Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, August 8, 1915, Page 11

PART TWO EDITORIAL PAGES ONE TO TWELVE PART TWO SOCIETY PAGES ON TO TW¥TVR THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE == = —— COPY FIVE CEN VOL. XLV.--NO. OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUS 1915, SINGLE Jabies [Folic \yhile Their Mothers\fork ! [Clreche Youngsters Have Their Outing in Hanscom. &G Park Under fostering Care of Mama White. By ELLA FLEISHMAN. OMETHIN'S sure gonna happen today. We only gets our shoes shined on Sunday.” This was the precocious reflection of little young-old Mildred at the Creche when she awoke Wednesday morning to find two tick, shiny shoes by her bed. What could it be? It wasn’t any holiday that the had heard of. Maybe someone was going to have a birthday, but then the only concessions ruade to birthdays was a birthday cake. Shoes would not be shined for that, If the shoes were shined, they must have to look nice because they were going some place Where could they be going? Maybe for a car ride! Oh, happy thought! Scampering into her clothes, she rushed down the stairs and throwing her arms around “Mamma’ \White begged to know where they were going. ““Are we going to have a car ride?” she burst cut, for let it be known that is the height of pleas- ure for the Creche little folk. ““Well, bless your heart, yes!"” admitted Mamma' White, “but I didn’t tell you earlier for fear the rain would spoil our plans. Yes, we're going to have a car ride and on top of that a picnic st Hanscom park. Yes, indeed, a real picnic with .lots of good things to eat—sandwiches, ice cream and cake and lemonade and plenty of cookies. Oh, yes, and there are lots of swings and teeter-totters end a shoot-the-chute and ever so many things to play there,” panted “Mamma” White, in answer to the many questions piled upon her. Mildred was quick to spread the news and then pandemonium broke loose in the rambling old home on Park Wilde avenue, where mothers who must teil during the day house their children under the 1cotherly care of “Mamma’ White. Every child wanted to be first to be washed and dressed and 1eady for the nicnic. All were seated about the breakfast table, but nobody wanted to eat any btreakfast. They were too excited. Golng to a pienic and eat breakfast? The usual morning re- rast was too tame in comparison, “Now, children, anyone who doesn’t eat break- fust will have to stay home from the picnic,” ex- claimed one of the nurses. That wag a different story! My, what a scram- ble for porridge bowls and milk cups! Indeed, one little boy ate so hurriedly that he nearly choked, £0 zealous was he to show that he didn’t wish to be left At home. After breakfast each child received another scrubbing until their faces shone in honor of the picnic and then each one was provided with a sweater or other wrap for the day was inclined to ke chilly. “Oh, it's not cold. Only sissies are cold,” de- clared sturdy little Freddie, asserting his manliness by discarding his coat. Talk about the “little mothers” that big cities like New York are saild to boast! There were plenty of them in evidence at the Creche. You ghould have seen the motherly little souls of 8 and ¢ years helping the younger children into thelr vraps. Then each “little mother” was provided with one of the smaller children for a “partner” to assist on and off the street car, under the super- vision of “Mamma’ White and the attendants, each of whom carried one of the real youngest toddlers in her arms. “You'll have to take care of a few, too, if you're coming with us,” sang out “Mamma’ White, so 1 grasped “Buddy” with one hand and dark-eyed Irene, self-styled “Pickaninny,” by the other hand and off we started. The older boys fought for the privilege of carry- ing the one basket containing towels, wash-cloths and soap necessary to make the children present- able for the return trip. This was the only basket to carry as the “eats” and all other picnic neces- , Mother Nature Teaches Her ~ Children Through Play AM 80 full of happiness,” said a little girl in a spontaneous outburst of joy, “that I could not be happler unless I could grow!" We cannot make our children too happy. The boys and girls of today are the men and women of tomorrow; and, as a rule, the happier tke children the better and more successful the sien and women. A happy thildhood is the best preparation for an effective career, for, other things equal, only the happiest children make the rtrongest and most useful citizens. That we are becoming thoroughly alive to this fuct is one of the most encouraging things in the life of today. This has been called ‘‘the century of the child,” and deservedly so, for there has been no more hopeful sign of race progress in the last decade than the rapidly increasing interest in the welfare of the child. We see this reflected every- v.here in the greater care of the state for its chil- dren; in our wonderful kindergarten and school systems; in the great children’s stores everywhere; in the marvelous development all over the world of the manufacture and sale of toys. In this world-wide awakening to the impor- tance of child life we are beginning to understand more and more the tremendous part of play, not alone in making children happy, but also in de- veloping them symmetrically, and thus making I ealthier, more efficient men and women, The three great essentlals for a happy child- hood are food, love and play. After food and love, rlay is the great bullder and developer of child- hood. Yet there is far too large a number of parents who are still utterly ignorant or indifferent to the rights of their children in this respect. Some of them are still a little bit like our Puritan fathers who, in the early history of our country, thought that the fun-loving, playful faculties were of the devil, evidences of lack of plety, and a real detri- ment to the spiritual ljfe. But we know now that this is quite the opposite of the truth. We have found that the fun-loving propensities, the great cemand in us for play, for recreation, are just as sacred as the worshipping faculties, as the religious lnstincts. We do not use these propensities di- rectly in our living getting, in our occupations, but their functions are to keep the wonderful human machine in running order, to lubricate, to renew it, to restore it to normal when it is fatigued. Froebel, that great benefactor of children, tells us that play is in reality the most spiritual activity of man in childhood. He finds that it is “typical of buman life as a whole—of the inner, hidden, ratural life of man and all things; it gives, there- fore, joy, freedom, contentment, inner and outer rest, peace with the world; it holds the sources of all that le good. The child that plays thoroughly uvntil physical fatigue forbids will surely be a thor- ough determined man, capable