A STRANGE SCHOOL

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 442, 25 August 1928, Page 29

A STRANGE SCHOOL

When we see a lot of chickens, and ! ducks and geese clacking and quacking, and hissing, and making no end of a fuss all about nothing, most of us can’t help thinking—can we?—that they are rather stupid creatures and we wish that they could go to school, as. we do, and learn to be sensible. As a matter of fact, in some ways poultry are rather clever, and can do a lot of things we can’t do. They can lay eggs, for instance, and eat worms: and cocks, though they cannot, of course, lay eggs, wake everybody up, every morning, whatever the weather and however dark and cold it is, which is a thing very few of us can do. Where do you suppose they learn to do all these things? Why, at school, of course, where the rest of us learn! We never see them going to school, because they wait till it is dark and we are all in bed. The fairies do most of the teaching, because they know so many subjects and it is no trouble to them at all. The fairies are very particular about their pupils being punctual. You see they, themselves, are never late with anything they have to do, and it’s a good thing they aren’t, for their work is most important. As you know, they open the buds and wake up the sunbeams and teach the birds new songs. It would be rather sad if they delayed anything of that sort, wouldn’t it?— we should have a poor sort of spring and summer! The geeso have special hissing lessons, the ducks are taught to waddle, the chickens learn to peck to the best advantage, but, oC course, there is no sign of this school in the morning for tlie fairies are rather afraid that if boys and girls discovered it, they might start getting up in the middle of the night to see all the birds in class. And that would never do! AN “ORANGE” BIRTHDAY This is a novel idea for a birthday party. For tea you have a birthday cake made with orange icing and flavourings: oranges cut into quarters and filled with jelly are lovely. Also there is a fruit salad with lots of oranges iq - and the table could be decorated with orange-coloured streamers. After tea there could be an orange hunt, which is played either all over the house or only in the play-room or else in the garden. Oranges are hidden everywhere, and each little guest keeps all he or she finds until the hunt is over. Each orange has a number pasted on it, and the one whose score is the highest wins. This is counted not by the number of oranges found, but by the total of the numbers on the oranges, so that even if a guest has only found one orange, it might win the prize, for, of course, a small prize must be offered. At the conclusion of the party, each little guest could be given an orange to take home.