Fig. 55.
Fig. 55.
Fig. 55.
This is made of two pieces of wood socketed as in Figure 53, and with slits made in each end into which a luggage label is inserted. Use glue to hold these firm, and also to stick on to the center of the cross of wood a slice of cork, pierce a hole through the cork and the cross of wood, and through it run a nail with a fairlylarge head. Now make a hole at each outer left-hand corner of each label and, loop through this with a needle and a firm thread. Tie the thread round the nail and run the nail into your stick.
Materials Required:—
A piece of soft wood three-quarters of an inch thick and about six or seven inches long, a gimlet, a soft wood skewer, penknife, sandpaper.
Fig. 56.
Fig. 56.
Fig. 56.
This is a little air propeller which is rapidly whirled between both hands and released: if properly done it should return to the hands. The propeller is cut out of wood on the same principle as in Figure 52, but it may be of thicker wood with a greater amount of angle to the blades. Thestick must be carefully fitted to the hole in the blades and must be thicker at the other end. Both blades and stick should be well smoothed with sandpaper.
Materials Required:—
Two pieces of wood as above, also two larger round sticks, such as are used to roll paper upon, a cork, two long nails, a piece of thin tin or cardboard for the tail.
Fig. 57.
Fig. 57.
Fig. 57.
This windmill is made of two propellers cut like Figure 56, but with the bevelling of the blades of one reversed so that it will turn in the opposite direction. A piece of wood or cork or a bead may be put betweeneach propeller. The tail may be made of cardboard or tin.
Materials Required:—
Smooth straight twigs about half an inch thick, a thin wooden sweet-box or other light wooden box, two small pieces of white soft wood, about one-third of an inch thick and five inches long and one inch broad, a piece of thick wire, small tacks, pliers, a gimlet, small staples, strong thin string.
Fig. 58.
Fig. 58.
Fig. 58.
This is a waterwheel with a watershute, and it turns a crank and has a little man attached. The waterwheel has flat blades with no bevelling, and a thick wire is inserted through its axis. This wire should be bent with pliers to form the cranks. Set up crosswise into the ground some strong twigs tied firmly into position with strongtwine. If there is a handy little stream it should be diverted to run a channel into your watershute, which should be of two flat pieces of wood nailed together at right angles; this can also be supported on trestles. Set the shute so that the end is above the blade of the waterwheel and allows the water to fall on it with sufficient force to turn it round. The man may be cut with a fret-saw in three ply wood, and smallstaples should be run loosely through the holes at the ankles into a thicker piece of wood which acts as a base, so that with the movement of the crank he will appear to be turning the wheel. Fasten arms and legs to the body with a thick wire which works loosely in the holes, or with a thin nail which may be bent over at the point.
Materials Required:—
A large goose quill, a small twig, a slice of raw potato, a penknife.
Fig. 59.
Fig. 59.
Fig. 59.
This is a most simple little toy and very easy to make. Get a large quill feather with as wide and strong a quill as you can, and cut it off where the quill is thickest. Then get a little stick or branch, preferably a little bent at the thicker end, and peel and smooth it, so that it will fit nicely into the quill with the thicker bent end projecting.This makes the ramrod, but it must be fitted into the quill so that it reaches only within half an inch of the pointed or smaller end. Now take a slice of raw potato about half an inch thick or a little more, and into it push the wider end of the quill so that it takes out a neat round piece of the potato. With the ramrod gently push this first "bullet" to the smaller end of the quill and take out another slice from the potato with the wide end. Now quickly and smartly push in your ramrod and you will find your first bullet shoots off splendidly, leaving your second one at the point of the quill ready for the next shot. Large popguns can be made with a piece of tin tubing, or even cardboard rollers and corks used as bullets. The ramrod must be padded with cotton wrapping in order to fit the tube closely.
Materials Required:—
A short piece of smooth sycamore, willow, cherry, or holly branch, a pea, a penknife.
Fig. 60.
Fig. 60.
Fig. 60.
