For Girls

Grandmother for a Day | Susie's Roundup | A Puppet Party | A Doggy Affair | A Nutty Party | A "Jean" Party

GRANDMOTHER FOR A DAY

"I'm tired of always being the youngest in the family," sputtered the rebellious Linda one day. Her mother laughed at her crossness and then had an idea.

"How would you like to be a grandmother for a day?" she asked.

Linda forgot her crossness and brightened up, "How?" "How could I?"

"We could plan a Grandmother's party and invite your friends in for an afternoon tea like Grandmother used to enjoy when she was young."

And this was the start of Linda's "Grandmother's" party. To give her invitations an old-fashioned touch Linda pasted colored rickrack braid around the edges of small white cards. On the cards she printed "Come to Linda's for Grandmother's Day."

When her excited guests arrived they were directed to the back bedroom where they found two large boxes—one filled with old long dresses, one for each little guest—the other filled with hats, gloves, beads, and other fancies.

Around the room Linda had pinned a few old-fash­ioned pictures which the girls studied to get ideas about hair styles. Also they were not familiar with the black court-plaster beauty spots until they saw an old photo­graph.

After considerable hilarity over "dressing-up" and a proper time devoted to primping, Linda announced a style show to discover the prettiest costume, the fun­niest, and the cleverest. Winners would be judged by the applause of the guests and awarded prizes.

After all this excitement the girls went to the living room for a "Quilting Bee," so popular when Grandmother was a girl. Each girl was given a small square of tarlatan and enough tiny squares of gay cotton material to cover it—also a tube of glue. Each girl then glued her cotton squares to the tarlatan back to make a doll-sized quilt. The girl with the nicest looking quilt was awarded a prize.

Because even interested girls do not like to sit still too long, the next game was an active one. Linda put a work basket in the center of the floor and around it circles of various colored tissue paper which represented balls of Grandmother's yarn. Each girl was then given a card­board fan (Manila folders make good fans). Then each girl tried for one minute to fan as many balls of yarn as possible into the work basket. Linda's mother timed each contestant and awarded a small prize to the most success­ful. This game is very tricky because the thin paper blows out of the basket as easily as it blows in.

In Grandmother's childhood homemade feather beds and pillows were common in every home, so Linda planned a feather relay. Her guests were divided into two groups. The first player of each group was given a feather. Each girl keeps her feather in the air by blowing on it while she crosses the room and returns. She then hands her feather to the next in line. The side finishing first wins the relay.

The next game was "Grandma." Linda was the first Grandma and stood with her face to the wall. The other players stood in a line across the room. The idea of the game is for the players to creep up on Grandma without being seen. Grandma could turn at any time to look over her left shoulder or her right shoulder, but she could not at any time turn all the way around. If Grandma caught sight of a player moving she sent her back to the starting point. The player who first was able to creep up on Grandma and touch her took Linda's place and became the next Grandma.

Teatime came all too quickly. It consisted of thin nut-bread sandwiches cut with fancy cookie cutters, and cocoa. Old-fashioned snowballs and plenty of ice cream satis­fied the sweet tooth. Snowballs, so popular in Grand­mother's day, are squares of white cake frosted on all sides with white cocoanut frosting.

Linda and her guests all decided that having a "Grand­mother's" party was lots of fun.

SUSIE'S ROUNDUP

Susie and her crowd had outgrown the tea-party stage. They had no time for dolls and were not yet interested in boys. Like many others of her age Susie was "cowgirl crazy." All she wanted for her birthday was a "Complete cowgirl outfit, and a party."

This posed a stumper but her clever mother found a solution. Susie's house became a ranch house and Susie invited all her crowd to a roundup. Costumes which called for jeans, boots and a sombrero brought pleasure to these young fillies who were at the moment very opposed to "dressing up."

As soon as the girls arrived at Susie's, they sensed the atmosphere of ranch life. A fire roared in the fireplace. Beside it lay a huge birch log with an ax driven into it. On the other side of the fire boots were drying.

On the newel post of the stairway stood a tin bucket of water with its accompanying dipper. Paper cups were hidden back of the bucket so no one actually drank out of the dipper.

For an opener Susie passed her cowgirl hat in which she had put a number of slips each bearing the name of a horse, such as Trigger, Silver, Knight, and others. Each guest drew one, pinned it to her dress, and became owner of that particular horse.