of self-sacrifice for the promotion and welfare of himself and others.” One of the very piteous things in human life is 4 sad, prematurely old face upon a child, It gives pathetic evidence that all that was spontaneous, vlayful, joyous, natural to childhood was sup- pressed, discouraged, and the natural self-expres- slon of the child strangled at the outset of its young life. For play is seif-expression for the child as wmusic or art is for the musician or the artist, Chil- dren play until they drop with fatigue because it is nature’s method for thelr development; it is the flowering and unfolding of their natures. They sre like little animals. It i§ just as natural for them to laugh, to romp and play, as it is to breathe. We might as well try to suppress a bobolink as to suppress a child bubbling over with merriment. The suppression of the normal activities of chil- dren is a crime. They learn by play. This is their great school; God’s kindergarten. They learn many more useful things in their play than they do at school, although both are necessary. Yet many parents wonder why it is that chil- dren are not more serious, why it is that they want (o play from thé moment they get up in the morn- ing until they go to sleep at night. I have been In tomes where children were treated like adults and expected to act like them. They were not allowed to make a noise. They had to creep around the house on tiptoe in constant fear of waking the baby cr disturbing some one. I recall especially the father of a large family who is so cross, irritable and touchy about the house that the children do not dare to play when he is at home. If he cannot stop them in any other way, he whips them. He tells them he won't be disturbed by noise; that they have too much play, that they ought to be “doing something more important than fooling all the time.” Whenever company is present they are obliged to sit still in thelr chairs like little mum- mies. They are forbidden to speak or move until the company has gone. They are coerced and re- pressed until they are almost afraid to breathe, Now, is it any wonder that these children all Lave long, sad faces? Is it any wonder that the blighting, dwarfing effects of the lack of play n tieir lives are written in their expression, their movements, their whole attitude? One has only to look at them to know that all their natural in- stincts have been crushed and the childhood ground cut of them, Nothing more completely and foreibly iilustrates the tremendous part that spontaneous fun and play were intended to have in our lives than the results we see in the blighted, prematurely old lives of those who never knew what real joyous childhood means. d L Nature {s a wise teacher. If we co-operate with her we shall make fewer mistakes in bringing up our boys and girls. She knows how to teach chil- dren a thousand valuable lessons, not only without any coercion, but with supreme enjoyment. The time will come when we shall continue the child's e¢ducation in play. BEducators are becoming aware of this great fact. Instead of shutting young peo- ple up In close, badly ventilated school rooms we sball educate them in the open, out in the sunlight and air, Play is not only a developer, but a great self- discoverer. We cannot tell so very much about a boy during school hours when he is busy with routine work. But watch him in his leisure time, in his recreation hours. See what they call out of Lis inclination, when he is free from restraint and pot under any one's eyes or supervision. It is then that the natural tendencies of the boy will show themselves. They find an outlet during his play. When fathers and mothers understand that not in suppressing, but in guiding and directing their chil- dren’s play, lies the great secret of child treining, we shall have a happier, more efficient race, a brighter, more joyous world.—Origon Swett Mar- den in The Mother's Magazine sities had been arranged for by the women of the City Federation of Child Conservation Leagues, who were giving the outing for the children. Without any mishap, all marched to the car and boarded it with safety. When we transferred af €ixteenth and Harney passersby, busy men and shoppers stopped for a moment to smile or offer a cheery word to the brood of chubby, sweet-faced youngsters. I got along nicely with my two charges, “Buddy” and “Pickaninny,” until “Buddy" grew effusive in his affections and insisted on kissing ‘ Pickaninny" with more ardor than the little lady enjoyed. She burst into tears and refused to be cemforted until offered the ever-remedial penny, whereupon ‘“Buddy" slipped his fingers into mine end announced that he wanted a penny, too. So peace was restored and the two sat up on the street car seat, swinging thelr little legs and discussing what particular kind of lollipop they would buy with their pennies. With what eagerness the brood alighted at the park and scampered down to the pavilion where they were met by a reception committee of the women. Then the children were turned loose in the park to play to their heart's content until the ringing of the luncheon bell. Miss Alice McMahon, relief playground worker, took the children in charge immediately and oh, what a good time they did have! She taught them how to wash clothes to the accompaniment of a pleasing little ditty, ring-around-a-rosy and other gay pastimes, and when they were tired all gath- ered around to listen to a rich store of fairy tales The playground worker made an instantaneous hit with the children, her silvery whistle, used to eall the children together, winning especial favor with the youngsters. At 12 o'clock “Mamma” White summoned all her brood to the bandstand, where two long tables had been set for them. The little hands were folded while grace was said and then with what zest the voracious little appetites were appeased! All the goodies your mind could conjure up were Johnny- on-the-spot and when this was topped by delectable ice cream and cake the kiddies' delight was com- After luneheow Bome Of the younger ones took & nap in the arms of faithful attendants while the rest resumed their-activities with the park play- ground equipment. b3 Then eame supper, which was a repetition of the goodies of the noon luncheon, and then the chil- dren were gathered up and prepared for home, It was a weary but happy crowd of youngsters that was tucked into bed at the Creche that eve- ning, composed for sweet dreams of the best time they had had this year. And after they had asked God to bless papa and mamma and “Mamma” White and all the other at- tendants at the Creche, these are the women, al- though they knew not the names, to whom they offered thanks for their joyful outing: Mrs. Charles H. Savidge, Mrs, John H. Beaton, Mrs. Bruce Mec- Culloch, Mrs. Charles A, Wonder and Mrs. Rod- man Brown. Creche KiJines Their Picnic