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WHEN MOTHER LETS US GIVE A PARTY

[Illustration: DRESSING UP]




WHEN MOTHER LETS US GIVE A PARTY

    A BOOK THAT TELLS LITTLE FOLK HOW BEST TO
    ENTERTAIN AND AMUSE THEIR LITTLE FRIENDS

    _By_ ELSIE DUNCAN YALE

    ILLUSTRATED BY ADA BUDELL

[Illustration]

    NEW YORK
    MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY
    1909




    Copyright, 1909, by
    MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY
    NEW YORK
    _All Rights Reserved_
    ———
    Published, October, 1909




    TO
    MY DAUGHTERS
    WITH THE HOPE THAT THEY MAY ALWAYS BE
    “GIVEN TO HOSPITALITY”
    THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED




CONTENTS


                                   PAGE

    INTRODUCTION                                     1
    INVITATIONS                                      3
    GETTING READY                                    5
    PARTIES YOU CAN HAVE WITHOUT MOTHER’S HELP       7
    FOR SANDWICHES                                   8
    CANDY PULL                                       8
    FUDGE PARTY                                     10
    POP CORN PARTY                                  10
    SEWING BEE                                      12
    PAPER DOLL PARTY                                15
    CLOTHES PIN PARTY                               17
    INDOOR GARDEN PARTY                             19
    CHRISTMAS SUNSHINE PARTY                        21
    EASTER SUNSHINE PARTY                           23
    DOLL’S CHRISTMAS TREE PARTY                     24
    A CHRISTMAS SEWING BEE                          27
    INDOOR PICNIC                                   27
    INDOOR PICNIC FOR DOLLS                         29
    AN AFTERNOON IN HOLLAND                         30
    JAPANESE TEA (INDOORS)                          33
    JAPANESE TEA (OUTDOORS)                         35
    HIAWATHA PARTY                                  37
    DAFFODIL PARTY                                  41
    BUTTERCUP PARTY                                 43
    TULIP TEA                                       45
    CLOVER PARTY                                    46
    ROSE PARTY                                      49
    DAISY PARTY                                     53
    SOAP BUBBLE PARTY                               55
    CHRYSANTHEMUM PARTY                             55
    VALENTINE PARTY                                 57
    GEORGE WASHINGTON PARTY                         62
    ST. PATRICK’S PARTY                             65
    EASTER PARTY                                    69
    RABBIT PARTY                                    71
    MAY DAY PARTY (OUTDOORS)                        73
    MAY DAY                                         73
    FOURTH OF JULY PARTY                            77
    HALLOWE’EN PARTY                                81
    COLONIAL GARDEN PARTY                           85
    THANKSGIVING                                    87
    A HOLLY LUNCHEON                                89
    ADDITIONAL GAMES
        Menagerie                                   90
        Criticism                                   90
        Musical Neighbors                           91
        Hunt the Ring                               92
        Slip the Ruler                              92
        Beast, Bird or Fish                         92
        Shouting Proverbs                           93
        Beans                                       93
        What is my Thought Like                     94
        Post                                        94
        Charades                                    95
        How, When and Where                         95
        Peanut Grab                                 96
        Feathers                                    96




ILLUSTRATIONS


                                                  PAGE
    DRESSING UP                          _Frontispiece_
    A CANDY PULL IS LOTS OF FUN                      9
    COME WITH A SKIP                                11
    COME AROUND AND STAY TO TEA                     13
    COME SPEND THE AFTERNOON WITH ME                25
    THE BRAVES AND THE SQUAWS                       39
    A DANCE OF GRANDMOTHER’S TIME                   61
    QUEEN OF THE MAY                                75
    A HALLOWE’EN PARTY                              83




INTRODUCTION


THERE is nothing that is much more fun than a party, is there? Mother
hasn’t forgotten the days when she set a little table in the attic with
the dolls’ tea-set, and had cambric tea and jam sandwiches. As for a
birthday party, why it doesn’t seem a bit like a birthday without a
frosted cake and pink candles and ice cream in forms—but there! That
was to be a surprise.

Birthday parties only come once a year, of course, but there are other
parties in between, afternoon teas on the piazza or in the playroom, or
in the barn, if you are so fortunate as to have a barn. These parties
oughtn’t to mean extra work for mother, for you can have them all
yourself, if mother is willing.

So when she says, “Yes, you may have a party,” after you have hugged
her, and told her she was the dearest mother in the world, you can
begin to get ready.




    “R. S. V. P.,” at the end,
    Means “an answer kindly send,”
    But a child who is polite,
    Knows she should an answer write.

[Illustration]




INVITATIONS


FIRST of all, for the invitations. Choose your prettiest note paper,
and don’t forget to write very plainly the date of the party. If you
are just going to have a little afternoon tea, you can simply write,

    DEAR DAISY,—

    “_Will you come to my house to tea on Friday afternoon,
    June sixth, at three o’ clock? I hope you can._

                               “_Lovingly_,
                                         “DOROTHY.

    “_19 Elm Street._
    “_June first._”

Or if you are going to have a larger party, you can write:

    “_Miss Dorothy Manners requests the pleasure of your
    presence at her home on Friday afternoon, June sixth,
    from four until eight o’clock._

    “_19 Elm Street._
    “_June first._”

Be sure to send your invitations in time for your friends to write
replies. Mother will need to know just how large a birthday cake to
bake, and how much ice cream to freeze!




    ’Twill be a good plan (and there’s truth in my rhyme)
    To always begin to get ready in time.




GETTING READY


IF you are going to have many parties, there are quite a number of
things which you can keep on hand, all ready to use when you need them.
An old trunk or box, or barrel will be nice to have on purpose for
“dress-up” clothes. Put away in this all the old hats, and dresses, and
shawls, in which mother lets you dress up. Then they’ll be safe, so
that no one will throw or give them away by mistake, and you’ll always
know just where to find them.

