Pretending electricity isn't invented yet:

Everything wasn't always the way it is now. When Grandpa was a boy, there weren't any airplanes or telephones or electricity. You can pretend you are Grandpa, long ago. You can turn out all the lights, then light a candle and sit around it and talk. You can talk about the shadows, the dark, and the way the candle burns. You can give each child a piece of wax to play with. This is a cozy, relaxing experience, because you can't do anything else, like washing dishes or listening to TV (TV is electric).

Natural Surroundings

Birds: Just as you put a feeding tray and a suet branch out for the birds in the winter, (see preceding section) you can also put out for them in the spring materials which birds can use to build their nests. Put yarn, string, or torn rags on a branch.

Worms: In the gutter after rain, one may find angleworms to transplant to the back-yard garden. Explain to the child who thinks you are burying animals alive that angleworms live in the soil and work the soil like a cultivator or plow.

Collections: Children of preschool age collect rocks, shells, leaves, cones, and berries with very little aesthetic discrimination. They are mostly interested in "lots." Nor are they very interested in display. Just shoe boxes full are satisfying to them.

Rocks and shells can be used in the turtle bowl or fish bowl, or in bottles where plants grow in water. Big rocks can be doorstops. Smaller rocks can be paperweights.

Little shells that have a hole in them can be strung into a necklace.

Four-year-olds can draw around leaves and then color their drawings.

Pressing leaves in a book is fun because you usually forget about them and then when you remember them, they are nice and flat Then you can mount them on colored paper and hang them on the wait

Pine cones are pretty just as they are. But they are also pretty when painted, and children like to paint pine cones and acorns for decorations. They often enjoy sending some to Grandmother, who usually reports it was her favorite gift

Growing Things Outdoors

It has been said that children who help plant gardens from the beginning never walk on plants, but cut bouquets for the table with long stems.

A child may be very enthusiastic about putting the seeds in the ground and watering them for a time. But even the growth of radishes is too slow for him to remember his garden and the duties connected with gardening for very long. You probably wouldn't want him in there with a hoe anyway, so consider planting and watering his activity, and weeding and cultivating yours.

Caster beans, sunflower seeds, and string beans produce tremendous rewards because of their giant size and rapid growth. The child also gets a great sense of accomplishment from growing corn, pumpkins, radishes, or a favorite vegetable. And with flowers, the old hardies such as zinnias, marigolds, nasturtiums, and bulbs are sure to grow and bloom with minimum attention.

Plants that are going to be transplanted later can be started in cardboard milk cartons. Rip the carton down to size and then when you are ready to transplant, it is easy to peel off the rest of the cardboard without disturbing the roots.

Smaller plants can be started in halves of eggshells. While they are growing it is better to keep them in the egg carton; but a single shell can be supported with a piece of modeling clay.

Use a popsicle stick or wooden ice-cream spoon for a garden marker, and use indelible ink to label your varieties.

Growing Things Indoors

A narcissus bulb will grow in a shallow bowl with water and a few pebbles or shells to support the bulb. Keep a ruler handy and measure the growth each day. Everyone will be surprised.

A sweet potato can be sprouted in a glass of water by putting the narrow end half down into the water. Toothpicks can support it. The roots will grow first, and then the vine will start to grow if you remember to add water occasionally and keep it in a sunny place.

Carrots will grow lovely new fern if you will cut off the top of the carrot and cut away most of the old fern, keeping the tops in water in a shallow bowl.

Avocado seeds will sprout by using much the same process as for sweet potatoes, only the results are not so fast nor so sure.

A piece of ivy or Wandering Jew will grow roots in water, and the cutting can later be potted.

Experiments With Plants

Pumpkin: One of the best experiments to show children the complete cycle of a living thing is to save the pumpkin seeds from the Halloween pumpkin and plant them in the spring. Put them in a dry place and spread them out so that they will not rot. Soaking them overnight the day before planting will help insure success. After the child has seen the vines grow and bloom and watched the green pumpkins turn orange, he is ready to select one for his jack-o-lantern, hollow the insides out, and save the seeds to plant in the spring all over again.

Grass: An indoor experiment that is fun to watch is growing grass seed or bird seed on a sponge that is kept very wet and given plenty of sunlight Keep the sponge in a saucer of water.

Dry beans: Lima beans or navy beans will swell the first day they are put in water, and the next day or two the bean will open and start to sprout Keeping the bean on a piece of wet cotton will prevent it from drying out. It must not be completely submerged, because it needs air too.

Experiments With Food In The Kitchen

Bread: Yeast makes gases and the gas makes the dough get bigger and bigger.