Children and adults made their own toys and games. The simplicity and cleverness of some of these toys still fascinate and occupy us to this day.

"One stormy day Pa brought a wide, square board in by the stove, and with his pencil he marked it off in small squares inside a plain border.

'Whatever are you making, Pa?' Laura asked, and he answered, 'Wait and see.'

He heated the tip of the poker red-hot in the stove, and carefully he burned black every alternate little square.

'Curiosity killed a cat, Pa,' Laura said.

'You look pretty healthy,' said Pa, tantalizing, he sat there whittling until he had made twenty-four small squares of wood. Half of them he laid on the hot stove, turning them until they were burned black all over.

Then he ranged all these pieces in the squares on the board, and set the board on his knees.

'Now, Laura!' he said.

'Now what!' said Laura.

'These are checkers, and this is a checker board. Pull up your chair, and I'll show you how to play checkers.'

-from By the Shores of Silver Lake

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