AN AFTERNOON IN HOLLAND
This is a party which your friends will be sure to enjoy. Write your invitations on paper decorated with Delft scenes, or else upon cards cut in the shape of a Dutch shoe. Ask mother to please make you a Dutch cap of lawn, and then with a red or blue dress and a kerchief you’ll be a young Hollander. Have ready as many Dutch post cards as you have invited guests, also scissors, and a wooden shoe apiece.
First play “Going to Amsterdam,” which is the same as your old friend “Going to Jerusalem.” Then while your guests catch their breath after this very exciting trip, bring out your Dutch post cards and give one to each child, with a pair of scissors and an envelope. The post cards must all be cut into irregular pieces for puzzles, and then the pieces put in the envelope, being careful not to lose a single piece. When all the puzzles are cut, let each child pass to his right-hand neighbor. Then allow five minutes to put the puzzles together, after which you pass puzzles again. If you have not invited many guests, you can keep on passing puzzles till you have solved them all.
Now for the game of “Wise Men,” which is really a German game, but will do very well for a Dutch party. Choose three children for the wise men. These three enter the room, and are asked, “Who are you?” They answer, “Three men traveling hither from the East.” Then comes the question, “What kind of men are you?”
“We are good, honest men.”
“What is your trade?”
The “wise men” must then go through the motions of some trade, such as baking, ploughing, building, etc. The others must guess the occupation meant, and as soon as they have guessed three other wise men are chosen.
A more restful game is Dutch Housewife.
One child is chosen for “Housewife” and she must ask contributions for her kitchen. So each in turn offers to give some article used in the kitchen, such as a stove, dishpan, plate, etc. Then the “Housewife” must ask each player ten questions, and to each question, the article contributed must be given as the reply. Whoever laughs must pay a forfeit. If you have promised a dishpan, and the housewife asks, “In what do you ride?” you must of course answer, “A dishpan.” It’s hard not to laugh, and almost everyone has to pay a forfeit.
The supper table can be set in Delft blue with a small windmill for a centerpiece, and at each place have a wooden shoe, filled with chocolates. Mother would be sure to say that a regular “Dutch lunch” would mean a visit from the doctor some hours later. So instead of pickles and cheese, and all the other indigestibles that the grown folks enjoy, serve chocolate with whipped cream, sandwiches, chocolate bonbons, and honey cakes. (These latter you can buy at any German bakery.)
I’m sure your friends will all vote this “Afternoon in Holland” a great success.