The first game was "Ring Pan" toss. Susie put an angel-food cake tin on a bare table, the dining table can be used, and shoved it against the wall. With small pieces of ad­hesive tape she marked the outer ring of the pan five points and the inner ring twenty-five points. The girls used five ping-pong balls for the game. Standing at the opposite end of the table from the cake tin, the girls took turns bouncing the balls into the pan, of course always trying to bounce into the center ring. Susie acted as score-keeper and announced the winners.

Next the cowgirls tried their skill with a rope. A small clothesline was used as a lasso. Susie's cowgirl hat was hung on the back of a dining-room chair and the girls, standing ten feet away, tried to lasso the hat off the chair back. Each girl had three tries and was awarded another try for a successful throw.

For the third game the girls clasped hands and formed a circle. Susie's hat was placed in the center on its crown. Then the girls, keeping their hands clasped, tried to pull and push each other so as to make someone knock the hat over. Each girl who bumped the hat over dropped out of the circle. The hat was righted and the game went on, un­til a single winner remained.

By this time the girls were ready for a quiet game. The winner of the last game started the new one. She said, "My horse is active." The next girl in the circle to her right used the same sentence adding an adjective begin­ning with "b." For instance, "My horse is active and bony." The third said, "My horse is active, bony, and clever." And so on around the circle. Anyone not able to think of an adjective beginning with the next letter of the alphabet dropped out of the circle.

Then followed a "Driving Race." Two groups of three girls each were selected. In each group two of the girls were chosen as horses. These two girls made a seat of their hands, each girl taking hold of her right wrist with her left hand and taking hold of the left wrist of the other girl with her right hand. The horses were blind­folded. The third girl was then seated on this human chair, and all three were turned around two or three times until the blindfolded horses lost all sense of direc­tion. The signal to start was given and the two teams raced across the room and back; the blindfolded horses being guided by the girl riders who directed them. Of course, the team getting across the room and back first were the winners.

By this time the cowgirls were ready for a feed. The long dining table with its red-and-white-checked cloth was set with shiny tin cups, plates and knives; no forks or spoons.

For once these little girls could forget their ladylike manners. Eating creamed potatoes and a slice of meat loaf with a knife was not too bad, but by the time they reached the buttered peas and Jello salad they were laugh­ing so heartily they could scarcely eat. A slice of apple pie to be eaten with the same knife, and a tin cup of milk completed the hilarious meal.

At the conclusion of the party the young cowgirls gave three "yippees" for the young hostess and her clever cowgirl party.

A PUPPET PARTY

For something new and different that will rate tops with your gradester daughter and her pals try a balloon puppet party. The only materials needed for these unusual puppets are a supply of bal­loons, some tempera paints, a little soap, and some pieces of gay crepe paper and bits of ribbon and string.

When the little ladies arrive tell them they can make their own puppets and a prize will be given for the clever­est, the funniest, the most unusual, and the gayest. Be sure to have plenty of table room for the girls to work on and shears handy to cut the crepe paper.

Because rubber is slick, it is best to first rub the bal­loons with a soapy lather. This soapy covering when dry makes the paint adhere more easily to the rubber.

The next step is to paint the faces on the balloons be­fore they are inflated. Either tempera paint or ink can be used.

When the features are completed to the satisfaction of each young artist, the balloon is inflated. The girls will be delighted with the expressions they have created. Tie the balloon as close up as possible leaving the neck of the balloon free.

The girls will want to design hats from the colored crepe paper. These hats can be stuck on with cellulose tape or tied on with ribbons under the chin. A chinaman's queue can be made of braided black embroidery cotton.

When the puppets are completed, each girl can fasten her creation to her finger by slipping the neck of the bal­loon over her finger and fastening it on with a rubber band. Now all is ready for the "Puppet Parade."

If each girl makes up a bit of the life history or perhaps a spicy romance concerning her puppet, it adds to the fun. She can introduce her puppet to the rest of the guests, giving the puppet's name, telling who he is, and what he's famous for. For instance, a Chinaman puppet might be the best laundryman in town; another wearing a George Washington paper hat might be a statesman; another wear­ing a cap with a small visor could be a bellhop at the lead­ing hotel. The possibilities for a lot of imaginative fun are limitless.

Convert a handy table into bleachers for the puppet audience while the girls entertain with some stunts, for by now the lassies will be ready for some active games.

Divide the girls into two teams for a "Paper Relay." Give the first player of each team two pieces of cardboard about eight by ten inches. The player steps on one piece of cardboard with her left foot and places the other piece as far ahead as she can easily step with her right foot. Standing on her right foot, she picks up the cardboard from under her left foot and advances it ahead of the right foot. The object of the game is to walk across the room and back, stepping on the paper all the way. In other words, the player lays her own stepping stones as she goes. This game is hilariously funny and exciting as a relay. The team finishing first is of course the winner.