This can be made of sycamore cherry, holly, or willow branches, where there is a fairly thick coating of sappy bark outside the firm woody fiber. Choose a piece about four inches long without knots and as smooth as possible. Now by tapping patiently and wetting the wood occasionally loosen the bark from the hard wood so that it will at last slip off like a tube; this requires care and gentle handling. Now take the hard wooden core and cut into it, from the middle to within half an inch of one end, a deep curving cavity, and from this to the other end cut off a shallow horizontal slice. This core can now be slipped into the tube of bark again and a neat semicircular hole cut in the latter above the cavity in the core, and you will find this an excellent whistle. Scottish children put a small pea into the cavity before replacingit into the tube of bark to make it "birl" when blown—this is a great improvement.
Materials Required:—
A piece of hollow bamboo about eight inches long, a cork, a penknife.
Fig. 61.
Fig. 61.
Fig. 61.
This is another whistle made of a short length of bamboo cane, which is hollow, cut just below one of the "knots" or divisions where the hollow tube is blocked by a solid wall of the wood. If you cannot get this, block one open end of your hollow tube of wood with a cork, and for the other cut a piece of cork or wood to fit, with a slice off to leave an opening into the tube. Now cut semicircular holes in your tube at intervals. These will each produce a different note if the others are stopped with the fingers, and with care a regular sequence of the notes of a scale can be planned. This sequence will depend on the size of the tube—its length, and the distance between the holes.
Materials Required:—
A large goose quill, a penknife.
Fig. 62.
Fig. 62.
Fig. 62.
This squeaker is made from a piece of a quill. Make a neat cut close to the small end of the quill about three quarters of an inch long. When this is held well inside the mouth it will make a most alarming squeak when blown into.
Materials Required:—
A large button or small round of leather or thin tin, a piece of strong thin string, strong scissors.
Fig. 63.
Fig. 63.
Fig. 63.
This can be simply made by threading a large button on a string, so that when the ends are knotted together it makes a loop about twelve to fifteen inches long. Keeping the button in the middle of the doubled length of string insert the first and second fingers of each hand into the looped ends, and rapidly whirl the button round till the string gets a considerable twist on it. Now by alternately slacking and tightening thestring the button will whizz round with a slight humming noise. If a piece of tin with notched edges (as in Figure 51 of a windmill) is used, it will hum very loud. A piece of heavy lead foil, or a piece of firm leather cut into a round and notched at the edge can be used.
Materials Required:—
A fowl's merrythought or wishbone, a small slip of thin wood, a piece of strong string, penknife.
Fig. 64.
Fig. 64.
Fig. 64.
This is made of a fowl's wishbone or merrythought. Tie across from end to end of the bone a loop of string, and into this insert the end of a thin piece of wood about four inches long and three quarters of an inch wide. Slip this in till the string is about the middle, then turn it round several times till the string is twisted fairly tight without bendingthe ends of the bone too much. Now slip the wooden strip along till the string is about an inch from the end of it and let it go. The twisting of the string will bring the wood down against the angle of the bone with a smart clap.
Materials Required:—
Two gas mantle boxes, a piece of thin bladder or greaseproof paper, many yards of thin twine.
Fig. 65.
Fig. 65.
Fig. 65.
This can be made of two of the boxes used for incandescent gas mantles; the box for the larger inverted mantles is best. Remove the lids from each end and cut off the rims carefully, so that you have two neat rings of cardboard. Slip one of these on to one end of each box and over each rim tightly tie a circle of greaseproof paper—such as is used for covering jam pots or parcelling butter. Better still, use a piece of bladder from the butcher's. Fasten this down very tight and firm, and through the middle of each paper or bladder insert andknot the end of a fine piece of string which can be ten or more yards in length. If this is held taut without touching anything between the two boxes, you can whisper from end to end and the voice will be heard quite distinctly.
Materials Required:—
A gas mantle box, strong greaseproof paper or a piece of bladder, thin colored string.
Fig. 66.
Fig. 66.
Fig. 66.
