I

the children will soon join us, starting by playing near us, and r¡, · .~~·· \.
'~-)ù
later, perhaps after a few days, beginning to imitate us. fI ,:, ~* ~:~,
Many of the daily activities in the kindergarten show how •·"--·
this happens. We shall look at sewing and embroidery as an
example.
Several times a year a kindergarte11 teacher will set up a
'sewing corner' for herself during the period of free play for
several days at a time. She will have a basket of material or felt
which she might use to make simple dolls or dolls' clothes. In
another basket she keeps her scissors, a pin cushion, a thimble
and different coloured rol1s of thread. Luckily she has a chil­
dren's version of the same things. They join in happily and en­
thusiastically, depending on their age and temperament. Three­
to four-year-olds often choose a larger piece of materiat from
the basket. They 'tackle' this with a pair of scissors, their lips
firmly pressed together or their tongue moving in concentration.
The longest needle with the largest eye is just right for them, If
the needle is threaded with a long piece of thread, by one of the
older children or an adult, it will then be pushed through the
material, with the whole hand, again and again until the mate­
rial is crumpled together into a ball. Suddenly we hear a happy
cry 'I have made a bird,' as the piece of material, held by the
child, flies singing through the room.
A four-year-old boy might accidentally sew a few bits of
unspun wool into his crumpled ball. He asks 'May I take my
sheep home?' His friend begins by finding the right sized
thimble before he too begins to sew, his protected finger ex­
tended.
Five-year-olds set to work in quite a different way. A girl
might want to sew a little gnome. Carefully she chooses a piece
of fe.lt, cuts it to shape and with skilful stitches sews the hood
Baking potatoes in the fire
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