For the next bit of excitement line the girls up in two straight rows facing each other. Draw a chalk line in front of their toes (chalk will vacuum off the rug with no trouble). Give each girl a piece of the cardboard that was used in the last game, but this time to be used as a fan.

Toss two ping-pong balls between the two rows of girls. The object of the game is for each team to fan the ball over the opponents' line. The girls must stay behind the lines. The balls can't be touched—only fanned. A referee keeps track of the score and announces the winners. The action of these elusive little balls makes this a really ex­citing game.

Another circle game girls of this age will enjoy is called "Jingle Bell." The girls stand in a circle with their hands behind them. One player is given the bell. A leader is chosen to stand in the center of the circle and close her eyes. She then counts slowly to ten, the counts coming about a second apart. Upon the first count, whoever has the bell rings it vigorously and then takes the clapper in her hand and passes it behind her back to her neighbor either to the right or left. On the count of ten, the move­ments stop and the leader opens her eyes. She guesses who has the bell. Anyone caught with the bell becomes the next leader.

By this time the girls will be ready for refreshments. To carry out the puppet idea serve a puppet meal. Ar­range on each plate a complete doll. The head is half a hard-boiled egg with raisin eyes, nose and mouth—shred­ded yellow cheese for hair—a peach pickle body with rai­sin buttons—celery arms—and a lettuce leaf for a skirt. Under the lettuce leaf will be a generous serving of your favorite hot dish—macaroni and cheese, or tuna, or creamed chicken. The girls will be delighted with these tasty attractive puppets. Ice cream is always an acceptable dessert to the young fry.

Each guest will be anxious to take her puppet balloon home to show her family and will rate this party as tops.

A DOGGY AFFAIR

Most youngsters love dogs and Joan and her crowd were no exception. For that reason she decided to make her birthday party a "Doggy Affair." When she invited her friends she asked each of them to bring a snapshot of her dog and be prepared to give a two-minute talk on the virtues of that particular breed of dog. Immediately the gang was interested.

As each guest arrived Joan handed her an envelope which contained paper letters. These letters when placed in the right order spelled out a dog's name such as Rover, Brownie, Scotch, Lassie, etc. This is an excel­lent starter as it gives each newcomer something to do while the others are arriving. As soon as each one had fig­ured out her dog's name it was written on a slip of pa­per and pinned on her and became her name for the evening. One plump gal turned out to be "Lassie," and the sober scholar of the bunch became "Soot," much to the crowd's delight.

The first activity of the evening was a "Handful Re­lay." The girls were divided into two teams. Fifteen dog biscuits were given to the first player in each team. At a signal she put all of them on the floor in front of the per­son next to her in line. Each player had to have all the dog biscuits in her hands when she passed them. If a player spilled some of them in the passing, the line started over again. The team that finished first won the relay.

Next Joan passed a hat containing slips of paper. Each guest drew one. On each slip was written a situation to be acted out by the person drawing it in bow-wow language only. Here are some good situations:

Bing Crosby singing a sentimental ballad.

A bashful boy explaining to teacher why he was late to school.

A boy teasing to play out after dark with the crowd.

A mother scolding her small son for breaking a win­dow.

A father refusing to increase his son's allowance.

The trick was to guess what situation was being por­trayed by the person barking through her assignment. The one doing the best job of explaining her situation in dog language was given a bag of dog biscuits.

The following game took a great deal of wind. The players stood in two lines. At the head of each line was placed a stack of No. 2 paper sacks; one for each player. At a given signal the first person in each line picked up a bag, ran to the end of her line, blowing it up as she ran and popped it on the back of the end girl as she stepped into line behind her. If the bag failed to burst, she blew it up and tried again. As soon as the explosion was heard the second person in line took her turn with a sack. The side finishing first won a picture of a dog clipped from a magazine cover.

After this hilarious game the girls needed a bit of time to catch a breath, so they played Dark Dog. Each girl was given a 4 x 6 blank card and a pencil. The players were warned to take a good look at the card because they were going to be blindfolded. When all were blindfolded they were asked to draw a dog. After this they were told to put a collar on the dog. Then to draw a bone in front of him.

And then to draw a license tag hanging from his collar. The blindfolds were then removed and the astounding pictures exhibited.

While lunch was being prepared girls displayed the snapshots of their pet dogs, and gave the two-minute talks they had prepared about their dogs and the advan­tages of that particular breed.