It is a good thing to have wooden picnic plates on hand, and these will
be very useful for outdoor parties. Mother may object to your using her
good china, for sometimes plates will get broken when you are just as
careful as you know how to be. So you can decorate your wooden plates
very prettily by cutting out the flowers or figures which are on paper
napkins, and pasting them on the plates. Then they will do nicely for
your lawn or piazza parties.

It is a good plan to have a supply of paper napkins and you can buy
them by the hundred, or by the dozen. If mother is afraid to let you
have her pretty table cloth or lunch cloth for fear it might get
stained, you can get a lovely paper table cloth with napkins and little
dishes, for twenty-five cents.

You might suggest to your relatives when Christmas or your birthday is
near, that a set of tea cups, or plates, or little spoons would be a
very acceptable present.

A folding table is very useful when you have afternoon teas on the
piazza or lawn, and this can be bought for a dollar.

You can make very dainty baskets for candy and salted nuts, from little
paper cases costing fifteen cents a dozen, and crepe paper at ten cents
a roll. Five or ten cents will buy a pretty souvenir, and every child
enjoys something to take home from the party.

So you see a party isn’t such a great deal of trouble, and I’m sure the
“best mother in the world” will let you invite your friends to come and
see you quite often.

    If you have a party and don’t bother mother,
    I’m sure she’ll allow you to soon have another.

[Illustration]




PARTIES YOU CAN HAVE WITHOUT MOTHER’S HELP


USUALLY, when mother’s friends call on her in the afternoon, she serves
them with tea and wafers or cakes. Perhaps she lets you help her. Now
when your friends come to see you, very likely mother will sometimes be
willing for you to make a pitcher of lemonade, or a few jam sandwiches,
for them. Try to serve these very daintily on a tray, using the napkins
which you have all ready.

Here is a very valuable secret. When mother says, “No, I can’t let you
get your refreshments ready yourself,” do you know the reason? She is
afraid you will not do it tidily, and that she will have to set the
kitchen in order after you have finished. So put the sugar box back in
its place, don’t leave the breadboard out, and set everything back just
where you found it.

Then I’m sure that the next time you ask mother she will say, “Yes.”

So if she allows you to make lemonade, or cocoa for your friends, here
are the recipes:

For one glass of lemonade take the juice of half a lemon, mix with two
teaspoons of sugar, and add one cup of water. To make fruit lemonade
add a few strawberries, or cherries, or bits of pineapple, or slices of
orange to the lemonade.

For one cup of cocoa, mix a teaspoon of cocoa with a teaspoon of sugar,
and then mix with one tablespoon of boiling water. Stir it well till
the lumps are all out. Put a half pint of milk over the stove (being
careful not to burn it), when it “wrinkles” on the top, pour the cocoa
in, and let it boil a few minutes, stirring so that it will not scorch.




FOR SANDWICHES


SOFTEN the butter a few minutes before you use it. Butter the bread
before cutting off each slice, and cut very thin. Then lay the buttered
slices neatly together and trim off the crusts. The sandwiches may be
filled with jelly, jam, chopped hard boiled egg, chopped meat, or nuts.




CANDY PULL


OF course you must have this party in the kitchen, and either ask your
friends to bring gingham aprons, or provide aprons for them. Have nice
bright tin pans ready for your candy, and get together everything that
the recipe calls for. If mother is willing you can make two kinds of
candy at once on the stove, one for “pulling” and one for “nut taffy.”
Although you can easily make the candy yourself, mother had best be on
hand when you are working over the fire. This is a good party for a
rainy day.

[Illustration: A candy pull is lots of fun.]




FUDGE PARTY


FOR a fudge party, you will need aprons of course, and permission to
use the stove, or perhaps your big sister’s chafing dish. Get your
materials together, and when your friends come, you can have just as
good a time as the girls do at college. “When Mother Lets Us Cook” will
tell you just how to make your fudge, and then you will have one less
thing to learn at college.

This is a good party for a rainy day.




POP CORN PARTY


FOR this you will need popping corn, and several poppers. If you only
have one, maybe your guests will bring theirs.

You can take turns rubbing the corn from the ears, and popping it.

This is another rainy day party.

[Illustration]

[Illustration:

    Come with a skip and come with a hop,
    I’ve some corn that you must pop.]




SEWING BEE


MOTHER will approve of a sewing bee, you see if she doesn’t! It is a
most industrious way to spend an afternoon! Invite your friends around,
and ask them to bring their dolls, their work baskets, and material to
work with. (Of course this is just a girls’ party! Boys are left out!)
If it is warm weather, it will be pleasant to sew on the piazza or
lawn, and if it is too cool for this, the playroom will be pleasant for
your sewing bee. Of course the boys will say that you do more talking
than sewing, but show them that they are wrong by getting some pretty
clothes made for your dolls.

At the end of the afternoon clear off your sewing table, cover it with
a dainty cloth and serve afternoon tea. (It is queer to call it tea,
when you have cocoa or lemonade!)

[Illustration]

[Illustration:

    Come around and stay to tea,
    We will have a sewing bee;
    Bring your needle, thread and thimble,
    Tongues and fingers will be nimble.]




    I wish to make each paper doll
    A very stylish trousseau;
    So come and help me dress them all,
    I trust that you will do so.

[Illustration]




PAPER DOLL PARTY


FOR this party you will need as many paper dolls as you have invited
friends, and of course this, too, is just a girls’ party. Boys are out
of it! Beside the dolls, get colored tissue or crepe paper, scissors,
and paste. Arrange a table, at which to work, and when all your guests
have come, you can begin dressing the paper dolls. Let each choose her
own materials for the dresses. If you like, you can give a prize for
the best dressed doll, mother to be the judge.

