sea (a large pan of water) with tiny nets spread out to dry and little
walnut shell boats drawn up on the sandy beach.
A farmhouse, barn, pig-pen, dog-kennel, carriage-house and the like. A
very pretty settlement can be made of this with fields of growing
grain, brooks, water-wheels, etc.
All the animals of a farm can be modeled and painted. When they are
skilfully made they are very pretty and add much to the picture and
when they are done unskilfully it is fun to have people guess what
they were meant for. However, with a little practice very presentable
animals can be modeled. It is easier to make them in clay than to draw
them.
A gypsy camp, with tents and open fires (bits of yellow and red
tissue-paper), under a black kettle (made of clay and painted) swung
on a forked stick, can easily be made.
Of course with tin or lead soldiers the number of games one can invent
with these tiny settlements is innumerable. One favorite with some
children is the attack and capture of the Filipino village by American
troops. Sometimes it is burned, and this is always a stirring
spectacle. Indeed with tin soldiers (which are just now unjustly out
of favor) one's range of subjects is unlimited, and one always has
plenty of inhabitants for any settlement. An army post can be made,
with a fort and barracks and a wide green parade ground with the
regiment drawn up in line for dress-parade. A tiny American flag
flutters from the flag-pole and after the sunset gun booms (a
fire-cracker exploded or only some one striking a blow on a tin pan)
it can be lowered to the ground while the best whistler of the company
executes "The Star-Spangled Banner."
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS AND THINGS TO MAKE
Painting
Painting is an occupation which is within almost everybody's power,
and of which one tires very slowly or perhaps not at all. By painting
we mean coloring old pictures rather than making new ones, since
making new ones--from nature or imagination--require separate
gifts. On a wet afternoon--or, if it is permitted, on Sunday
afternoon--coloring the pictures in a scrapbook is a very pleasant
and useful employment. After dark, painting is not a very wise
occupation, because, in an artificial light, colors cannot be
properly distinguished.
All shops that sell artists' materials keep painting-books. But old
illustrated papers do very well.
Flags
An even more interesting thing to do with a paint-box is to m
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