Chapter II: Part 2

The supper table can be decorated very prettily for a St. Patrick’s party with green-shaded candles and ferns. After the lively games the “company” will enjoy creamed chicken with peas, potato chips (it wouldn’t be a St. Patrick’s supper without potatoes!), cakes with pistachio icing, green mint candy, and although pistachio ice cream would carry out the green color plan, yet it would be better to have vanilla, as there are many who do not care for pistachio. It would be a good plan to have a little souvenir at each plate.

On Easter Monday be my guest
(I hope it will be clear and sunny);
We’ll play the games we like the best,
So come and bring your Easter bunny.

EASTER PARTY

THERE may be “Blue Mondays,” but surely Easter Monday is one of the brightest, happiest days that ever dawned. Of course you are anxious for your friends to see the Easter gifts which you have received, so if mother is willing, send out your invitations for an Easter party, not forgetting to seal them with a lily seal.

For your party you will need colored tissue paper (as many different colors as you will have guests), also a small basket apiece, and plenty of little rabbits, chickens and eggs. Buy a couple of pounds of jelly eggs, and have ready a medium-sized, shallow basket. If this is a “girls’” party, have ready eggshells from which the egg has been blown, also scissors and paste. Don’t forget a little gift for a prize, and be sure to have for each guest an egg, upon which his or her name is marked.

Before the children arrive, wrap the chickens, rabbits and eggs separately in the colored tissue paper, the same number in each color, and hide them about the room. Hide the jelly eggs, too, but of course these need not be wrapped.

Then you can begin your party with an “Easter hunt.” Give each child a basket to gather “treasures” in, but (this is important!) he can only keep articles wrapped in the color with which his basket is tied. Of course with jelly eggs, “finding’s keeping.” Next in order comes “Tossing Eggs.” This sounds startling, but jelly eggs won’t make any trouble. Place the basket at one end of the room. Now, let each child stand nine feet distant and try to throw twelve jelly eggs into the basket. The one who is the best marksman wins a prize.

A race with the small Easter eggs is “run” just in the same way as a potato race, except that teaspoons are used instead of tablespoons.

The girls will enjoy trying their millinery skill by making tissue paper caps or bonnets for the Easter eggshells, and mother can decide which “egg lady” deserves a prize.

The supper table for the Easter party can be made very pretty indeed. A hen on a nest will be a good centerpiece, and scattered here and there on the table place fluffy little ducks and chickens. Your guests will greatly enjoy creamed chicken with peas, deviled eggs, ice cream in the form of lilies, or in lily paper cases, bonbons and fancy cakes.

RABBIT PARTY

YOUR older sister will tell you that she knows all about rabbit parties, and that for this festivity you will require cheese and a chafing dish. But she’s very much mistaken, even if she has been to college. What you must have for your rabbit party is a sheet with a rabbit drawn on it, and a pair of cloth ears to pin on the rabbit. You’ll also need a small candy rabbit, some modeling clay (and aprons!) and three prizes, but these are all, for this isn’t a college party.

Of course your invitations have been written on paper which is decorated with a bunny.

Your first game can be the rabbit contest, and for this let each child in turn be blindfolded and try to pin the ears on the rabbit. A prize will reward the one who pins them the nearest to their proper place.

Next snip out with sharp scissors two small holes for the rabbit’s eyes. Divide the children into two groups, and let the first group go “behind the scenes.” Then one after another can look through the rabbit’s eyes, and the outside group must try to guess who owns each pair of eyes. It is harder than you would think. Then the groups can change places, and the second group be guessers.

Next get out your modeling clay and aprons, and the whole party can model rabbits. The sculptor of the most life-like rabbit will of course deserve a prize.

“Magic Music,” or “Rabbit Hunt,” is the next game. Choose some one to leave the room. Then hide the candy rabbit, and mother will begin to play softly. The “hunter” must be guided by the music, which is soft as he is far from the hiding place, but grows loud when he is near. If there is time before supper, the children can “settle down,” while mother reads aloud a “B’rer Rabbit” story.

“B’rer Rabbit” is king of the supper table, too, for he sits proudly in the center, holding pink ribbons like reins in his hands. These ribbons run to each place and are fastened to whatever souvenirs you have chosen to give your friends. “Baby Bunting” dolls would be nice for them.

For refreshments, serve sandwiches, rabbit cookies, candy, salted nuts and ice cream in rabbit forms.

