s strong and your nerves do
just what you tell them to do.

I know of ten or twelve little chickens that hatched a few weeks ago.
There are so many cats about, that the poor little chicks have to be
shut up in the barn all day. At first they ran and played and jumped
on their mother's back, but now they hump their shoulders and hang
their heads and don't seem hungry and look sad and sick. They are not
so big as some that hatched later. Can you tell me why? Of course you
can. You know that it is outdoor exercise and play that chickens need,
and that you need to make you grow big and strong, too. Of course, you
will have to keep your backbone straight and your chest out and your
head up; but all these things will be easy for you if you are
perfectly well and strong.

The school tries to take just as good care of your health and growth
as it can. Your lessons are short, and you change from one to another
frequently, with perhaps drills or calisthenic exercises between, so
that you need not sit still too long at a time; and the seats and
desks are of different sizes so that you need not sit at a desk that
does not fit you. When your teacher urges you to go out of doors and
play at recess time, even if you do not want to, you must think to
yourself, "It will rest me and make me grow big and straight and
strong."

When you come home from school, go out of doors and stay out just as
long as you can. Don't let dolls or toys or picture books tempt you to
stay in the house. The pictures out of doors are ever so much
prettier, as soon as you learn to see them. But some of you live in
crowded cities. I hope you are near a park or a playground, where you
can have a good romp with other children, and use the swings and
see-saws and bars, and the skating pond in winter, and the swimming
pool in summer.

[Illustration: A SKATING POND MADE OUT OF A GARDEN

The school garden is flooded in winter--a fine place to skate
right after school.]

What fun swimming is! You can learn easily if you have a safe place
and an older person to teach you the stroke. You can roll over on your
back in the water, and float, and dive; but you must not stay in
longer than twenty minutes, and not so long as that sometimes. As soon
as you begin to feel chilly, come out. Swimming not only cleans your
skin, but is splendid exercise for your lungs and muscles.

All this play out of doors will help your appetite, and that will make
you ready