Then for refreshments lemonade, or cocoa and sandwiches will be nice,
or if mother is willing, ice cream and cake. The refreshments can be
served on the table, on which you are working, if you like, for it will
only take a few moments to clear away the work, and arrange it for a
tea table.




    A clothespin party’s new to you,
    I really have no doubt,
    So come to spend the afternoon,
    And then you will find out.

[Illustration]




CLOTHES PIN PARTY


FOR a Clothespin Party you will need a couple of dozen clothespins,
and plenty of colored tissue or crepe paper. In one corner of the
invitation you can draw a clothespin. The clothespin party is very much
like the paper doll party, except that you dress clothespins up for
dolls, in the colored paper. You will be surprised to see what pretty
dolls you can make. Mother can decide who has dressed the prettiest
dolls, and give a little prize. Your friends will enjoy playing with
the dolls they have dressed, until it is time for refreshments. You can
serve “afternoon tea,” or something more if mother is willing.




    At an indoor garden party, I your presence request,
    And I’ll really be delighted, if you’ll come and be my guest.

[Illustration]




INDOOR GARDEN PARTY


FOR the indoor garden party, you will need a large sheet for a screen,
and plenty of pictures cut from magazines and catalogues. These
pictures must be of houses, barns, stables, trees, animals, anything
that will have place in an outdoor scene. You will also need a paper of
pins, some large sheets of white paper, and, if you like, a couple of
little gifts for prizes, such as a box of crayons or a box of paints.

After your friends have come, arrange the sheet in place, and pin in
the center a large picture of a house which has been cut out. Now let
your guests help themselves to the pictures which you have cut out,
each taking one. For example, one child may have a barn, another a
rose bush, another a dog kennel. Blindfold each in turn, and let him
pin the picture on the sheet. When all have finished you will have a
queer-looking landscape, for a dog kennel may be on the roof and a rose
bush growing from a lawn mower!

After this game, get out your sheets of paper, scissors, and pictures
which you have ready. Let each one try making a garden with his eyes
open! Paste a house in the center of the paper, and arrange trees,
bushes, fountain, etc., about it as tastefully as possible. Then after
mother has decided which is the best, you can give the prize which you
have bought.

You can serve your refreshments from a little table just as you would
at a garden party.




    When Christmas time is drawing near
    With all its mirth and merry cheer,
    In midst of all your Christmas joys
    Remember other girls and boys!

[Illustration]




CHRISTMAS SUNSHINE PARTY


THIS is really the very nicest kind of a party to give. Just try it and
see for yourself! For this you will need plenty of narrow, red (or red
and green ribbon) holly seals, nice white wrapping paper, and any other
things which make holiday packages look “Christmas-y.” Be sure not
to forget a jar of paste. Buy some of the beautiful copies of famous
paintings, which are sold at a cent a piece, and cards on which to
mount them, at two cents each. If mother can let you have some colored
cambric-pink or blue-you can use it for scrap-books, and you will also
need scrap pictures and plenty of old magazines from which to cut
pictures. Have ready a couple of dozen holly napkins, and three pounds
of candy.

Write your invitations on paper with a holly decoration in the corner,
and ask your friends to bring any toys which they are willing to give
away.

Then when the children come there will be plenty to do. Two can cut
scrap pictures from the magazines, another can make the scrap book from
the pink or blue cambric.

The pictures will need to be mounted, and when you do these, just paste
the corners to the mount. They must be wrapped prettily in white
paper, and either sealed with holly seals or tied with ribbon, or both.
These are nice gifts for a hospital.

Two other children can attend to the candy bags. Lay a holly napkin
right side up on the table and put a handful of candy in the center.
Now draw the corners together, and tie firmly with ribbon, around the
candy. Smooth out the corners, and you will have a pretty candy bag.

The toys which have been brought will need to be wrapped nicely and
tied with ribbon, so the afternoon will pass quickly. Perhaps mother
will let you serve creamed chicken, peas, potato chips, ice cream and
cake to your guests, for after such a busy afternoon they will surely
be hungry.

This is a very good way to entertain your Sunday school class.




    When you’re the hostess, bear in mind
    You must unselfish be, and kind.
    Don’t play the games that _you_ like best,
    But always try to please the rest.




EASTER SUNSHINE PARTY


THIS is very much like a Christmas Sunshine Party, except that you will
need a number of little baskets, candy Easter eggs, lavender or yellow
ribbon, lily or violet napkins, and little chickens or rabbits which
you can buy for a cent a piece.

Then you can make little Easter gifts for other children and have
a good time while you are doing it. Tie up the candy in the Easter
napkins just as you did in the Christmas napkins, and let the children
arrange pretty Easter baskets.

This is a good party to give to your Sunday school class, and your
teacher.

[Illustration]




DOLL’S CHRISTMAS TREE PARTY


THIS is also a Christmas holiday party. For this you will need either
small evergreen branches for the Christmas tree, or better yet, the
little dwarf trees in pots. Ask mother to let you have some of the
ornaments from your own tree, and have plenty of colored paper, paste,
scissors, also popcorn, needles and thread, and tree hooks. If you can
have a little netting, some colored worsted, and candy, you can find
use for them. After your friends have come, make the ornaments for your
trees, such as gilt and silver stars, strings of popcorn, and chains
of colored paper. Using a doll’s stocking as a pattern, cut the net
in the shape of stockings, overhand two pieces together with colored
worsted on three sides. Fill these bags with candy, then overhand the
top together and hang on the tree.

Hot chocolate with sandwiches is nice for a winter afternoon, and your
friends will enjoy it after they have finished trimming their trees.

[Illustration:

    Come spend the afternoon with me,
    Be sure to bring your dolly;
    We’ll trim for her a Christmas tree,
    Now won’t that be real jolly?]