Refreshments for Joan's party were simple. Hot dogs, and milk, with frozen ice-cream dogs for dessert were served from a table covered with a gay-colored paper tablecloth which was decorated with dog cut-outs. A cardboard doghouse was the centerpiece. Favors were small figures of dogs.

Joan and her crowd voted this Doggy affair tops among their party experiences.

A NUTTY PARTY

"Can't I ever have a party unless it's my birth­day?" Sally demanded.

Her mother looked up from her mending star­tled. "Why, I hadn't thought of it that way, Sally. I just took it for granted that children's parties meant a birth­day party."

"You and Daddy have more parties than just one a year," answered Sally. "I don't see why I can't."

Sally's mother thoughtfully considered the question. Why shouldn't a youngster entertain her friends at least as often as her parents entertain theirs. Then she replied. "I think, Sally, that you have a point. If you would like to entertain your friends, of course you can have a party."

So Sally and her mother sat down together to plan a party. Sally suggested that since this was sort of a nutty idea of hers why not make it a nutty party. Why not in­deed?

The invitations were typed on slips of thin paper which read:

You are invited to a Nutty Party, Friday after school, February 4, at the Nut House, 805 Blunt Street. Wear a Nutty costume for a Nutty good time (Signed) Your Nutty friend, Sally.

These invitations were then folded small enough to fit English walnut shells which Sally delivered to the girls she wanted at her party.

Friday afternoon arrived and so did the guests, one dressed in Mother's long dress, one wearing a big hat and long earrings, and others in whatever strange apparel ap­pealed to them as a Nutty Costume.

Sally met the girls at the door with a nut basket con­taining green and white badges about the size and shape of a big walnut shell. Each shell bore the name of a nut such as Wal, Hickory, Beech, Pecan, Hazel, Butter, Bra­zil, Cashew, Filbert, and Chest. The girl drawing the first green shell became the Head Nut for the Greens—the first girl taking a white shell became Head Nut for the Whites. The girls then pinned the nutty names on them­selves and answered to those names for the evening. Of course Chest and Butter came in for quite a ribbing.

Even girls like to use their muscles now and then and show their strength, so for a Relay scaled to her living room Sally had a contest to discover the nuttiest team. She stretched a piece of tape about eight feet long on the floor. First the Head Nuts from each team stood on the line facing each other. Each girl stood with both feet on the line, with heel and toe touching the line. Each con­testant clasped the right hand of her opponent. Then by pulling, each tried to make the other player lose her bal­ance without losing her own. The one who stepped off the line first lost a point. The one who stayed on the line won a point for her team. If both stepped off at the same time they started over again. They continued this relay until each girl had a turn. Then the Head Nuts added up the points and announced the winning team.

Next Sally had a "Living Room Balloon Race." The girls of each team sat in a row on the floor, one directly back of the other, so that the two teams made two parallel rows. The Greens were handed a green balloon and the Whites a white one. At a signal the Head Nut in each row passed the balloon from the palm of her right hand to the palm of the right hand of the person behind her, who in turn followed suit—and so on down the line. The last girl transferred the balloon to her left hand and passed it up the line again, this time by the left hand. At no time could the player touch the balloon with her free hand. If it fell off, the player behind picked it up with both hands and passed it on with one hand. The first team to return the balloon to the Head Nut won and was awarded twenty-five points.

Another active living-room game that was nutty enough to suit the girls was called "True or False." The girls gath­ered in the center of the living room and were told the West end of the room was the False end and the East end the True. Sally read a list of statements which she had prepared beforehand about nut subjects. For instance, the leader read, "The peanut is a nut that grows above ground." The first girls at the head of each line an­swered by going to the False corner of the room, which in this case was correct. Therefore, each girl won a point for her side. The second girls in each line answered the next question—and so on to the end of the lines. Other nutty statements were:

The beechnut grows on the beach by the sea.

The hazelnut is a female nut.

The walnut is common in Minnesota.

The hickory nut grows on a tree famous for its wood.

The butternut comes from cows.

The chestnut is common around Christmas time.

To occupy the girls while their lunch was being pre­pared Sally started them on "Fortune Telling" peanuts.

Sally had removed the peanuts from their shells ahead of time. Into the shells she put tiny folded bits of paper on which were written such words as "journey," "wealth," "success," "5 children," "2 husbands," and "hard work." These she had hidden around the room. The girls were told that somewhere in the room was a peanut with her for­tune inside. Each girl must hunt until she found one. After everyone had a peanut they opened up the shells and took turns reading the fortunes they found. Providing only one apiece eliminated that scramble that usually ac­companies an indoor hunt.

