into a corner, the one who has been displaced has to take his place in the middle of the room.

RULE OF CONTRARY

This is a simple game for little children. It is played either with a pocket-handkerchief, or, if more than four want to play, with a table cloth or small sheet.

Each person takes hold of the cloth; the leader of the game holds it with the left hand, while with the right he makes pretence of writing on the cloth, while he says: "Here we go round by the rule of contrary. When I say, 'Hold fast,' let go; and when I say 'Let go,' hold fast."

The leader then calls out one or other of the commands, and the rest must do the opposite of what he says. Anyone who fails must pay a forfeit.

SOAP BUBBLE BATTLE

Two children act as captains, one of company A, the other of company B and each in turn choose a soldier until the children are evenly divided into two companies.

Stretch a rope or cord at a medium height across the middle of the room, with company A on one side and company B on the other side.

Each company is provided with a basin of soap suds (a little glycerine added to the water will make the bubbles last longer) and each soldier with a clay pipe.

Two soldiers, one from company A and one from company B stand at arms length from the rope and each blows a bubble from his pipe towards the "enemy" and over the rope if he can. If a soldier blows a bubble over the rope without it bursting his company wins a point. If he fails to do so, his company loses a point.

These soldiers step back and two more (one from each company) advance and blow a bubble and so on until all have had a turn. Some one keeps the score and the company having the most points are the "victors" and to them belong the "spoils" which consists of a tiny paper drum filled with candy, a small silk flag or any appropriate prize.

SPIDER WEB.

Attach one end of a number of strings (one for each guest) to the chandelier. Fasten to the other end of each string a small prize wrapped up in tissue paper. Have strings of various lengths and twine them around the table legs, chairs, etc., some may be "spun" around furniture, etc., in adjoining rooms, trying to hide the prizes as much as possible.

At a signal each child takes or is given a string from the chandelier and proceeds to wind it around an empty spool or piece of pasteboard, until a prize is reached. The strings must not be broken. An extra prize may be awarded to the child who first winds up a string neatly.

SEVERED FLOWERS

Cut from colored cloth or paper a number of petals for forming wild roses, using pink material; marguerite daisies of white material and pansies of purple. Five petals for each rose, five for each pansy and ten for each daisy.

Have the children sit around a table. Provide each one with a sheet of plain paper, three pins having the heads covered with yellow tissue paper and mixed petals enough to make one of each kind of flower.

At a signal the children begin to make the flowers by sticking the pin through the point of the petals and pinning each flower to the sheet of paper.

A prize may be given to the child finishing the flowers first or the child making the best looking flowers.

GAMES FOR CHILDREN

ACTING PROVERBS

The best way to play this game is for the players to divide themselves into two groups, namely, actors and audience. Each one of the actors should then fix upon a proverb, which he will act, in turn, before the audience. As, for instance, supposing one of the players to have chosen the proverb, "A bad workman quarrels with his tools," he should go into the room where the audience is seated, carrying with him a bag in which there is a saw, a hammer, or any other implement or tool used by a workman; he should then look round and find a chair, or some other article, which he should pretend requires repairing; he should then act the workman, by taking off his coat, rolling up his sleeves, and commencing work, often dropping his tools and grumbling about them the whole of the time.

If this game be acted well, it may be made very entertaining. Sometimes the audience are made to pay a forfeit each time they fail to guess the proverb.

BLIND MAN'S WAND

This is another way of playing Blind Man's Buff, and is thought by many to be an improvement on that game.

The player, who is blindfolded, stands in the centre of the room with a long paper wand, which can be made of a newspaper folded up lengthways, and tied at each end with string. The other players then join hands and stand round him in a circle. Someone then plays a merry tune on the piano and the players dance round and round the blind man, until suddenly the music stops; the blind man then takes the opportunity of lowering his wand upon one of the circle, and the player upon whom it has fallen has to take hold of it. The blind man then makes a noise, such as, for instance, the barking of a dog, a street cry, or anything he thinks will cause the player he has caught to betray himself, as the captive must imitate whatever noise the blind man likes to make. Should the blind man detect who holds the stick the one who is caught has to be blind man; if not, the game goes on until he succeeds.

THE BLIND POSTMAN

First a postmaster-general must be appointed, whose duty is to write down the names of the players, and the names of the cities they have chosen to represent. The postman is blindfolded and led to the middle of the room, whilst the other players are seated round it. The postmaster-general then begins to announce that a letter has been sent from one town to another, say from Denver to Chicago. The two players who have taken those names must rise up silently and change seats.

The postman's duty is to try and seat himself in one of the vacant chairs; the player who loses his chair must become the blind postman.

BLOWING THE CANDLE

Place a lighted candle on a table at the end of a room. Invite someone to stand in front of it, then blindfold him, make him take three steps backwards, turn round three times and then advance three steps and blow out the candle. If he fails he must pay a forfeit. It will be found that very few are able to succeed, simple though the test appears to be.

CAT AND MOUSE

All players form a ring, joining hands, except one called the Mouse, whom they enclose within the circle, and one who is on the outside who represents the cat. They then dance around, raising their arms at intervals. The cat watches the chance to spring into the circle at one side, and the mouse dashes out at the other—public sympathy being with the mouse, his or her movements are aided when possible. When the cat is in the circle, the players lower their arms so as to keep the enemy prisoner. The cat goes around meekly, crying "mew," while the rest dance around her. With a sudden "miaou!" she tries to break through any weak place in the chain of hands.

As soon as she escapes she tries to catch the mouse, who runs for safety into the ring again, hotly pursued. If the cat is so near as to follow the mouse into the ring, before her entrance can be prevented, or if she catches the mouse outside the circle, the mouse