    As Christmas time will be here soon,
    Please come and spend the afternoon,
    No matter what may be the weather,
    And we will sit and sew together.
    Unless we hurry, I’m afraid
    We won’t get all our presents made.

[Illustration]




A CHRISTMAS SEWING BEE


A CHRISTMAS sewing bee is very much like any other sewing bee, except
that instead of making dolls’ clothes, you make Christmas presents.
Ask the other girls to bring whatever gifts they are working on, and
you can spend a busy afternoon together. Christmas time always comes
more quickly than you think it will, and it is a good plan to have your
presents ready early. So I’m sure mother will approve of a Christmas
sewing bee.




INDOOR PICNIC


THIS is a nice party to give during Christmas week, when the Christmas
greens are still up, and you have so many new toys that you want to
show your friends. For this party you will need evergreens, an old
covering like a “drugget” for the floor, large baskets, wooden plates,
and refreshments such as you have at a picnic.

Before the children come, fill the baskets with sandwiches, devilled
eggs, cookies, fruit, and cake, and whatever else you like to take when
you go on a picnic.

Trim the playroom with greens, and cover the floor, so the picnic won’t
hurt it. When your guests arrive, you can play outdoor games, just
as if you were at a real picnic. When it is time for refreshments,
the children can help you bring in the baskets, and can set the table
in true picnic style. Instead of a pitcher of water, use a pail and
dipper, and if you have lemonade, that should be in a pail, too.

You will find that an indoor picnic is a great deal of fun.




    Please bring your dolls around to call,
    That all my dolls may meet them,
    We’ll have a good time for them all,
    And to a picnic treat them.




INDOOR PICNIC FOR DOLLS


YOU can have this same kind of a picnic for your dolls. It will be
great fun to make swings, see-saws and slides for them, but be careful
not to let the dolls play too roughly, for they might get hurt!

Then of course you must get out your little china tea-set for your
refreshments, and serve “cambric” tea and jam sandwiches.

[Illustration]




AN AFTERNOON IN HOLLAND


THIS is a party which your friends will be sure to enjoy. Write your
invitations on paper decorated with Delft scenes, or else upon cards
cut in the shape of a Dutch shoe. Ask mother to please make you a Dutch
cap of lawn, and then with a red or blue dress and a kerchief you’ll
be a young Hollander. Have ready as many Dutch post cards as you have
invited guests, also scissors, and a wooden shoe apiece.

First play “Going to Amsterdam,” which is the same as your old friend
“Going to Jerusalem.” Then while your guests catch their breath after
this very exciting trip, bring out your Dutch post cards and give one
to each child, with a pair of scissors and an envelope. The post cards
must all be cut into irregular pieces for puzzles, and then the pieces
put in the envelope, being careful not to lose a single piece. When all
the puzzles are cut, let each child pass to his right-hand neighbor.
Then allow five minutes to put the puzzles together, after which you
pass puzzles again. If you have not invited many guests, you can keep
on passing puzzles till you have solved them all.

Now for the game of “Wise Men,” which is really a German game, but will
do very well for a Dutch party. Choose three children for the wise
men. These three enter the room, and are asked, “Who are you?” They
answer, “Three men traveling hither from the East.” Then comes the
question, “What kind of men are you?”

“We are good, honest men.”

“What is your trade?”

The “wise men” must then go through the motions of some trade, such as
baking, ploughing, building, etc. The others must guess the occupation
meant, and as soon as they have guessed three other wise men are chosen.

A more restful game is Dutch Housewife.

One child is chosen for “Housewife” and she must ask contributions for
her kitchen. So each in turn offers to give some article used in the
kitchen, such as a stove, dishpan, plate, etc. Then the “Housewife”
must ask each player ten questions, and to each question, the article
contributed must be given as the reply. Whoever laughs must pay a
forfeit. If you have promised a dishpan, and the housewife asks, “In
what do you ride?” you must of course answer, “A dishpan.” It’s hard
not to laugh, and almost everyone has to pay a forfeit.

The supper table can be set in Delft blue with a small windmill for
a centerpiece, and at each place have a wooden shoe, filled with
chocolates. Mother would be sure to say that a regular “Dutch lunch”
would mean a visit from the doctor some hours later. So instead of
pickles and cheese, and all the other indigestibles that the grown
folks enjoy, serve chocolate with whipped cream, sandwiches, chocolate
bonbons, and honey cakes. (These latter you can buy at any German
bakery.)

I’m sure your friends will all vote this “Afternoon in Holland” a great
success.




TO MISS WISTARIA


    To Miss Wistaria:
      I write to inquire if my guest you will be,
      And come to my home for a Japanese tea?
      Slip on a kimono and carry a fan,
      And then you will look like a maid of Japan.




JAPANESE TEA


THIS may be given indoors or on the piazza, according to the season
of the year. Send your invitations on note paper with a Japanese
decoration in the corner, and address each friend by some Japanese name
such as Wistaria, Chrysanthemum or Cherry Blossom. If this is to be an
indoor tea, arrange one room to look as much like Japan as possible,
and this can be done by taking the furniture out! Place straw mats
on the floor to be used for chairs. Little bamboo plant stands, and
footstools will do very well for tables, and a few plants will decorate
the room nicely. Maple branches at the doorways or artificial cherry
boughs will give a very festive air.

Japanese costumes can be easily managed. All you need is a kimona,
wide sash, and a few little fans for your hair. The sash should be
tied under your arms with a “butterfly” bow in the back, and your hair
should be dressed high, and ornamented with tiny fans. If you haven’t a
kimona, borrow mother’s, and make a deep hem in it, so that it will be
the right length.

If you want to be very “Japanese,” your friends can remove their shoes
at the door of the room. They must address you very respectfully, and
speak of your “magnificent home,” while you, according to Japanese
rules of politeness, should thank them for coming to your miserable hut!

