Toy-Making at Home Part 1

Toy-Making at Home.

by Morley Adams.

PREFACE

This work has been compiled with the a.s.sistance of Mr. Walter Higgins, the well-known instructor in woodwork.

The volume fulfils a long-felt want in that it supplies fascinating amus.e.m.e.nt for evenings at home. The making of toys is an engrossing pastime, and the home-made toy is invariably more novel than the shop-bought article and of superior quality, besides which there is always a satisfaction in "I made it myself."

The purpose of the book is to give simple and easily understood instructions and plain diagrams and sketches for making toys from the odds and ends that are usually discarded as useless. Matches, Match Boxes, Cotton Reels, Cocoa Tins, Cigar Boxes, and even Egg Sh.e.l.ls comprise the materials from which are evolved Shops, Working Models, Dolls' Furniture, Boats, Steam Engines, Windmills, and scores of other toys dear to the hearts of boys and girls.

Perhaps the chief charm of the occupation is that literally dozens of toys can be made at a cost of less than a penny. Every toy described in this book is practicable, and can be easily made by anyone possessing the smallest amount of handicraft skill. At the same time the instructions are such as will prove of the utmost value to instructors of handicraft cla.s.ses.

MORLEY ADAMS.

TOY-MAKING AT HOME

TOYS FROM ODDS AND ENDS

In every household there are countless things which are thrown away immediately they have served one purpose. Cotton-reels may be taken as an instance. It does not occur to the majority of people that these little wooden articles, strongly made and well finished, may be put to some use, even when the cotton has been wound from them. Yet from them quite useful furniture can be made and playthings innumerable. And so it is with many other things--match boxes, broken clothes pegs, cocoa tins, mustard tins, egg sh.e.l.ls, cigar boxes, nut sh.e.l.ls, corks, incandescent-mantle cases, old broom handles: there is no end to the list.

In the following pages we have set out to explain, largely to boys and girls, just how these odds and ends may be used for the construction of toys, games, and interesting models. The list is not by any means complete: such examples as are given are merely suggestive examples. The boy or girl who has patiently and thoughtfully made some of them will be in a position to devise and construct many more on similar lines.

Most boys and girls are familiar with those little _paper windmills_, which turn round gaily in the gentlest breeze--the ones which the rag-and-bone man gives in exchange for an old bottle. They make a capital toy for baby brothers and sisters, and they are very easy to make. All you need is a six-inch square of stiff paper--coloured for preference--and two pieces of cardboard, each an inch square. First, you draw out your square as in Fig. 1, and then cut down the diagonals nearly to the centre square. Now take hold of a corner, and fold it over to the centre. Secure it there with a small dab of glue. Serve each of the other corners in turn in similar fashion. Now glue on your two cardboard squares--one at the centre of the back and the other in the front, covering the folded corners (Fig. 2). All you need now is a stout pin to push through the centre of the cards into the end of a stick.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 1.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 2.]

Now if you nail two strips of wood in the form of a cross, and pin on four or five differently coloured wheels, you will have a jolly little toy for which baby will thank you (Fig. 3).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 3.]

_N.B._--We shall frequently mention the word "glue" in the course of this little volume: therefore we had better explain just what we mean.

Unless we state definitely otherwise, we refer to the prepared glue sold in tubes under various names--"Seccotine," "Le Page's Liquid Glue" and so on. These adhesives are admirable for all light work. They act best when put on thinly, and allowed partially to dry before the parts are pressed together.

A very interesting little toy, which you can make in a few minutes, is the

_Colour Wheel._--Take a piece of white cardboard, and from it cut a circle about 3 inches across. Now from the middle of this cut another circle about 3/4 in. across. This can be done quite easily by putting a sharp-pointed knife blade into the compa.s.s in place of a pencil.

Divide the circle into seven equal parts, and paint or crayon the sections with the colours of the rainbow--red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.

When this is dry, make a large loop of string and put it through the round hole of the card; and hold the ends of the loop one in each hand.

Now if you turn the string at one end as if you were turning a skipping rope, and then suddenly pull it tight, your card will revolve very rapidly, and you will find that instead of a coloured card you have what appears to be a light grey one. This is really a little piece of science, for it shows that the white light about us is really made up of the different colours of the rainbow (Fig. 4).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 4.]

