THE CHILDREN GET THEIR HOLIDAYS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 8, Issue 188, 29 January 1943, Page 13

THE CHILDREN GET THEIR HOLIDAYS

[EVEN though many mothers have had to work over the school holidays, arrangements have been made under the auspices of the Education Department for the children of these war-workers to have holidays under suitable supervision. In Wellington, for example, three Holiday Centres have been established, and this is an account of a "Listener" visit to one of them.

VERYWHERE along the beaches and on the hills this summer we had seen children making the most of sunshine and fresh air, and it was impossible not to feel sorry for those who had, so to speak, to go "to school" in the holidays. These feelings rapidly vanished when we reached the Children’s Holiday Centre.

The school was deserted, and we were told that the children were in the baths. There, in cool green water, we found some twenty of them, aged from five to twelve. Some were in the water, some sunbathing or running about. They had the run of the baths. The supervisor, if you can call anyone so informal and so at home with the children, a supervisor, was also sitting in the sun after her bathe. There was no quarrelling, or pushing, or sulking. "This is a holiday for me and for the students who help me," she told us. "We do all sorts of things with the children, but we enjoy them, too. We want to give them an environment where they can relax and where they won’t want to be naughty; in fact where there is nothing naughty for them to do. ‘There are no regulations except where the personal safety of the children is concerned," she added as she called to one youngster who was straying rather near to the edge of the baths at the deep end. "They soon realise that we want them to feel free and enjoy themselves." If It Rains "And what about wet weather?" "Come to the school and I will show you some of the things there are for children to do. It is time for the baths to be opened to the general public." In the work-room children who had raced us back were already busy with hammer and nails and saw and fretsaw. Two children were painting boats and rts that they had made themselves. ers were experimenting with tools new to them, "Tt takes a child a day or two to adjust himself or herself to our code of behaviour," said the supervisor. "Most children are hungry for outlets-such as carpentry or painting, and they are, well, greedy. But when they see that all these things are here and free, that we all share, and that they can get what they want in the way of play-things without opposition, they settle in and learn to share and take a right place in this little community. It would, of course, be easier if we had the same children. all the time, but we want this place to be as useful as possible even if a child is only sent along for a day or two. I don’t want to think that any

child is sitting on a doorstep with a cut knee waiting until mother comes home when he might be here and happy." We saw some of the woodwork done by these’ children. There were boats, of course, and animals, a fretsaw farm, and a large variety of handsome animals made out of papier maché. We particularly admired a hand- |

some giraffe with ears that were unmistakably rabbit. There were looms for weaving-oh no, not wool — but little strips of old coloured silk and cloth. There were all sorts of pleasant things modelled out of clay. "Actually we have had such lovely weather that we haven’t used these handwork play materials as much as we might. Nearly every morning we have been at the baths until 10.30, and in the afternoons we take the children on some expedition, to the Zoo, or the gardens or the beaches. We always go to different places." Morning Tea At this point morning tea arrived. The children were already sitting round tables, each with a bottle of milk and a piece of brown bread and butter and lettuce. "We ask them to bring 6d for lunch, morning and afternoon tea, and 6d for travelling expenses for the expeditions we make. I don’t think packed sandwiches every day are ideal, so we give them quite a simple meal with raw carrot and tomato and cocoa or soup. Yes, the 6d covers it quite well, though we don’t always get it. Sometimes the finances dre a little difficult, but we always manage." ‘ The supervisor who is doing this job voluntarily as a war job is helped by two or three training college students and one or two other volunteers. There are usually five adults in charge. "The children don’t need to be organised or amused," we were told by one of the helpers. "They just need the security of knowing that someone is there. The children that are left to play on the streets may or may not get into mischief. It isn’t the damage that they might do that I mind. It is that they all seem to get so bad-tempered and sulky when they haven’t anything interesting to do." We saw a marionette play made up and put on by the children, and then it was time to go. As we went out we stopped a little girl. "What is the best thing you’ve done these holidays?" we asked her, thinking from her proprietary air that she must be an habitué of the holiday centre, "Coming to the holiday centre," came the quick reply. "I’ve only come yesterday and to-day, but now I want-to come always."