Have a few checker-boards, and a game of Halma in readiness, for
checkers and backgammon are Japanese games, while Halma is very much
like a game which represents the fifty-three post stations between
Yedo and Kioto. Call the starting place “Yedo,” and your goal “Kioto”
and you have almost exactly a Japanese game. Charades are favorite
amusements of Japanese children, and so is a game like our “Authors.”

It would be very interesting if mother would read aloud a Japanese
fairy story, for you would all enjoy it.

Refreshments should be brought in on a lacquer tray and served on the
low stools, and of course you will need Japanese dishes. Tea, dainty
little cakes and bonbons would be a good choice for refreshments,
but it would be an excellent plan to set a plate of sandwiches on
your tray, too, for the Japanese menu might not be sufficient for an
American appetite.




JAPANESE TEA (Outdoors)


FOR a Japanese Tea on the lawn you will need the same costumes as for
an indoor tea. The refreshments, too, are the same, and the piazza can
be easily arranged in Japanese style.

If you are fortunate enough to have plenty of room for your party, a
kite-playing contest will be great fun, and you must be sure to get the
queer “bird” kites that the children of Japan love. Puss-in-the-corner
is a Japanese game (did you know it before?) and so is Blindman’s Buff.

Japanese girls and boys enjoy battledore and shuttlecock, and when they
play, whoever fails must have his face marked with charcoal.

The Japanese children are fond of playing ball, too, and they use a
ball wound with silk of different colors.

By the time that you have tried all these games, you and your guests
will be quite ready to sit down on the straw mats, and enjoy Japanese
refreshments.




TO JACK-RUN-A-RACE


    Won’t you come to my tepee?
    Squaws and braves you there will see.
    By canoe or forest trail,
    At my wigwam do not fail.

[Illustration]




HIAWATHA PARTY


THIS is a party for the country, and though it sounds like a boys’
party, the girls will enjoy it, too.

For this you will need a target, one of the new guns which shoots
rubber-tipped arrows, several boxes of beads, a set of quoits,
boomerangs (which you can buy for twenty-five cents at a toy store), a
football, and a number of prizes. These may be Indian baskets, birch
bark canoes, or anything that is Indian. For your costume you can buy
a “Hiawatha” or “Minnehaha” suit from a dollar up, or for twenty-five
cents you can get a kind of Indian apron which is stamped on muslin,
all ready to cut out. Write your invitations on birch bark, with your
pyrography set (if you have one), and ask your friends to wear Indian
costumes and to take an Indian name for the occasion.

A Hiawatha Party should be a field day of outdoor sports, so arrange
a program of races, (obstacle and hurdle races would be fun) and have
a prize for each winner. Quoits is an Indian game, or at least, the
Indians play a game very much like our quoits, and when your guests are
tired of this, set up your target for an archery contest. The girls
will enjoy making bead necklaces, and if they have brought their
dolls, each doll must be strapped to a board in “papoose” style, and be
fastened to her “mother’s” shoulders.

Indians are fond of football, although they don’t play by rules, for
they simply kick the ball about, and each tries to keep it as long as
possible.

Boomerangs are very fascinating toys, which will sail through the air,
circle around the object you aimed at, and come back to you.

    “Skilled was he in sports and pastimes,
     In the merry dance of snow shoes,
     In the play of quoits and ball play;
     Skilled was he in games of hazard,
     In all games of skill and hazard,
     Pugasing, the Bowl and Counters,
     Kuntassor, the Game of Plum Stones.”
                             HIAWATHA.

When the braves and squaws have grown hungry, the kettle of steaming
“venison” should be brought in, and the whole tribe sits down around
it. It is not really venison, but stewed chicken, which the “tribe”
probably prefers to venison, and with it are passed hot cornbread and
ears of corn. Berries may be served in birch bark dishes, and little
birch bark canoes are good for souvenirs.

[Illustration: The Braves and the Squaws.]

After supper the whole tribe should take part in an Indian war dance
about a camp fire, and then, having said farewell to Hiawatha and
Minnehaha, return along the trail, each to his own tepee.




    The springtide has followed the winter so chilly
    And brought to the garden Miss Daffy-down-dilly.
    I’ll give in her honor, a daffodil tea,
    So may I expect you precisely at three?




DAFFODIL PARTY


PLENTY of “daffy-down-dillies” will be used for this party, also
materials for making them of paper (you can buy this already prepared),
brown tissue paper, yellow and green crepe paper, clothes pins, yellow
baby ribbon, and as many little gifts as you have invited guests. Get
a shallow wooden box about two feet long and one foot wide and fill
it with sawdust. Wrap your gifts in the brown tissue paper, so that
they will look like bulbs. Now fasten each to the stem of a daffodil
(you may use paper daffodils if you wish) and “plant” them in your box
of sawdust. When you have finished, your box will look like a bed of
daffodils, especially if you cover the outside of the box with green
paper. Arrange vases of daffodils around the room, or piazza. It would
be a very good idea for you to wear yellow sash and ribbons with your
white dress. Then you’ll be a “daffy-down-dilly” yourself! After your
friends have come you can give each one materials for a paper daffodil,
and whoever makes the prettiest, should receive a little prize. Next
you can dress “daffy-down-dilly” dolls, using clothes pins, and the
crepe paper, and of course the one whose doll is the best should have
some reward.

After you have played whatever games your guests will enjoy the best,
lead the way to the fairy daffodil bed, which is, of course, your
wooden box. Then let each pull out a daffodil, and find the surprise
hidden at the root.

Mother will probably decorate the table in yellow for you, and of
course in the center will be a big bowl of daffodils. Chicken salad,
potato chips, rolls, frozen custard, cakes with orange icing, and
salted nuts, would be a very good choice for refreshments, as they
would carry out the yellow plan. It would be an excellent idea to give
each one of your guests a few daffodils to take home.




