Home-made Toys for Girls and Boys Part 1

Home-made Toys for Girls and Boys.

by A. Neely Hall.

INTRODUCTORY

Through the author's handicraft volumes, and magazine and newspaper articles, thousands of boys and girls who never realized they could make their own toys, have succeeded in constructing models which would do credit to Santa Claus' master toy-makers.

The success of this new home industry has suggested the need of a volume devoted entirely to toy-making, and in HOME-MADE TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS the author has brought together a large number of the toy ideas from his former handicraft volumes, and from his articles published in the _Ladies' Home Journal_, _Woman's Home Companion_, _Good Housekeeping_, the _Boys' Magazine_, and other publications, and he believes that as collected and arranged the material will be found a veritable gold-mine of toy-making information.

Go to any toy store and price the toys similar to those described within these covers, then estimate if you can how much the other toys you do not find would cost if manufactured, and you will discover that one hundred dollars would not cover their value. One splendid thing about these home-made toys is that the greater part of them require little more than the pick-up material found at home. Few boys and girls are given a one hundred dollar a.s.sortment of toys at a time, yet any one can own a collection of this value who is willing to spend the time necessary to follow the instructions given in this book. Probably, though, some of the toys will be wanted now, and the others one, two or three seasons hence, because, you see, the book is an all-the-year-round handy book with suggestions for every season. Some of the toys will be of especial interest to boys, yet girls who like what boys like will enjoy making them also.

Home-made toys are generally longer lived than store toys because the boy or girl who expends a certain amount of effort producing gives them better care. Home-made toys have a greater value than boughten ones because there is as much fun making them as playing with them. Doing something interesting, getting satisfying results out of the work, putting an idea into tangible form, and having a toy to show of which it can be said, "I made this all myself,"--these are the factors in toy-making so fascinating to boys and girls.

It is no less a child's nature to want to do that which is most pleasing to him, than an adult's, so why not encourage this wholesome activity of toy-making to which the child takes as readily as a duck takes to water?

It trains the mind to think clearly, the hands to work cleverly, replaces destructive thoughts with constructive ideas, and, in making the boy or girl dependent upon himself or herself for toys, is invaluable in developing resourcefulness.

Recognizing how easily the child's interest is attracted and held by anything of a building nature, toy manufacturers have placed scores of so-called "construction sets" upon the market, but, though excellent as these outfits are, the toys they form are merely a.s.sembled, not really made by the boy or girl, and much of the value of making is lost. Exactly as good models as those a.s.sembled with "construction sets" can be made of pick-up materials, as chapters in this book show. In fact, some of the models in the manufacturers' instruction pamphlets--merry-go-rounds, Ferris wheels and swings--are almost identical with home-made models devised long ago by the author for his readers. Furthermore, there are many, very many toys in HOME-MADE TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS which are beyond the limited possibilities of "construction sets."

A. N. H.

OAK PARK, ILLINOIS, May 31, 1915.

CHAPTER I

HOME-MADE WINDMILLS

No mechanical toy is more interesting to make, nor more interesting to watch in operation, than a miniature windmill. It is a very simple toy to construct, and the material for making one can usually be found at hand, which are two reasons why nearly every boy and girl at one time or another builds one.

=The Paper Pinwheel= shown in Fig. 1 is one of the best whirlers ever devised. A slight forward thrust of the stick handle upon which it is mounted starts it in motion, and when you run with the stick extended in front of you it whirls at a merry speed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 1.--The Paper Pinwheel is the Simplest Pinwheel to Make.]

A piece of paper 8 or 10 inches square is needed for the pinwheel. Fold this piece of paper diagonally from corner to corner, both ways. Then open the paper, and with a pair of scissors cut along the diagonal creases, from the corners to within 1/2 inch of the center (Fig. 2).

Next, fold corners _A_, _B_, _C_, and _D_ over to the center, as shown in Fig. 3, run a pin through the corners and through the center of the sheet of paper, drive the point of this pin into the end of the stick handle, and the pinwheel will be completed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 2.--Diagram for Paper Pinwheel.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 3.--How the Paper Pinwheel is Folded.]