A little drum can be made of these gas mantle boxes in the same way. Stretch the bladder or paper of oiled silk tightly across each end, and lace strong threads from edge to edge of each piece of bladder or paper or silk, so that each lies evenly, then bind the edges down with twine above the stitches; the rims of the lids can now be slipped on to make it look neat. For a drumstick, wind a ball of cotton wool or tissue paper on the end of a stick and cover with a round of silk or bladder also, and bind it tightly on to the stick.
Materials Required:—
A piece of thin cardboard fifteen or eighteen inches square, gummed paper or thin tape, paste or mucilage, scissors.
Fig. 67.
Fig. 67.
Fig. 67.
This is made of a piece of cardboard about fifteen inches square. Insert a pair of compasses at one corner, and from the one corner to that diagonally opposite describe a part of a circle and cut along the line marked. Now bend the cardboard over into a conical trumpet shape, and overlap the sides where they join, about an inch. Lay over this join a broad strip of cloth or paper pasted or glued firmly; you can put pins through the cardboard till this is set into place and dried. Now at the pointed end of the cone cut a mouthpiece wide enough to speak easily into; this will need a hole about three inches wide. When you speak into this megaphone your voice will carry a long distance—a quarter of a mile on a quiet evening—and it will give great funto watch the effect on people who are walking at some distance in the country. For convenience in holding you can paste on to the outside a loop or handle of tape, but do not push this through the cardboard as it is important that there should be nothing projecting inside the trumpet of the megaphone.
Materials Required:—
Green rushes, green wool or thick cotton thread.
Figs. 68 and 69.
Figs. 68 and 69.
Figs. 68 and 69.
This chair and table are made of the green rushes from the marshes, and are very pretty things to make. For the little chair, first take the bundle of rushes which forms the curved back, and curve it into place and tie it round here and there with a little wool to keep it firm while the seat is being made. This will be better described by the diagram than by words. Each rush composing the seat must be added successively from the back towards the front, and when arranged, and the ends turned back or forwards to form front and backlegs, stays can be made of single rushes and all carefully bound in neatly with wool; wool holds much more firmly than cotton thread. The table, Figure 69, is made in the same way.
Materials Required:—
Green rushes.
Fig. 70.
Fig. 70.
Fig. 70.
Fig. 71.
Fig. 71.
Fig. 71.
The whip is the easiest thing you can make of rushes. It is bound at intervals with wrapping of the rushes themselves.
Materials Required:—
Green rushes, small round pillbox.
This is made on the same lines as the whip, but the bundle or sheaf of rushes is opened out and made to surround a small cardboard box with a pebble or a pea in it, and another rush laced round to keep it in place. The diagram will show how to complete it; very tight firm binding is needed: it is better to do it with wool rather than with rushes.
Materials Required:—
Colored paper, wall-paper or magazine covers, a knitting needle, scissors, a ruler, mucilage.
Fig. 72.
Fig. 72.
Fig. 72.
This shows how to make beads of various shapes out of paper; it can be of any color. To make the long pointed beads marked A, take a ruler and rule on your paper lines as in B, and if the paper is thin they should be strips about twelve inches long, and the wider end of the wedge can be one inch or one and a half inches. The strip must taper to a point at the other end. Now take the wide end of your strip and roll it very tightly and evenly round a steel knittingneedle with the colored side out, and fix down the point neatly with mucilage as in the darkened portion in the diagram. Smaller beads of various shapes can be made, but all on the same method. Leave the beads on the knitting needle till the mucilage is quite dry, and give them a coat of clear varnish. Such beads look well also with blobs of paint or gilt on them.
Materials Required:—
Large and small vertebrae of codfish, a little gilt and water color paint.
Fig. 73.
Fig. 73.
Fig. 73.
This little tea set is very dainty and is made of the separate vertebrae or backbones of large flat fish. When the bones are soft after boiling, they can be easily bent or cut into the required shapes, andthe different sizes of bones used for cups or tea pot can be decorated with little patterns in gilt paint or water-colors.