MAY DAY PARTY (Outdoors)

IT does seem as if May Day ought to be spent in the woods and fields, under bright blue skies. So if the weather man will be so very obliging as to prophesy a mild May Day, why then let’s off to the woods for a May Day party. Ask your guests to bring baskets for gathering flowers, and it would be a good plan to have a trowel with you to dig up ferns and plants.

If you can have your May party near a brook, a boat race would be a great deal of fun, and you can provide boats for your guests. “Still Pond” is a good game for a May party, and so is “Puss in the Corner.”

Mother will pack up a picnic luncheon for you, and the “first picnic” of the season will surely be a success.

MAY DAY

MAY DAY always makes us think of a May pole, and May dance, and a pretty queen crowned with flowers. But May Day is apt to be chilly and disagreeable, so you couldn’t very well think of tripping around the May pole with your winter coat and your overshoes on. But how about a Sunshine May party for your Sunday-school class? If mother is willing, invite your teacher, the girls (for this is a girls’ party. We’re sorry, boys, but you really wouldn’t enjoy this!) Buy some colored crepe paper and a couple of dozen round paper cases such as are sold for fifteen cents a dozen. Paste and scissors will be needed also. When your friends come you can all busy yourselves making May baskets from the crepe paper and the paper cases.

When they are all finished they may be filled with spring flowers and sent to a children’s hospital. Wouldn’t you enjoy a pretty little basket of flowers if you were sick?

Then it will be a simple matter to “clear up” and set the table for afternoon tea. But perhaps the “best mother that ever was” has decorated the table in the dining-room with spring flowers, and has prepared an appetizing supper of creamed chicken, peas, potato chips, cake and tutti-frutti jelly. That would be better, even, than afternoon tea!

On Fourth of July, please be my guest,
But don’t fix up in your Sunday best!
The reason you know, I well suppose,
You can’t have fun in your Sunday clothes.

FOURTH OF JULY PARTY

MOTHER will highly approve of a Fourth of July without fireworks, and when you ask to have a Fourth of July lawn party she will be quite sure to say “Yes.” If you haven’t note paper with a firecracker in the corner, why, you can get out your box of paints and do the decorating yourself. A red firecracker isn’t hard to draw and paint. For this party you will need two dozen tiny flags (the paper ones will do nicely), two tape measures, three shallow baskets, of different sizes, three red, three white and three blue bean bags, an archery set, with red, white and blue target. Beside all these, have on hand plenty of candy torpedoes, and as many red, white and blue baskets as you have invited children. Don’t forget to have several prizes ready.

An archery contest will be a great deal of fun, and you can use a gun (instead of a bow) with rubber-tipped arrows. Each circle in the target counts a certain number of points, and mother will probably consent to be score keeper.

Next comes a “soldier” game. Divide the children into two companies, and let each company stand in a row, facing the other, with a line drawn on the ground between them. The first row sing, to the tune of “Mulberry Bush,”

Soldiers are we who fight the foe,
Fight the foe, fight the foe,
Soldiers are we who fight the foe,
So early in the morning.

The second row sing:

Who will you send to fight the foe,
Fight the foe, fight the foe,
Who will you send to fight the foe,
So early in the morning?

The first company answer:

O, we’ll send Jimmy to fight the foe, etc.

The second company then sing:

And we’ll send Tommy to capture him,
Capture him, capture him, etc.

Jimmy and Tommy join hands across the line for a tug of war, and whichever one is pulled over must join the enemy’s forces. At the end of fifteen minutes the side which has the most “soldiers” wins.

Next comes “bean bag toss.” Arrange the three shallow baskets one inside the other, and let each child stand ten feet distant. Now, he must toss the bean bags into the baskets, and a bag which falls in the center basket counts fifteen, in the next, ten, and in the outer one, five. Give a prize to the child who wins the most points.

After this you can have a flag race. Choose two of your guests and give each twelve flags and a tape measure. The flags must be set in the ground one foot apart, and the one who has his row set out first wins. The children can run in couples, then the winners should race, and the victorious “flag planter” should be rewarded with a prize.

Next you will all enjoy a torpedo hunt. Distribute the baskets, and if you search in the grass, and among the bushes, and on the piazza, you will find torpedoes hidden. These won’t “go off,” but, better yet, they are filled with candy.

By this time you will be wondering if it isn’t supper time, and, sure enough, mother appears to lead the way. The table has been set in patriotic style, with red, white and blue paper tablecloth and napkins. At each place have a tall “cannon cracker” filled with bonbons, and in the center of the table may be a red, white and blue “Jack Horner” pie. Tricolor ribbons run from this to each place and are attached to a place card. Serve sandwiches, ice cream, lemonade and cake. After you have finished, draw your ribbons, and out of the pie will come a gift wrapped in red, white or blue paper.