_A simple Counting Top._--Take a piece of cardboard, and on it draw two hexagons having 1-inch sides. To draw a hexagon, first draw a circle with its radius equal to the length of the side of the hexagon. Then without altering the compa.s.s measure off the radius six times round the circ.u.mference, and join the neighbouring points. Now cut out each of these and from each one cut out one triangular section (Fig. 5). Scratch lightly along the other lines with the back of the knife-point. Now bend these so as to form two five-sided pyramids. Close up the open s.p.a.ce by binding the edges together with a strip of gummed paper (Fig. 6). When you have done this, place the two pyramids base to base, and secure them by means of small strips of gummed paper fixed along the edges. Bind all the edges in similar fashion for the sake of uniformity. All that is necessary now is to make a hole at the apex of each pyramid, and push an ordinary safety match through (Fig. 7). Now if you twirl the match in your fingers, and release it suddenly, the top will spin for quite a long time. To use it as a "counting top" or "dice top" paint the numbers 1 to 5 on the five triangular surfaces of the upper pyramid. Then when the top ceases spinning, the uppermost number is the one which counts.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 5.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 6.]

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

_Tents for Toy Soldiers._--Boys who play with lead soldiers often find that, in making up a game, they require some tents for the camp. These are quite easily made either from paper or from calico. Their size will depend, of course, upon the size of the soldiers; and it will be quite easy to construct them to measure two or three times the measurements given here. Here is a picture of one (Fig. 8).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 8.]

First cut out a cardboard circle for the base of the tents, say 2 in.

radius. Now for the sloping canvas sides--the conical part, that is--draw out another circle, this time with a radius of 4 in. Only a part of this will be used; and to know just how much, roll the base circle round the circ.u.mference of the larger circle until it has completed one of its own revolutions (see Fig. 9). In cutting this out, one or two tongues should be left jutting out from the circ.u.mference: these fold over the edge of the base circle and secure the sloping sides in position. All we need now is a thin stick, about 4 in. long, to act as a centre pole. This should be glued to the centre of the base, and should have the sloping sides glued around it. A little paper flag at the top will complete the little structure.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 9.]

Most boys, and not a few girls, love to play at "soldiers" and there is no reason why each boy should not make himself a complete suit of armour, so that the game may be more real.

_The Helmet._--With care this is not at all difficult to make: what difficulty there is lies in the adjustment and the size. First it is necessary to find out the distance round the head. This can be done with a piece of string; or, better still, with a linen inch-tape.

Suppose the distance round is 21 in.: then the helmet can be made in seven sections, each 3 in. wide at the base. When these are brought together, they converge at the top to form a typical Norman headpiece (Fig. 10).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 10.]

Using stiff paper, cut the seven sections as in Fig. 11. These should be glued together, so that the connecting f.l.a.n.g.es are inside. (_N.B._--In doing this, it is very necessary to let the glue get nearly dry before pressing the pieces together: if it is quite fresh, the strain will pull the pieces apart.) Then at the apex of the sections glue on a circular piece of cardboard, about 1-1/2 in. across. For the ring at the base, cut a strip, just about 22 in. long, and having ornamented it in any fashion you please, glue the two ends together so as to form a circlet which will just go round the sections. Fix this to the seven sections with dabs of glue.

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

All that is necessary now is a coating of aluminium paint to give just that real dull metallic appearance. If this paint is not available, you can cover with silver paper, but this is not nearly as effective.

_The Breastplate._--While there is really less to do, and fewer sections to adjust, this presents quite as much difficulty as the helmet. It is best made in two sections. The exact shape can only be decided by trial: roughly, it is that shown in Fig. 12. The best method of procedure is to cut out two of these in newspaper, and fix them together with doll-pins, and then try them on in much the same way as a tailor fits a waist-coat--altering pins and cutting out shapes until the requisite fit is obtained. When this is done the two final sections can be cut out in cardboard (not omitting f.l.a.n.g.es), glued together and painted. If you are good at painting, you can ornament the two sides with a heraldic device in crimson or gold.

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

To fix it, when wearing, strings are used. Small holes are bored at the four ends (and eyelets fixed in, if you can do so) and knotted strings pa.s.sed through. Tie the bottom pair across the back with a knot (not a "grannie"). Now take one of the ends of this, and tie it with a string from one of the shoulder pieces. If the other shoulder piece be tied in similar fashion to the other back string, then the breastplate will be held correctly in position. The strings and all the back gear will be covered by the cloak and mantle, similar to that which knights in olden days wore over their armour.

Before you put the breastplate on you can tie a towel or ap.r.o.n to come just to the knees: this will take the place of the "surcoat" (and serve to hide your knickers).