Amusing toys can be constructed on this principle. Tumbling dolls are made of light wood or cork, glued to the flat side of a half bullet.
No matter how often they are knocked flat, they rise again at once.
The Dancing Egg
Another good trick that needs a little practice is to make an egg dance. Boil an egg hard, keeping it in an upright position (between cups set in the water or in some other way). Then turn a plate bottom side up and put the egg on it. Turn the plate around, more and more quickly, always holding it flat and level, and the egg will rise on its end and stand quite straight while it spins about.
The Dancing Pea
A pea can be made to dance on a column of air as you sometimes see a rubber ball rising and falling in a fountain of water. Take a piece of a clay pipe about three inches long, and make one end into a little rounded cup, by cutting the clay carefully with a knife or file. Then run two small pins cross-wise through a big, round pea, put the end of one pin in the pipe and hold the pipe in an upright position over your mouth. Blow gently through the pipe and the pea will dance up and down.
The Gla.s.s-Maker
Another trick to play with pins is the gla.s.s-making pin. Cut an ordinary rubber band in two, and stick a bent pin through the middle of this. Now hold an end of the elastic in each hand and whirl it rapidly around, stretching it a little. The revolving pin will at once a.s.sume the appearance of a tiny gla.s.s vase, or tumbler, and the shape can be varied at will. It is best to have a strong ray of light on the pin and the rest of the room darkened.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE GLa.s.s-MAKER]
Electricity
Various tricks can be played by means of the electricity in paper.
Ordinary sealing wax, rubbed briskly on a coat-sleeve until it is warm will attract bits of tissue paper, or any other soft paper. A variation on jack-straws can be played by means of this trick. Tiny sc.r.a.ps of tissue paper, each numbered, are piled in the centre of the table and each player by means of a piece of sealing wax tries to draw out the greatest number in the shortest time. This is a fascinating game and arranged impromptu in a very short time. The pieces of paper need not be of tissue paper, as any very thin paper will do. They should be about a quarter of an inch wide by an inch long and numbered up to twenty. They must be removed from the centre pile and put in piles before the players without touching with the fingers. It will be found that shaking them off the sealing wax is often harder than making them stick to it. Of course an effort should be made to secure those pieces of paper which have the largest numbers on them, as a few of these count more than many of the others.
Electric dancers are easy to make. Cut little figures out of tissue paper and lay them on the table. Put on each side of them two books and lay a sheet of gla.s.s over them about an inch and a half above them. Rub the gla.s.s briskly with a flannel cloth and they will jump up and down.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ELECTRIC DANCERS]
A rubber comb rubbed with a silk handkerchief will attract small bits of paper, feathers or wool. Various games and tricks can be devised by this means, such as "bringing the dead to life," _i. e._, raising paper figures to an upright position from a grave made of books, or a box.
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR GIRLS
Outdoor games for girls and outdoor games for boys are very often the same, although they are separated here for the sake of convenience.
Battledore and Shuttlec.o.c.k
"Battledore and Shuttlec.o.c.k" is equally good for one player or for two. The only game to be played is to see how long the shuttlec.o.c.k can be kept in the air. If you are alone the best way is to set yourself a number, say a hundred, and persevere until you reach it. This can be varied by striving to reach, say, thirty, by first hitting the ball each time as hard as possible, and then hitting it very gently so that it hardly rises at all.
Jumping Rope
Ordinary skipping is good enough fun for most of us, but for those who are not satisfied with it there is skipping extraordinary, one feat of which is now and then to send the rope round twice before you touch the ground again. To do this, as it cannot be done with a mere rope, you must make a new rope of whipcord, in the middle of which you place a small chain about a foot long. This chain gives the weight necessary for whirling the rope very swiftly through the air.
Tom Tiddler"s Ground
The player who is first going to be Tom Tiddler stands or sits inside the part of the garden (or room) marked off for him, pretending to be asleep. The others venture on his ground, crying, "Here we are on Tom Tiddler"s ground, picking up gold and silver." As Tom still sleeps they grow bolder and bolder until he suddenly awakens and dashes for them. The one that is caught becomes Tom Tiddler. Tom may not cross the boundary-line.
Old Stone
Another "Tom Tiddler"s Ground." One player crouches down pretending to be a stone. The others run round about her, gradually, as she shows no sign of life, getting nearer and more bold. The stone suddenly leaps up and begins to chase them, and the one caught is the old stone.
Hen and Chickens
Even more exciting than "Tom Tiddler"s Ground" is "Hen and Chickens."
In this game one player represents a fox and sits on the ground looking sly and hungry. The others, who are the hen and chickens, form a procession, holding each other"s skirts or coats by both hands, and march past the fox, saying in turn--
Chickany, chickany, crany crow, I went to the well to wash my toe, And when I came back a chicken was dead.
Then they leave go of each other and stand round the fox, and the leader, the hen, says, "What are you doing, old fox?" The fox replies, "Making a fire"; and the conversation goes on like this:--
The Hen: What for?
The Fox: To boil some water.
The Hen: What is the water for?
The Fox: To scald a chicken.
The Hen: Where will you get it?
The Fox: Out of your flock.
With these words the fox springs up and the hen and chickens run in all directions. The chicken that is caught becomes the new fox, and the old fox is the new hen, the leader of the procession.
The same game is played by Ess.e.x children with an old woman in place of the fox, and with different words. In this case the hen and chickens make a procession in front of a player who personates an old weeping woman. As they march by, the hen sings--
Chickens, come clock, come clock, come clock, Chickens, come clock, come clock, come clock, The hawks are away and the crows are asleep, It"s time that my chickens had something to eat.
Then they leave go of each other and stand round the old weeping woman, and between her and the hen the following conversation is held:
The Hen: What are you crying for, my poor old woman?
The Old Woman: Because I"ve lost my needle.
The Hen: What do you want a needle for?
The Old Woman: To sew a bag with.
The Hen: What do you want a bag for?
The Old Woman: To put salt in.
The Hen: What do you want salt for?
The Old Woman: To scour a saucepan.
The Hen: What do you want a saucepan for?
The Old Woman: To boil one of your chickens in.
The old woman then leaps up and tries to catch a chicken, and the hen tries to stop her.