could not see it all in less than one day. Every one who came to her palace wanted to stay there. One evening when she was sitting on the plaza enjoying the cool air, she heard her magic gong ring. This was how she know some one was lost. Immediately she sent her flying horse to find them. When he came back he was carrying a little girl about 10. She had yellow, flossy curls and blue eyes. The queen took her to a beautiful room. She told her to ring the bell at the side of the door if she wanted anything. The next morning she got up and saw before her a table covered with lovely things for breakfast. After breakfast the queen told the little girl she must start on her journey again. So the queen gave her a piece of paper and told her not to lose it or she would get lost again. Later in the morning the gong rang again. When her flying horse came back he was carrying a little girl that looked the same as the other one. She asked the queen if she would let her go to her sister. She said her sister looked just like her, and they bother were going to their home. She said they were daughters of the king and queen of the nearest city. The queen gave her a paper and told her not to lose it and she would find her sister. The little girl went away and soon found her sister. They said, "Let's go back to the fairy queen's palace. So they did. When they got back into the woods they got lost. The flying horse was sent. They rode to the palace and the queen asked them why they went back into the woods, and they told her. The queen asked them why they did not want to go home. They said their father and mother did not love them and sent them away. So the queen let them stay there. They lived happily ever after.

The School Lunch

      The school lunch is the problem. It is a subject over which mothers are waxing warm in the mothers' clubs, over which doctors are theorizing, over which teachers are fretting. It is the question of the hour in hygienic circles; and all the while the innocent little tummy accepts what is offered it, never realizing that the school lunch is disturbing grown-up heads.

      What shall young America carry in the school lunch basket?

      In the first place, doctors have firmly agreed that it shall not carry the lunch basket at all if it is a possible thing to reach home in time for a warm lunch. The cold lunch is an indigestible affair at best compared with a bowl of hot soup or a plate of steaming stew or rare steak. But what can't be made of a bad thing is worth while.

      There seems to be a vast difference between the cold lunch that is and the cold lunch that ought to be.

      Pickles and ice cream make a popular combination. You can get 5 cents' worth of pickles, chemically vinegared. You can get 5 cents' worth of ice cream at the little store next door, where they sell candy and prize packages and chewing gum and striped lead pencils. You can buy all of these if your money holds out.

      Miss Casey, principal of the Lafayette Primary School, says that she has seen this sort of thing happen many a time, sometimes in her own school and more often she has known of it in other schools when the bakeries and the candy shops were nearer. Children are started off to school without a lunch. It is too far to go home. So paper or mamma hands out a little money and says, "Buy your lunch."

Twelve o'clock has come at Redding Primary,
by Stanford

      Perhaps the amount is only a nickel or perhaps it is much larger. The more the worse in many cases. As soon as the bell has rung and the lines have passed out the proud possessor of the cost races down the street to the nearest attractive shop.

      Maybe there is a beautiful pink cake in the window with little shells of frosting all around the edge and jelly in the cracks. Maybe the loaf costs two bits and maybe the luncher has just that amount. It takes less then two minutes to own the cake and not much longer to shove it down. Here endeth the lunch and likewise here beginneth the dyspepsia.

      Or maybe it is a pie that tempts, a lemon pie, brave with billows of meringue. Heaven help young American when this is the sum total of its lunch.

      Miss Casey says that she has seen a little tot that possessed just one nickel spend it for candy and make an entire meal on the purchase. It is like the things that little girls and boys wish for in day dreams, but it is not hygienic.

      Mrs. Walker, principal of the Marshall Primary School, says: "I wish we could see the school lunch basket containing bread and jelly and good, sensible sandwiches made of lamb, roast beef or corned beef. It ought to have a bottle of milk instead of coffee. Plenty of fruit should be in it. And no cakes--none whatever. This matter of the school lunch is worth thinking about."

      All the principals and the doctors seem to say the same thing about coffee and milk. Off with the former, on with the latter. Although Miss Deane of the Redding Primary finds that her flock is inclined to the milk tipple for the most part. "On the whole they seem to bring sensible things," she says. "Sandwiches, milk and fruit are the chief articles."