Mother may be tired from the “party,” but she will be happier than if you had been playing with firecrackers all day. Just ask her!

’Tis Hallowe’en, when witches fly
On broomstick steeds across the sky,
When sheeted ghosts in silence stalk,
And goblins in the garden walk.

HALLOWE’EN PARTY

ALTHOUGH mother says that you are not old enough to stay up late for a Hallowe’en frolic, very likely she’ll let you have a party in the afternoon. You can darken the rooms and have just as good a time as if it were an evening party. Now’s the time to go to your “dress-up” trunk or barrel and get out all the treasures you have put away there. Buy masks, so that each of your friends will have one, for it wouldn’t be Hallowe’en without “dressing up,” would it?

Have ready a rather shallow box (about six inches deep) filled with sawdust, and in this box bury a number of gifts—one for each child whom you have invited. You will need a small shovel, too.

Have ready also several quarts of peanuts, plenty of red apples, and the favors which come in the form of walnuts. These you can make yourself, if you like, by cracking walnuts carefully so that the halves will be perfect. Place inside the shell one of the printed “fortunes,” which you can buy, and glue the two halves of the shell together. If you make the “magic” walnuts yourself, only do one at a time, or else you will have trouble putting the halves of the shell together.

When your friends arrive you can invite them to “dress up” in the masks and clothes which you have ready, and then you can have a jolly time playing “Going to Jerusalem,” “Spin the Platter,” “Magic Music” and others. Then all can unmask.

Now invite your guests to sit down at small tables, or they may all draw up before a large table, and give each twenty peanuts, a saucer and a long hat pin. When the signal is given, each must spear the peanuts, one at a time, with the hat pin, and put them in the saucer. This is quite a good deal harder than it sounds. A prize should reward the one who finishes first.

Next fill a tumbler with flour, press it down tightly and turn it out in a mold. Stick a dime (which you have washed) in the top of this mold and set it on a small table. Form in line and march around the table, and each in turn must cut a slice from the mold, straight down. Whosever slice makes the mold fall in, must lift out the dime with his teeth.

Shadow pictures will be a great deal of fun. Stretch a sheet across the room and divide the company into two groups. Arrange a light so that shadow pictures can be made on the screen. Now let the first group go “behind the scenes,” and one after the other pass between the light and the curtain. The audience must guess “Who’s who,” so, of course, the others must try to fix themselves up so that their shadows will not be recognized. After all of the first group have been guessed, the second group can be “actors.”

“Bobbing for apples” means a tub of water and a great deal of splashing, so mother would probably say “No.” Instead, hang the apples on strings from the ceiling, and try to bite them, while your hands are tied behind you.

When you are tired of this, announce a “Trip to the Klondike.” Lead the way to your sawdust box and let each in turn dig till he finds a gift wrapped in yellow paper.

You’ll be ready for supper by this time, and when you see the dining-room table you’ll say “Oh!” Mother will have a yellow pumpkin jack-o’-lantern in the center, and here and there over the table she has placed little black cats, and doll witches and brownies. The sandwiches will be served on wooden plates decorated with black cats. Beside these, she will have for you gingerbread, cookies, nuts, fruits and nut candies. Of course, she hasn’t forgotten the Hallowe’en cake in which is baked a thimble, a new penny and a ring.

Try this party and see what a good time you’ll have.

COLONIAL GARDEN PARTY

THIS is a girls’ party, and perhaps your Sunday-school class would enjoy giving it on the church lawn. You will need quaint, old-fashioned costumes, and very likely you can find them in the attic, in great-grandmother’s trunk. Ask mother to dress your hair high and powder it.

You and your classmates can serve old-time refreshments, such as frozen custard and pound cake, or “election” cake, fruit punch (which you can make like fruit lemonade) and ices.

Arrange a program of old-fashioned music, such as “Ben Bolt,” “Nancy Lee,” “Kathleen Mavourneen,” “Blue Bells of Scotland,” and others. Your musical friends will be glad to help you, and your teacher will take charge of the refreshments, while you and your classmates serve the guests. You can probably make quite a good deal of money by this party, especially if there are summer hotels in your town.

When we have eaten all we’re able,
And with regret must leave the table,
Let’s have some bright and lively jokes
To entertain the grown-up folks.