=The Pinion-wheel Windmill= in Fig. 4 may be made of cardboard or tin. A circular piece 10 or 12 inches in diameter is required. After marking out the outer edge with a compa.s.s, describe an inner circle about 1 inch inside of it; then draw two lines through the center at right angles to each other, and another pair at an angle of 45 degrees to these. These lines are shown by the heavy radial lines in Fig. 5. One-half inch from each of these lines draw a parallel line, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5. The next thing to do is to cut out the disk, and cut along the heavy lines just as far as the lines are shown in the diagram (Fig.

5), and then to bend up the blades thus separated, to an angle of about 45 degrees, bending on the second set of radial lines (dotted lines in Fig. 5).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 4.--A Pinion-wheel Windmill.]

You had better make a cardboard pinion-wheel first, then a tin one afterwards, as cardboard is so much easier to cut. A pair of heavy shears will be necessary for cutting a tin wheel, and a cold chisel for separating the edges of the blades.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 5.--Diagram for Pinion-wheel Windmill.]

=To Mount the Pinion-wheel= drive a long nail through the center, through the hole in a spool, and into the end of a stick. Then nail the stick to a post or a fence top.

=The Four-blade Windmill= shown in Fig. 6 has a hub 4 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick (Fig. 7). This should be cut out of hard wood. Draw two lines across one face, through the center, and at right angles to each other. Then carry these lines across the edge of the block, not at right angles to the sides, but at an angle of 45 degrees. Saw along these lines to a depth of 1-1/4 inches. The ends of the windmill blades are to fit in these slots.

Cut the blades of equal size, 9 inches long, 5 inches wide on the wide edge, and 1-1/2 inches wide on the narrow edge, and fasten them in the slots with nails.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 6.--A Four-blade Windmill.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 7.--Hub.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 8.--How to Slot End of Shaft for Tail.]

With the blades in position, pivot the hub to the end of the windmill shaft, a stick 20 inches long (Fig. 6). The end opposite to that to which the hub is pivoted is whittled round, and slotted with a saw to receive a tail (Fig. 8). The tail may be of the same size as the blades, though it is shown shorter in the ill.u.s.tration.

=Mount the Windmill= upon a post, pivoting its shaft at the balancing center with a nail or screw. Bore a hole large enough so the shaft will turn freely upon the pivot, and the windmill will thus keep headed into the wind.

=The Eight-blade Windmill= in Fig. 9 has a spool hub (Fig. 10), and blades made of cigar-box wood, shingles, tin, or cardboard (Fig. 11).

You will see by Figs. 10 and 11 that the blades are nailed to the side of short spoke sticks, and the sticks are driven into holes bored in the spool hub. The hub turns on the rounded end of the shaft stick (Fig.

12), and the square end of this shaft is slotted to receive the fan-shaped tail (Figs. 12 and 13).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 9.--An Eight-blade Windmill.]

=For the Hub= use a large ribbon-spool. You can get one at any drygoods store. Locate eight holes around the center of the spool at equal distances from one another, and bore these with a gimlet or bit, or cut them with the small blade of your jack-knife.

=Cut the Eight Blades= 6 inches long, 5 inches wide on their wide edge, and 1-1/2 inches wide on their narrow edge. Prepare the hub sticks about 1/2 inch by 3/4 inch by 4-1/2 inches in size, and whittle one end pointed to fit in the hub (Fig. 11). Fasten the blades to the spokes with nails long enough to drive through the spokes and clinch on the under side. Glue the spokes in the hub holes, turning them so the blades will stand at about the angle shown.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 10.--Spool Hub.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 11.--Blades.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 12.--Shaft.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 13.--Tail.]

=The Shaft= should be made of a hard wood stick about 3/4 inch by 1-1/2 inches by 30 inches in size. Cut the round end small enough so the hub will turn freely on it, and punch a small hole through it so a brad may be driven through to hold the hub in place. Cut the slot in the square end with a saw.

=Cut the Tail= of the shape shown in Fig. 13.

=Pivot the Windmill= upon the top of a post support, in the same manner as directed for the other windmills.

Figure 14 shows how the toy windmill may be rigged up

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 14.--How the Windmill may be Rigged up to Operate a Toy Jumping-jack.]

=To Operate a Toy Jumping-jack=, by supporting the jumping-jack on a bracket, and connecting its string to the hub of the windmill. You can make your jumping-jack like the one in Fig. 110, the details of which are shown in Fig. 113.