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Show liP Ell? 110110 i CHILD who cannot entertain himself is apt to be unhappy, j Nve might as well admit it, ;-.-.her a chore for his mother to uike care of throughout the long day. Yet how many times do you squelch an idea your child has for amusing himself because you think it Is too much trouble to help him find the materials to carry out his project? Creativeness grows only by being exercised and the child who finds himself balked every time he imagines something that would be fun to do, may develop de-velop into one of those bored, what-shall-I-do-now yourgsters. Suppose five-year-old Susie takes a notion she wants to make a dress for her doll out of some pieces of gingham from her own new play suit. You know very well that sewing is beyond a five-year-old moreover more-over you were probably taught that little girls should begin sewing lessons by learning to make neat hems. But why not let Susie whack away at a doll dress even If ahe does get scraps and threads on the rug? The fun she will have will do more to Interest her In sewing later on than any amount of practice In sewing fine seams. Then suppose your little boy decides de-cides some dark, rainy day that he'd like to go camping in the living liv-ing room. You could Insist that he pitch his tent in the basement instead, in-stead, but where but in the living room fireplace, could he build a fire, and what is camping without a log fire? Out of childhood make-believe make-believe grow many of the ideas that lead to grown-up Inventive ness, m: .reative idea is worth e... . for -the many other avci.. . interest it opens up, ors of wr.iL.i may lead to a life worli. The Interest you show In your child's Ideas must go beyond be-yond the smacking of lips over delectable looking mud pies. Children old enough to have a cherished idea can sense Insincerity. In-sincerity. Also, for the child's ( protection you must really Us-ten Us-ten to Ms plans and oversee them a bit, for you never know when an Idea will take a dangerous dan-gerous turn. Usually, a way can be figured to keep things on a safe and sane basis so you rarely need to call off the project pro-ject altogether and discourage the young "Idea man." One of the worst things parents can do when an Idea is brewing is to give the child too much help with it. Think back and you re likely to find that the play projects that died aborning were the ones where father literally took over It is better Just to give encouragement encourage-ment and a little help or a few suggestions when things strike a snag. But your greatest contribution to the development of your child's creativeness is to refrain from complaining about the trouble and mess involved. And above all, try not to say, "Couldn't you wait until tomorrow when I'll have more time to get the things you want from the attic?" "Tomorrow" has killed off more ideas and in later life more hobbies -- than any othei word. |