BUTTERCUP PARTY


THIS is just the party for the country when the buttercups seem to be
nodding their yellow heads to you and saying, “Come and pick us!”

The invitations for this party may be neatly printed with gilt paint
upon a white card, or else written on note paper which has a buttercup
decoration.

You will need to have ready a number of little yellow baskets—as
many as you have invited children—two or three pounds of “buttercup”
candies, and a sheet on which mother has drawn in yellow crayon, a
large buttercup without any stem. Cut out of pasteboard or cloth a stem
to fit this buttercup.

It would be a good idea for you to wear a white dress with yellow sash
and hair ribbons.

After your guests have come, first of all you can have a buttercup
hunt. Give each child a yellow basket in which to collect candy
buttercups. Mother has hidden the buttercups for you, having first
wrapped each in paraffine paper. (They would be sticky if she didn’t
do this!) After you have filled your baskets, and if you choose, have
given a prize to the one collecting the most buttercups, you can
announce a buttercup contest. This is exactly like a donkey party,
except that the blindfolded one must pin the stem on the buttercup. It
isn’t as easy as it would seem!

Next you can play “Buttercups and Farmer.” This is a form of blindman’s
buff, for the “farmer” must be blindfolded. Take a space on the lawn
about twenty feet square for the “field” and place the “farmer” in the
center. The “buttercups” (who are the rest of the children) may take
their places anywhere in the field. When ready to begin, the farmer
says,

    “The buttercups are in my way,
     I’ll mow them down when I make hay.”

He is then allowed to take eight steps, while the buttercups must
not move. If he touches a buttercup, and names the child who is the
buttercup, that one becomes farmer. If the farmer fails to touch a
buttercup he must be led back to the center of the field again.

When it is time for refreshments, the table can be set out under
the trees, and if mother is willing, your girl friends will enjoy
decorating it with buttercups. For refreshments you can serve chicken
sandwiches, lemonade, little cakes iced with orange icing, and ice
cream in yellow paper cases. A little girl who gave this party said
that it was a great deal of fun.




TULIP TEA


AS tulips are the national flower of Holland, a tulip tea is only
another form of a Dutch party. The Dutch games may be played, and for a
surprise, a tulip bed should be arranged, just as the daffodil bed was.

The same refreshments may be served at your “Tulip Tea,” as you had for
your afternoon in Holland, but your table decorations will need to be
different. The very prettiest centerpiece you can have would be gay red
and yellow tulips in a Japanese flower-holder. If you do not own one of
these latter, give one to mother for her birthday, for they do not cost
much, and are much prettier for flowers than a vase.

The candles should have red and yellow shades, and a little “tulip”
lamp should stand at each place as a souvenir to take home.




    “One leaf is for love and one is for hope
     And one is for faith, you know,
     And God put another one in for luck;
     If you search you will find where they grow.”
                                   ELLA HIGGINSON.




CLOVER PARTY


PERHAPS you have near your house a clover patch where four-leaved
clovers are whispering “Come and find me!” Then of course you must have
a clover party! Press as many clover leaves as you have invited guests,
and decorate each invitation card with one of the pressed leaves. Write
the invitations in green ink. There isn’t a great deal to get ready for
this party. Ask mother for a sheet, and either you or she can draw in
green crayon a large, four-leaved clover. Cut from green cardboard four
leaves which will exactly fit this outline. Have ready a large paper
bag filled with nuts and candy, a stick twined with green paper for a
wand, and as many green baskets as you have invited children. Do not
forget to have several “clover” pins, to use for prizes.

After everyone has come, you can announce a four-leaved clover hunt,
and reward the lucky finder with the clover pin, as a prize.

Next comes the clover contest, which is almost the same as the famous
“Donkey Party.” Fasten up between two trees the sheet upon which the
four-leaved clover has been drawn. Blindfold each child in turn, giving
him the four clover leaves to pin in place, and give a prize to the
one who has come nearest to the right places.

“Bees in Clover” is a lively game which all will enjoy. Mark off a line
by means of string, which shall be the boundary of the “clover patch.”
The farmer stands in the clover patch, and tries to keep the bees (the
other children), out of his clover. As soon as a bee crosses the line,
the farmer tries to touch him, and if he succeeds, the bee must stay
and help him catch the others.

When you are tired of this game, ask mother to hang the bag of nuts
and candy high up, where you can reach it with the wand, and give each
child a basket. Now blindfold each in turn, and let him try to be the
“lucky” one who will strike the bag with the wand and break it. When
the bag is broken the candy and nuts will come tumbling down, and then
there will be a general scramble to gather them and fill the baskets.

Refreshments should be served on the lawn or piazza, and the table
should be prettily decorated with clover blossoms. The refreshments may
be tongue and lettuce sandwiches, grape lemonade, cakes with pink icing
and cherry ice. It would be a good idea to serve the sandwiches from
picnic plates decorated with clover.




    O come to my party, for welcome you’ll be,
    And I will expect you exactly at three.
    A large bow of pink kindly pin on your clothes,
    For this is a party whose color is rose.

[Illustration]




ROSE PARTY


IN June, when the roses are blooming in the garden, or climbing over
the piazza, you must be sure to have a rose party! Give it on the lawn,
if you are fortunate enough to have one, or else on the piazza.

If you do not mail your invitations but have them left at your friends’
homes, tie each note with pink ribbon to the stem of a pink rose.

For your party you will need to have ready “Rose Ring Toss.” If you
have a set of “ring toss,” wind the hoops with pink paper, and if you
have not a set, you can easily make one, by winding different size
embroidery hoops with pink paper, and driving a stake in the ground
where you are ready to play. Have ready, also, a number of pink bean
bags.