THANKSGIVING

AFTER the Thanksgiving dinner, it will be a good plan to have some lively games for the whole family. Otherwise it’s more than likely that you’ll get into some mischief, at least, the boys will. So here are some games which you’ll all enjoy:

First of all, suppose you try “It.” This is just as foolish as it sounds, but it makes a great deal of fun for all. Choose some person for “It.” He must leave the room, and when he comes in again, must do his best to make the others laugh. They, on their part, try their best not to, for the first who laughs becomes “It.” So the unfortunate “It” dresses up in some queer style and tries to win a smile from his audience, while they watch him very gravely. It is discouraging, indeed.

Suddenly there will be a titter, a giggle and then a burst of laughter from every one, and whoever starts the laughter must change places with “It.”

Next try “Telegrams.” This calls for pencils and paper. Give each player eight letters of the alphabet. From these letters he must arrange a telegram, each word of which must begin with the given letter. For instance, if the letters “S F M B H S A P” are given, the telegram may be, “Send for mother. Billy has swallowed a pin.”

Dumb Crambo is a good game for older people as well as young folks. Divide the company into two groups and let each choose a captain. One group must remain in the room, while the other goes out. The inside group decide on a word of one syllable which can be acted. Perhaps they choose “chat.” Then they tell the others that the word rhymes with “bat.” The second group tries to guess the word, but must act out their guesses in pantomime. They may try “hat” or “mat,” but not until they have acted “chat” will the others applaud them. Then the groups change places and the second group becomes audience.

“Spin the Platter” is a lively game for Thanksgiving afternoon. The players must draw up their chairs in a circle, and each must have a number, odd numbers for the boys and even numbers for the girls. One child stands in the center and spins a wooden plate or tray, calling at the same time a number. The one whose number is called jumps up and tries to catch the platter before it has stopped spinning, and if he fails to do this he must pay a forfeit.

Other games which you will enjoy playing on Thanksgiving afternoon will be found in the chapter on “Additional Games.”

So Thanksgiving afternoon, which you children are apt to find rather long, will pass very pleasantly, indeed.

A HOLLY LUNCHEON

WOULDN’T it be lovely if mother let you give a luncheon during the holidays? It would be quite “grown up.” A holly luncheon would be just the thing for Christmas week, and your friends would enjoy seeing all your pretty Christmas gifts. You can help mother decorate the table with holly. Have a large bowl of it in the center and a pretty spray at each place. Use holly napkins, of course. Here is a good menu for you:

Grape fruit (surrounded by holly sprays).
Tomato soup.
Breaded chops (with frill of red paper).
Tomato sauce. Peas.
Potatoes.
Vanilla ice cream (in form of snowballs).
Red and green buttercups. Fancy cakes.

ADDITIONAL GAMES—MENAGERIE

A NEW game which you will enjoy playing is called “Menagerie.” Choose one of the children for “keeper” and blindfold him. After he is blindfolded, each of the others must choose the name of some animal. The “animals” then form a circle around the keeper and march about him till he gives the order to “halt.” Then he calls for an animal to come into the “cage” (the circle), such as “bear.” The bear enters the circle and, standing near the keeper, growls. The keeper must guess the name of the child who is the bear, and if he fails he must be keeper again. If he guesses right the “bear” becomes the keeper. Each child, when called into the circle, must make the noise of the animal he represents.

CRITICISM

TO play criticism, choose one of the children to be criticised. Now let another child take pencil and paper and ask each one to whisper something about the child who was chosen, writing the remark down so as to remember it. Then he must read these sayings and the one who is criticised must guess who said them. For instance, Jack has asked every one to say something about Marjorie. When he has finished he turns to Marjorie. “Some one says you have pretty curls.” Marjorie guesses Edna.

Jack: “No, you are wrong. Some one says your blue sash is lovely.”

Marjorie: “Grace said that.”

If Grace was the one she must take Marjorie’s place.

Of course only pleasant things must be said about each other.

MUSICAL NEIGHBORS

THIS is an old-fashioned game which you will be sure to enjoy. Divide the company into two groups and blindfold one group. The blindfolded children must then be seated so that there is a vacant chair beside each of them. Then others must quietly sit down, so that beside each blindfolded child sits one who is not blindfolded. A chord is played on the piano and then a familiar tune, such as “Yankee Doodle.” All the children who are not blindfolded must sing and the blindfolded ones must guess from the voice who is sitting beside them. Whoever guesses right is allowed to remove the bandage from his eyes. Of course in singing each one tries to disguise his voice.

HUNT THE RING

STAND in a circle and hold a cord whose ends are joined together, having first slipped a ring on the cord. Choose some child to stand in the center of the circle. The ring is slipped from one to another, always keeping it hidden by the hands, and the one in the middle must catch hold of the hands of whoever has the ring. If he can catch a child with the ring really in his hands then that one must go in the center of the circle. Of course the ring must be slipped from one to another very quickly.