Materials Required:—
Green rushes or raffia, fine string, a small piece of cardboard, a tape needle.
Fig. 74.
Fig. 74.
Fig. 74.
This is a little bag made of raffia or rushes, woven on to a warp of string. The string should first of all be wound very loosely on to cardboard, and if necessary slits or notches can be cut in it to hold the string firm. Now take your rush or raffia and darn up one side of the card and down the other and back again, leaving one longside of the card free. You can weave one thread up and one down, or one thread up and two down as you please. When the weaving is finished draw out the cardboard and decorate your bag with little tassels, and add plaited handles.
Materials Required:—
Two long stems of straws, or stalks of oats, barley or wheat, with ears left on, a little thread.
Fig. 75.
Fig. 75.
Fig. 75.
This is made by Scottish children to wear in their hats at harvest time. Take two long firm straws with the ears on them and tie them together firmly just below the ears. Now flatten out each straw and bendone across the other, and the first across that again, making each fit close and fold evenly at the bend. You will find this holds quite firmly, when tied at the end, and makes a very pretty ornament. The same plait can also be done with strips of paper an inch wide, and used as a decoration at Christmas.
Materials Required:—
Some branches of willow, freshly cut, some laundry pins, a penknife, a little broad tape or carpet binding, needle and thread.
Fig. 76.
Fig. 76.
Fig. 76.
Fig. 77.
Fig. 77.
Fig. 77.
These little chairs and stools can be very neatly made of willow or privet branches, or any twigs where there is a small core of soft pith which will allow a strong pin to fit in exactly. All the lengths for the various legs and spars of each article must be measured and cut very accurately before beginning to put them together; use a very sharp penknife to do the cutting. The pins used should be fairly strong ones. In the diagrams a broad piece of tape or ribbon has been stretched tightly round the sparsback and front, and its end stitched together underneath, but this is not necessary. Two or more spars can be set across to form the seat, only if too many pins are pushed through one spar there is a tendency for it to split.
Materials Required:—
A piece of cork or a button mould, an empty matchbox, matches, needle and strong thread, a tiny piece of wire.
Fig. 78.
Fig. 78.
Fig. 78.
A little wheelbarrow can be nicely made out of a match or cardboard box. The legs and handles are of matches, and may be fixed on with mucilage and held steady with large strong stitches. The support for the wheel is made of a strip taken from the lid of the matchbox and narrowed at one end where it supports the wheel. The wheel may be made of a slice of cork or a button mould fixed on with a piece of wire bent into a knot at each end to prevent it being pulled through the support.
Materials Required:—
Fresh-cut willow twigs, laundry pins, four large beads.
Fig. 79.
Fig. 79.
Fig. 79.
This is made of fairly thick twigs cut carefully in the same way as Figure 84, and pinned firmly together. Beads or small buttons can be fixed on for feet. The basket should be entirely lined with pretty moss, and then the earth put in and ferns planted in it. It must be kept very moist, and can be hung from the roof if preferred.
Materials Required:—
The fireproof base of a gas mantle, a tiny piece of cardboard, a little wadding and a tiny piece of silk or velvet, mucilage or needle and thread.
Fig. 80.
Fig. 80.
Fig. 80.
This is made from the earthenware support for a gas mantle. Take a piece of cardboard and draw round the circle of the mantle support on it, and cut it out. Then with a padding of tissue paper or wadding and a piece of pretty material make a neat cushion, using the cut-out circle of cardboard as a foundation; stitch or glue this neatly on the under side and fix it on to the support.
Materials Required:—
Four or five quills from a chicken's wing, some very fine pins, a little thread, scissors.
Fig. 81.
Fig. 81.
Fig. 81.