The first game to play is “Drop the Rose,” which is just like “Drop the
Handkerchief,” except that you use a long-stemmed pink rose (be sure
and trim the thorns off!).

This can be followed by “Rose Ring Toss,” and of course you know that
this is played by standing some distance from the stake, and trying to
throw the rings over it. The large ring counts five, the next ten, and
the next fifteen. Mother will keep score for you, and she can decide
what number will win the game.

A party wouldn’t be complete without “London Bridge!” But as this is a
rose party the “pillars” of the bridge can offer each child the choice
between a red rose or a pink rose. Next you can enjoy a game of bean
bag.

By this time you will be ready for refreshments, and mother will not
have any difficulty in decorating the table, with plenty of roses at
hand. In the center of the table should be a “Jack Horner” pie, in
the form of a large paper rose, and from this “pie,” pink ribbons run
to each place. (A Jack Horner pie can be bought, all ready to set on
the table.) Little candy boxes with a rose decoration will be just
the thing for souvenirs to take home. For refreshments have creamed
chicken, or chicken salad, rolls, small cakes iced in pink, salted
nuts, pink bonbons, and strawberry ice cream. To serve the ice cream
in a very pretty way, take small flower pots, and scrub them well,
till they are as clean as clean can be. Then they can be filled with
strawberry ice cream. Next, chocolate is grated, on the top, until the
pink is covered and it looks like a little pot of earth. Now stick a
pink rose in it, as if the rose were growing in the pot, and you will
have a “dainty dish to set before a king!”

After you have finished, when mother gives the signal, pull the pink
ribbons and out from the Jack Horner pie will come a present for each
of you.

[Illustration]




    I’m going to give a “Daisy Tea”;
    Of course, you are invited.
    Now won’t you please say “yes” to me
    And I will be “dee-lighted!”




DAISY PARTY


WHEN the fields are full of daisies, and they are growing in the parks,
too, ask mother to allow you to go and gather some, and then you’ll be
ready for a daisy party. Of course this is an outdoor party!

When you write your invitations, sketch a daisy in the corner (a daisy
isn’t hard to draw!) and color it with your crayons. For your party you
will need a sheet like you had for your buttercup party, except that a
daisy is drawn, instead of a buttercup. Daisy ring toss is like rose
ring toss, too, except that the rings are wound with yellow and white
paper. You will need, also, some little gift, as a prize for the one
who pins the stem to the daisy. If you like, you can make a few yellow
and white bean bags.

It will not be hard to entertain your friends at the daisy party. “Drop
the Daisy” is a lively game like “Drop the Handkerchief.” Daisy ring
toss will be a great deal of fun, and every one will enjoy trying to
pin the stem to the daisy. You can have a merry game with the yellow
and white bean bags, and then will be ready for refreshments. If your
guests are girls, they will enjoy helping you decorate the table with
daisies, but perhaps mother will prefer to do it herself.

For supper, serve chicken salad, rolls, deviled eggs, white and gold
cake, and vanilla ice cream. Have the ice cream cut in round slices (it
should be packed in a can for this) and in the center, place a round of
lemon jelly, to resemble the center of the daisy.




    Forget your work, forget your troubles,
    And come around to blow some bubbles!




SOAP BUBBLE PARTY


THIS is either an outdoor or an indoor party, but if the weather is
warm, very likely mother would prefer that you gave it out doors.
Mother Nature’s green carpet isn’t easily spoiled. For this party you
will need gingham aprons, pipes, bowls, soap, and small tables, as well
as several prizes. You can blow bubbles with a penny clay pipe, but
nowadays there are fascinating “bubble” sets which cost twenty-five
cents. With these you can blow the most remarkable bubbles, and with
each set are directions for fancy bubble blowing, which will keep you
busy the whole afternoon.

You can have contests, and give a prize for the largest bubble, the one
that lasts the longest, the one that floats the highest, etc. Mother
will probably be willing to “umpire” and award the prizes.

For refreshments, serve sandwiches, fruit lemonade, ice cream and
lady-fingers.




CHRYSANTHEMUM PARTY


THIS is just the same as a Japanese tea, except that since it is in
chrysanthemum time, it must be an indoor party. Decorate your rooms
with chrysanthemums instead of artificial cherry blossoms, and be sure
to wear a chrysanthemum in your hair, tucked over your ear.

Play the games described for the Japanese tea, and serve the same
refreshments.




    In honor of St. Valentine, I’m going to give a party,
    My invitation’s cordial and your welcome will be hearty.




VALENTINE PARTY


VALENTINE’S DAY is an ideal day for a party, and if mother says “yes,”
why, send out your invitations right away. Use heart-shaped cards, and
seal the envelopes with tiny “heart” seals. Of course your preparations
for the party will depend on how much money you have to spend, but here
are some ideas that have been tried, and are a great deal of fun. When
you are sure of the number of guests, buy heart-shaped boxes, large red
cardboard hearts, gifts, and make small red bags, enough for each child
to have one. Borrow mother’s scissors, a jar of paste, and hunt up any
old magazines or catalogues that may be in the house. Place a gift in
each “heart” box, wrap each box up neatly, and tie with scarlet ribbon.
A few vases of scarlet carnations, and strings of hearts looped about,
will give the room a very festive air. Hide the candy hearts around
the room, where they will not be found too easily. If you wear a red
sash and hair ribbons with your white dress, you will look like a real
little Valentine girl, all ready to receive your guests.

The first “number on the program” may be a Heart Hunt, so give each
child a red bag in which to collect the hearts which he finds. Next
comes a heart auction, and mother can be auctioneer and sell at auction
the heart-shaped boxes. The “customers” bid with candy hearts instead
of money, and nobody can make more than one purchase.

