Label each Junior with a letter on his arrival. This may be done by having ready in advance small cards, each with a letter plainly painted on it and with a ribbon loop attached, to be pinned on the dress or hung around the neck. In preparing the letters omit V, X, and Z, and make several copies apiece of the letters in most common use.

First, the Juniors may see what words they can form by grouping themselves according to their letters. For instance, a Junior labelled with F goes and finds one with O, and together they have made one word, “of”; then these two group themselves with a third labelled R, and by rearranging the order they have “for”; then by finding successively T, H, and U, they have “fort,” “forth,” and “fourth,” etc. No group may discard a letter once accepted, nor add one that will not make a correctly spelled word, but they may rearrange the order of their letters as often as they wish. At the end of a stated time the group that has the longest word has won the game, which might be known as “word-building.”

Another letter contest, with the same labels, is perhaps still more interesting. It is called the “Alphabetical Question Game.” One of the Juniors asks another a question. The answer must begin with the letter worn by the one replying, and must be given before the questioner can count ten slowly and distinctly. If the one questioned fails to reply in time, or starts his reply with a wrong letter, the questioner takes his letter from him and adds it to his own. All players supplied with one or more letters may go about asking questions in this way, but two must not question the same player at once, and no one may give the same answer twice. A player may answer from any of the letters that he is wearing; and, if a player loses his only letter, he is supplied with another, but not more than twice. When time is up, the player having the most letters is the winner.

A game of “letter tag” is one in which the vowels all chase the consonants. Each Junior wearing a vowel is given a particular corner for his “den.” There is also a general goal. At a signal the vowels start in pursuit of the consonants, all circling the room in the same direction. Those consonants that escape to the goal without being overtaken are safe for the first run; those tagged are obliged to return with their captors to the respective “dens” and remain there until the end of the game. After a certain number of these runs the vowel that has captured the most consonants is pronounced Czar, or Czarina, as the case may be. But this is not all. The players remain where they are. Paper and a pencil are given to each vowel, and the one that can make the longest list of words, using only his own letter and his captive consonants, is the final winner, and receives the reward.

By this time both vowels and consonants will be ready for refreshments, which may consist of lemonade and fancy alphabet crackers, or cakes with lettered icing. A few songs and recitations may be introduced to add variety; and a pleasing exercise for the close would be “The Juniors’ Message to All,” given as follows:

Select eight of the Juniors who are rather slender, about the same height, and dressed in white. Take off their labels. Placing a large screen temporarily before them, or closing the sliding doors between them and their expectant audience, arrange them in front of a dark curtain or other background in such positions that they will themselves form letters of white, spelling a short word easily recognized. It is not very difficult, but you will need to experiment a little. For the first letter, one Junior stands facing the audience for the upright part, another sits on the floor just behind, facing the right; for the second letter, two Juniors curve themselves as completely as possible around a hoop which they both hold, the open part toward the audience; for the third, two stand leaning away from each other, with hands or a string tightly clasped to keep from falling; for the fourth, the same arrangement as the first except that the standing Junior reaches one arm straight out at the side, toward the right of the audience, and the seated one also reaches one arm partly out in the same direction. Remove the screen when you have them arranged to your satisfaction, and the other children will recognize, in living letters of white, the word “Love,” which is the Juniors’ message to all.