This is made of small quill feathers and is very pretty. Use feathers which are large enough to hold a pin inside their hollow tubes. Cut off a thick piece of quill for each of the four legs and entirely strip them of webbing. Cut and strip rather thinner ones for the spars to support these, and fix as in Fig. 76, using very slender pins. If the quills used for legs are strong enough, the feathers for the sea may be pinned on also, but if they are inclined to split, those for the seat must be lashed on, and therefore must be cut so that they project at the ends beyond the legs. Cut each of these like A in the diagram, so that the webbing is cut straight across at the endfurthest from the point of the quill. Fix each of these four quills into place with the webbing overlapping the sloping end of the quill in front of it.
Materials Required:—
A wooden sweet box, a fret saw and sharp penknife, a reel, small tacks, upholsterer's nails.
Fig. 82.
Fig. 82.
Fig. 82.
This can be made of nice pieces of soft wood such as are used for grocers' sweet-boxes or fruit boxes. Cut the two long sides with a saw and bevel them off in a curve to form the handles—they should be six to eight inches long. The crosspiece at the end should be about three inches, and also the two crossbars. Fasten the sides to the end about the middle of the latter, so that a piece projects below the sides wideenough to support the wheels—these should be made of a reel cut in half and fastened on with a large-headed nail. Smooth all down with coarse sandpaper.
Materials Required:—
A wooden sweet box, three large reels, one small one, tacks, upholstery nails, string, mucilage, a fret saw, a large coat hook.
Fig. 83.
Fig. 83.
Fig. 83.
This should also be made of a box of soft wood from the grocer. The semicircular sides should be about four inches long, where they are fastened to the base; they may either be glued or nailed on to this. The base should be about seven inches long and three inches wide. Before fastening on the side-pieces bore a hole at the end of each to insert the thick wire which turns the large reel used to wind the cord, and also set in the tacks which support the crane at each side. The sides of the crane should be about three quarters of an inch wide at the lower end, and should taper to about half an inch at the other end; they should be about seven inches long. Near the lower end use another smaller reel or ablock of wood as a stay to hold the sides of the crane; it should be of such a size as to hold the ends of the crane firmly between the nails in the sides of the base. At the other end set in a very small reel, with along slim nail, so that it will easily turn on it. Now take a good strong dressmaker's hook, such as is used for coats or mantles, fasten it to a length of strong string, and wind one end round the large reel, setting the hook end over the end of the crane.
Materials Required:—
A large reel, a skewer or penholder, a fret saw, a penknife.
Fig. 84.
Fig. 84.
Fig. 84.
This is made of a large reel cut in half and the roller portion cut away into a point with a penknife. The pin is made of a wooden skewer or penholder with the point projecting slightly beyond the cut portion of the reel. These are very good tops and spin very steadily.
Materials Required:—
A small block of soft wood, an old penholder, a sharp penknife, a gimlet.
Fig. 85.
Fig. 85.
Fig. 85.
This is made from a square block of wood cut sharply to a point with a peg sunk well into a close-fitting hole. Each flat side of the top has on it a letter or a number, and the game is to spin it round, and according to which letter or number falls upward each player takes or makes so many counters to the pool. The letters generally used are—
P==pay one, N==nothing, T==take one, W==win all. Beans or counters are usually played for.
Materials Required:—
A branch of pliable smooth wood, strong twine, a penknife, two goose quills.
Figs. 86 and 87.
Figs. 86 and 87.
Figs. 86 and 87.
Take a smooth even branch of willow, cane, or other pliable wood about three quarters of an inch thick and about two feet or two and a half feet long, and round the smaller end cut a shallow groove about one and a half inches wide, and about half an inch from the end. About one inch from the thicker end cut a notch sloping inwards towards the middle of the stick just deep enough to hold firm a piece of strong string. Next bind round about four inches at the middle of the stick with string, laying the end of the string along the stick, so that the binding will cover it all but three inches. Bind the four inches very closely, and tie the end of the binding to the spareend of the string and knot it and cut away the ends. Now bind over in the same way, round the groove at the end of the stick, and knot the free end of the string to the spare end under the binding, and stretch the free end of the string very taut, so that the stick bends a little. Make a loop in the end of the string which can be easily slipped in and out of the notch at the other end of the bow. When not in use keep the looped end loose from the notch.
