Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III SAVED FROM THE SCRAP BASKET or Work With Scissors And Paste What is known as free-hand cutting has been for some time recognized as of genuine educational value and is a source of great pleasure to the child when once he learns his capacity in this direction. When he tries, by means of paper and scissors, to express an idea, to illustrate some story, or to indicate something that he has seen, his notions of form and proportion become more definite and precise, and he learns to express action with remarkable skill and power. He learns to appreciate beauty of outline as seen in mountains and trees against a clear sky, and to recognize such beauty as there may be in what artists know as the "sky line," when darkness deepens and the mammoth buildings of a city loom up black against the sunset heavens. The definiteness of observation and skill with the hand acquired in this free cutting serves the child in many ways when in the school grades. Many an otherwise useless piece of paper may, with the help of scissors, give the child hours of pleasure. But before he is able to use the scissors the child may receive pleasure and benefit from the use of paper alone, PAPER Tearing Paper (Any bit of paper) Give the children small pieces of paper and let them try to tear these into simple definite shapes. Make a shoe, stocking, snowman, tree, ladder, cat, etc. Watch that they do not grow nervous in doing it. After a little practice they will become surprisingly expert. Paste what they make on a good background to save and compare with later efforts. This is a really educational occupation which involves absolutely no expense, as any clean piece of paper may be so used. Will employ the child happily when traveling. The very youngest children, if they wan...