These are some of the games that kept Sally and her friends busy at her Nutty Party. At the close of the fun the Head Nut of each team added up the scores each team had won, and the winning team was then given the privi­lege of having the losers serve them lunch. Sally lighted a fire in the fireplace and the girls squatted around on the floor to eat hot dogs and buns and drink pop. When the winners were all supplied with food the losers then received their hot dogs and sat by the fire to tell tall tales as they ate.

After the party Sally said, "Gee, Mom, that was a swell party."

Sally's mother was glad she had permitted Sally to have the party not only because Sally and her friends had such a good time, but she realized that Sally had learned a great deal about being a good hostess. Sally had made an effort to bring the shy girl into the games and had learned the value of cooperating with a hostess—valuable knowledge that will help Sally enter adolescence with more poise and ease.

A "JEAN" PARTY

There's a bit of tomboy in every lass that bub­bles with joy at the suggestion of a "Jean" party. In our neighborhood jean parties are the popular Friday night entertainment for the eleven-to-thirteen-year-old girls. Kristen's party was typical.

Kristen invited her crowd for supper, and for the jean crowd, believe it or not, that means wieners and buns, potato chips, dill pickles, baked beans and spaghetti; fa­vorite dishes of the jeanites. As Kristen's mother said, "Those youngsters would eat that food every night, if they were at a party."

If the moon is bright, Kristen says, the crowd likes nothing better than an old-fashioned game of "Hide and Seek." Just in case some of the girls might be inclined to wander too far away, thereby getting out of hand, there are strict rules requiring the girls to hide only in and around Kristen's yard.

For the ordinary get-together party nothing is consid­ered more fun than quizzes and guessing contests. One of the popular games is "Guess It." Divide the girls into teams of four and seat them around a card table. The leader of each team leaves the room with the hostess. The leaders are told to return to their tables and draw something. It may be a picture of Betsy Ross at work on the first flag or any other subject the leaders may decide upon. If the leaders have no artistic ability so much the funnier. The object of the game is for the girls at each table to guess just what it is their leader is drawing. The table finishing first is the winner.

Another popular stunt at Kristen's party was a musical spell down. The girls divided into two groups and stood facing each other. Kristen acted as pronouncer by play­ing snatches of tunes at the piano. If the first girl at the head of the line could not name the tune being played she sat down. Then the girl at the head of the line opposite took her chance, and so on down the two lines. The last one to stand was the winner.

"Jay-walking" is a good jean-party game. The girls line up in two teams of equal numbers and the first one on each team is given a cane (a yardstick will do). She rests her forehead on her hands on the cane handle, keeps her eyes on the floor, while she circles the cane six times. When she finishes the sixth round she walks to the oppo­site end of the room, touches a designated spot on the wall, then goes back to the starting point and yields the cane to the next contestant in line. This doesn't sound exciting, but the dizzy stagger of the contestants is very funny. Each contestant is sure he can do it without stag­gering.

The jean crowd likes animals. They also love quiz games, so here is one especially suitable. Give each girl a pencil and a paper prepared beforehand with a list of animals, fowl, or what-have-you, and with the words "male, female, and offspring" opposite each name. Here is Kris-ten's list that can be used, or another may be substituted.

	Male	Female	Offspring
Deer	Buck	Doe	Fawn
Goat	Billy	Nanny	Kid
Dog	Dog	Bitch	Pup
Donkey	Jack	Jenny	Foal

			For Girls
	Male	Female	Offspring
Fox	Dog	Fox	Vixen
Hog	Boar	Sow	Shoat
Seal	Bull	Cow	Calf
Goose	Gander	Goose	Gosling
Duck	Drake	Duck	Duckling

This game proves to be quite a challenge.

Another popular quiz with the jeanites is called "Hu­man Traits." Kristen gave each of her guests a sheet of paper and pencil and then asked them to write as many words as they could which describe the characteristics of teen-agers. Some of the jeanites immediately listed all the good characteristics like honesty, sincerity, and beauty. Others tried to make up a gruesome list. Anyway it was lots of fun and at the end of fifteen minutes the one with the longest list was declared winner.

After this mental effort the girls were more than ready to use their heads in another fashion. They formed a cir­cle and each was given a book. Each girl balanced her book on her head and marched to music. When the music stopped each girl knelt on the floor and remained in that position until the music began again. If the book fell to the floor or was touched by the hand of the player, that player was disqualified and withdrew. The game con­tinued until only one player was left.

After a bit of discussion on this and that, the girls scat­tered to their homes with words of appreciation for the nice party—one of many enjoyed by Kristen and her crowd.

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