Then St. Valentine’s candle (which is a red candle in a candlestick)
may be lit, and placed on a table. Each child, in turn, must be
blindfolded and stand ten paces away from the candle. He turns around
three times, takes ten steps toward the candle, as he supposes, and
then tries to blow it out. The one who is successful in this, will be
very fortunate through the coming year.

Next distribute the pasteboard hearts, and let each guest write his
or her name on them. Now pass to the right-hand neighbor, who must
decorate the heart with pictures cut from catalogues or magazines. For
instance, Dorothy’s heart will be ornamented with pictures of dogs,
birds, hair ribbons and candy, for these are Dorothy’s favorites.
Jack’s heart will be decorated with pictures of automobiles, motor
boats, guns, and fishing tackle. Each heart is supposed to show just
what the owner is fond of.

Then supper can be served, and since it is Valentine’s Day a “hearty”
supper will be just the thing.

Red carnations and red-shaded candles make a pretty decoration, or
if mother is willing to take more trouble, a Cupid may occupy the
place of honor in the center of the table. From his bow, narrow red
ribbons extend to silver cardboard arrows, which are at each place, and
serve as “place cards.” “Coup jacques,” for the first course, sound
interesting and are as nice as they sound. Fill sherbet glasses half
full of small pieces of pineapple, orange and banana, then cover with
cherry ice, smoothing the top over carefully. Oysters in heart-shaped
pattie shells, heart-shaped sandwiches, heart cakes, and bonbons,
and ice cream in the form of hearts, will make a very nice Valentine
supper, and there should be a dainty Valentine souvenir at each plate.

When your guests say “good-bye,” they’ll tell you that they have had a
lovely time. See if they don’t!




    In honor of George Washington,
    Who lived so long ago,
    I ask you to a party, now;
    The date, of course, you know.
    And so I trust you’ll come around
    And stay for quite awhile,
    Dressed up, perhaps, in grandma’s clothes,
    Or some old-fashioned style.

[Illustration: A Dance of Grandmother’s Time.]




GEORGE WASHINGTON PARTY


VERY probably George Washington never had a birthday party, as he lived
in the days when children were “seen and not heard.” So it would be a
good idea to have a party in his honor on his birthday. Of course you
will need old-fashioned costumes, and these will probably be found by
ransacking the garret. But if, like Mother Hubbard’s cupboard, the
garret is bare, you can easily borrow a skirt of mother’s, fasten it
under your arms, tie a sash in Empire style, put on a kerchief, and
there you are!

All that you will need to have ready for this party will be silhouette
paper, and cardboard mounts for the silhouette pictures.

The afternoon may be spent in playing old-fashioned games, such as
“London Bridge,” “What is my Thought Like,” “Proverbs,” “Going to
Jerusalem,” and “Mulberry Bush,” ending up with a Virginia reel. Then
while you are resting, mother will make a silhouette picture of each
one of you. You must sit in front of a lamp so that your shadow will
fall clearly upon the wall or door. Then the paper should be fastened
so that your shadow will fall on it, and an outline be made with
pencil. This outline is to be cut out, and pasted upon a cardboard
mount, and there is a fine silhouette portrait! These portraits can be
hung about the room, as an art gallery, and you can have a great deal
of fun trying to decide “who’s who.”

By this time you will be ready for mother’s old-fashioned supper, so
you will sit down at “early candle light,” and enjoy stewed chicken and
waffles, hot biscuit, preserves, cake and ice cream. If mother wishes
to be very “colonial” she will have a large ball of popcorn in the
center of the table. A box of bonbons in the form of a three-cornered
hat, will be a nice souvenir for each guest.

[Illustration]




    Acushla, mavourneen, O come to my party;
    O come, for I bid yez, so cordial and hearty,
    And so at my cottage I trust ye’ll be seen,
    The day of St. Patrick, a-wearin’ the green.




ST. PATRICK’S PARTY


AS St. Patrick’s Day draws near you will see so many fascinating little
souvenirs in the stores that you really can’t help asking mother to let
you have a St. Patrick’s party. I hope she will say “Yes!”

In the corner of your invitations should be a shamrock or an Irish hat,
and you can buy these cards just before St. Patrick’s Day. For your
party you will need two pounds of candy “shamrocks,” as many small
baskets tied with green ribbon as you have invited guests, a sheet upon
which a shamrock has been drawn (the one you had for your clover party
will do), and a smooth, white stone, for the “Blarney Stone.” Beside
these have ready two dozen potatoes, a couple of tablespoons, two
shallow baskets and three prizes.

Of course, before your friends arrive you must pin a green bow on your
dress, since this is the day for “The Wearin’ of the Green.”

First comes the shamrock hunt, so give to each child a bag or basket,
and sharp eyes will soon find the shamrocks which have been hidden
about the room.

Next, have the potato race in the hall, and of course you know how to
have a potato race!

Place the potatoes a foot apart in two long rows. Let two children race
first, and they must lift the potatoes on a spoon, one by one, and
carry them back to the basket. Whoever drops one is out of the race.

A box of candy decorated in green will be a good prize for the winner.

As a rest from the excitement of the potato race, the shamrock contest
may come next, and this is just like the clover contest at your clover
party.

Last of all, your friends must all kiss the Blarney Stone, for of
course you know that whoever kisses the Blarney Stone will ever after
say nothing but pleasant words. Place the stone (which you have had
well scrubbed) in the center of a table and blindfold each of your
guests in turn, and let them try to kiss it, and whoever is successful
will be fortunate ever after, as the fairy tales say.

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!

[Illustration: Queen of the May.]




    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.

[Illustration]




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.”

[Illustration: A Hallowe’en Party.]

“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.”

[Illustration]

       *       *       *       *       *

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)





End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of When Mother Lets Us Give a Party, by 
Elsie Duncan Yale

*** 