The arrows must be of very straight light sticks or thin bamboo, and must be scraped or sandpapered perfectly smooth. At the point cut a long slit, and into it slip a long and very slender nail, and bind it round across the notch with strong linen thread. You can file off the head of the nail. At the other end make a similar but longer notch, and into it slip a portion of a quill feather with one side of the webbing practically cut away. Arrange both pieces of the quills so that they project the same distance at each side from the wooden shaft. Bind round the arrow with linen thread both above and below the quills, andat the extreme end deepen the mouth of the notch so that it makes a groove into which you can fit the string of the bow.
Materials Required:—
A six-inch stick of soft wood, a long nail, pincers, a file, a piece of stiff writing paper, a penknife or fret saw.
Fig. 88.
Fig. 88.
Fig. 88.
This dart is made of a piece of soft wood about six inches long, and into the sharpened end a slim long nail is driven; the head may be nipped or filed off so that the point will stick into the ground or into a target. Across the other end cut or saw two notches at right angles, for about one inch down, and fit into these a square of paper folded neatly into "diagonals and diameters"—this makes the "feathering" of the dart. Smooth the dart with sandpaper.
Materials Required:—
A bow-stick of pliable wood, strong string, a smooth lath of thin wood, a fret saw, an awl, a penknife, a long nail.
Figs. 89 and 90.
Figs. 89 and 90.
Figs. 89 and 90.
This bow is made somewhat more elaborately than in Figure 86, and shoots off pebbles or bullets. The bow itself must be tapered evenly towards either end, and in the middle it must be bevelled flat for about two and a half inches at one side, and a slight groove run right round the stick at either end of the bevelled portion. Next take a thin lath or flat thin piece of wood, a quarter of an inch thick and rather less than the length of the bow. Taper it fromtwo and a half inches wide at one end to one and a half at the other, and lay the broad end across the flattened portion of the bow with about one inch projecting. Mark on the crosspiece the width of the bow-stick and cut into each side of the crosspiece a deep sharp nick, leaving about one inch between each opposite set of nicks. Now draw your bow to the full extent of its curve without running the risk of breaking it, and mark on the crosspiece where the bowstring crosses it when the bow is drawn, and here cut a narrow slot right through the crosspiece. Into this insert a trigger as in Figure 90. The trigger must be of wood and should curve at one or both ends, and should be pinned through into its slot with a long thin nail, in such a position that the curved end will broad end across the flattened portion of full, and will lie well into the slot when the string is released. Now bind the crosspiece on to the side of the bow by strings fitting tightly into the four nicks and running round the grooves round the bow-stick. This will leave the crosspiece freeof any bindings which might interfere with the bullet or "quarrel" as it leaves the bow.
Materials Required:—
A forked branch, strong round elastic, a scrap of leather, fine string, penknife, scissors.
Fig. 91.
Fig. 91.
Fig. 91.
Take a firm forked branch about three quarters of an inch thick, or a little less, and trim the two forks evenly, and run a groove about three quarters of an inch wide round each, near the end. Into these bind very tightly two pieces of very stronground elastic about five inches long. Next take a firm piece of leather about one inch wide and two inches long, trim it away at the corners, and make a hole at each end into which insert the free ends of the elastic, turning them back on themselves and binding firmly. It may be well to mention that there are very strict police regulations about shooting with bows and catapults, and those who use them must only do so away from houses or traffic.
Materials Required:—
A bandbox, thin paper, string, scissors, ink, and paintbrush.
Fig. 92.
Fig. 92.
Fig. 92.
A very simple target may be made by using a round bandbox and stretching over its open mouth a piece of newspaper, which may be kept in place by slipping over it the rim taken off the lid. Mark roughly on this the "Bull's Eye" in ink, and hang up the box by means of loops of string through the side. Thenewspaper can be renewed as often as is necessary. A square box will do just as well.
Materials Required:—
A quantity of reeds or thin straight twigs, a piece of cork, strong string.