SLIP THE RULER

THIS is very much like “Hunt the Ring,” except that instead of standing in a circle you must sit down in a row. One child must stand in front of the row, while the others pass a ruler from hand to hand in regular order up and down the line. He must try and catch the ruler, and whoever is caught with it in his hands must exchange places with the other.

BEAST, BIRD OR FISH

THIS is a game in which you must think quickly. The leader of this game says, “Beast, bird or fish,” then quickly pointing to one child calls, “Fish! one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!” While he is counting ten the other must name some kind of a fish, and if he fails the leader has another chance. If he succeeds he becomes leader.

SHOUTING PROVERBS

THIS is a game which makes plenty of noise. Send one child from the room and choose some proverb, such as “A stitch in time saves nine.” Give each player one word of the proverb and call the “outsider” in. When he gives the signal you must each say your word, altogether. If he doesn’t guess from the noise what the proverb is, you must repeat it twice more for him. If he can’t guess then, he must go out again, and you choose another proverb.

BEANS

DIVIDE the children in two companies, standing in line, facing each other (like a spelling match). The leader of each line has a handful of beans, and when the signal is given the beans are passed down the line from one to the other. The last player places his in a bowl, and whichever side has the most, wins, for beans that have been dropped are not counted.

WHAT IS MY THOUGHT LIKE

PROBABLY grandmother played this game when she was your age, for it is very old. To begin the game, the leader asks each child in turn, “What is my thought like?” and each in turn mentions some object, such as a rose, a book, an orange, etc. Then the leader says, “I was thinking of Ethel.” Turning to the first child he says, “You said my thought was like a rose. Why is Ethel like a rose?” The answer might be, “Because she is pretty.”

The next is asked: “Why is she like an orange?” “Because I am fond of her.”

So each in turn must give some reason why Ethel is like the object he named.

POST

TO play Post arrange the chairs in a large circle, while one child, chosen for postman, stands blindfolded in the center of the circle. Each of the others must now take a name of some city or town. When ready to begin the postman calls,

“A letter is going from Washington to London,” and the children who have chosen these names must change places, while the postman tries to catch one. Whoever is caught must be postman and give up his place to the former postman. If the postman calls, “All the letters are going,” every one must change his seat, and there is a general scramble, in which some one is sure to be caught.

CHARADES

THESE are always a great deal of fun, for they mean “dressing up,” and who doesn’t enjoy that. Some good words for charades are car-pet, pilgrim-age, tea-sing, in-dolent (inn-dough-lent) and child-hood. Of course you will need mother’s help when you play charades.

HOW, WHEN AND WHERE

SEND one player from the room and then choose some object, such as a flower. Call him in again and let him try to guess what you have chosen. So he must ask each player in turn, “How do you like it?” The first may answer, “I like it pink.” The next, “I like it fresh,” etc. The guesser then asks each in turn, “When do you like it?” and the others reply, “When I am going to a party,” “When I am sick,” “When I am going to make bread,” This last will be puzzling because it means another kind of flour. If he is not able to guess when he has asked all these questions, he can go round once more with the question, “Where do you like it?” Whoever “gives it away” must be the one to go out.

PEANUT GRAB

FOR this game place a pile of peanuts on a table. Now form in line and all march around it. Each one, as he passes the pile of peanuts, takes a handful, and when all have marched past they can count to see who has been able to hold the most in his hand.

FEATHERS

THIS is a game in which you have to “pay attention,” and perhaps you have played it at school. You must all sit in a circle and let your hands hang down from the wrists. The leader of this game begins, “Cats have feathers, dogs have feathers, rabbits have feathers, geese have feathers.” The minute he names something that really has feathers, you must all raise your hands and wave them. Whoever doesn’t do this must pay a forfeit. As the leader must speak very, very quickly, it is easy to be “caught napping.”

* * * * *

Transcriber’s Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired. About a third of the way through the book, the printer started using small-capitals on the first word of each chapter. (Page 30—AN AFTERNOON IN HOLLAND) To make the layout consistent, small-capitals have been added to the initial chapters as well. As usual, small-capitals will appear as ALL-CAPITALS in the plain text version.

Page 7, “you” changed to “your” (Now when your friends)

Pages 32-34, text uses “kimono” in the poem, but “kimona” twice in the chapter text. Both were retained as printed.

Page 57, “inviations” changed to “invitations” (invitations right away)