      Mrs. M. M. Murphy of the Irving Scott Primary School says: "It isn't so much what is put up for the children as how it is put up that I want to find fault with. For instance, they have meat sandwiches, which sounds well enough, but some of them are enough to frighten any appetite just to look at them. Great chunks of bread on each side of an ungainly chunk of meat. Ugh! I don't see how the poor little things eat them. I know I couldn't touch a crumb of them."

      Dr. Mary Page Campbell was asked to discuss the ideal school lunch from the physician's standpoint and this is what she said:

      "It's hard to talk about the ideal basket lunch when there is nothing ideal about such a meal. Every child should go home to lunch. This is the sort of thing, however, that is a waste of breath to talk about and I am practical enough to realize that. Many children live so far from home that they cannot possibly get home, eat and return in the time allowed. Or if they do they will have to bolt the meal so rapidly that it is worse than a cold lunch.

     "In Boston the problem has been solved, or partially so, by the little lunch stations near the school buildings where soup is sold to the children for so small a sum that it is possible to all. It is good, wholesome, steaming hot soup that does the little bodies good from top to toe. This furnishes the heat which nature craves in a meal, and cold adjuncts can be carried in a basket.

      "Some day I hope to see a kettle of good soup raising a hearty steam within sight of every San Francisco school. But until that comes about we must face the problem as it stands. Hundreds of our children carry a cold lunch to school.

      "What shall the basket contain?

      "In the first place, there should be something to drink with the meal, and this something should be milk. A bottle of fresh milk can easily be put up in the morning. It is far less trouble than coffee because there is no cooking about it. Let the bottle of cold coffee be tabooed. It is absolutely unwholesome. If the child has acquired a liking for it, then the taste is unwholesome and should be overcome.

       "Let the basis of the lunch be bread and butter and sandwiches. Cut the bread thin and spread it thinly. There is a great deal in putting up a lunch daintily. Perhaps it does seem as if children are willing to eat anything, they are so much more the gourmand and less the gourmet than their parents. But nevertheless they are affected by the way their food is prepared. Their appetite will be keener and the benefit from the food greater if it is tempting instead of mussy.

      "The sandwiches may be made of good, tender meat; of cheese, or of nuts. Cheese and nuts contain an immense amount of condensed nourishment. If the little folks care for it there is not the least harm in letting them have a pickle, but it must be a good pickle; not one of the ordinary grocery store kind, put up in some kind of chemical vinegar, but one that you know is to be seasoned with pure spices and pure vinegar.

      "Now for the lunch basket cup. This cup (or, better yet a jelly glass with a tightly fitted cover) may be made the charm of the basket, for it may reveal a delightful surprise every day to tempt the young appetite. Don't say that it is too much bother to think up new dainties. Set your wits to work. The result will pay.

      "Different forms of sage, rice and tapioca can be put into the little glass jar. These may be the simplest and wholesomest puddings, slightly sweetened. They are full of nourishment and palatable as well.

      "Macaroni is another idea for your cup. It may be cooked with either tomatoes or cheese.

      A little meat pie, with a light, flaky crust, is delicious and wholesome, too. When the youngster carries this he won't need meat sandwiches. Bread and butter is enough. Try to make the parts of the lunch harmonize in this way, just as much as if you were preparing a menu for guests.
      "Mayonnaise is an article that I sometimes hear people speaking of as too rich for children. It is nothing of the kind. What could be more valuable than eggs and olive oil? Don't be so afraid of foods of this kind-- the children are not inclined to eat any great amount of them if left to their own devices. Mayonnaise is good on many kinds of sandwiches, but it is better to let the child carry it in a little cup and spread it when noon arrives, as it soaks into the bread if it stands long, becoming unpalatable.
      "Children need sweets for fuel. Remember that every morning when you pack the basket. The sweets should be furnished in very moderate quantities, but they should not be forgotten or condemned. A slice of light sponge cake or a few simple cookies are best. With the cake should be plenty of fruit, and so you have a good dessert.
      Bear in mind the value of a varied bill of fare. This involves much thought, but it is entirely possible. A cold lunch is at best, less cheerful than a meal at a table. Do your best to brighten the basket by frequent novelties. And wrap each article separately so that flavors won't mix and make an unappetizing mess of the whole." San Francisco Call, April 19, 1903

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