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Little Folks' Handy Book
BOOKS BY LINA BEARD AND ADELIA B. BEARD
_Illustrated by the Authors_
ON THE TRAIL
THINGS WORTH DOING AND HOW TO DO THEM
RECREATIONS FOR GIRLS--INDOOR AND OUTDOOR
WHAT A GIRL CAN MAKE AND DO, AND NEW IDEAS FOR WORK AND PLAY
THE AMERICAN GIRL'S HANDY BOOK; or, HOW TO AMUSE YOURSELF
AND OTHERS
LITTLE FOLKS' HANDY BOOK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Little Folks' Handy Book
By
LINA BEARD AND ADELIA B. BEARD
With Many Illustrations
by the Authors
Charles Scribner's Sons
NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON
COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Printed in the United States of America
SPECIAL NOTICE
All the material in this book, both text and cuts, is original with the
authors and invented by them; and warning is hereby given that the
unauthorized printing of any portion of the text and the reproduction of
any of the illustrations or diagrams are expressly forbidden.
[Illustration]
PREFACE
"LET _me_ do it. Let _me_ make it," is the cry when a child sees an
older person putting together the different parts of an interesting
piece of work; and it is this desire to do things himself, this impulse
toward self-expression, that, when properly directed, forms so great a
factor in his all-around development and education. Using the hands and
brain together stimulates interest and quickens observation and
intelligence, and, as the object takes form beneath the little fingers,
the act of making, of creating, brings with it a delight and
satisfaction which the mere possession of the same thing made by another
can not give. "Look! See what _I_ have made," comes with a ring of
triumph as the childish hands gleefully hold up the finished article for
inspection.
In this book we have endeavored to open a new and large field of simple
handicrafts for little folk, giving them an original line of toys and a
new line of materials with which to make them. We hope in these pages to
bring to children the joy of making creditable and instructive toys of
such ordinary things as empty spools, sticks of kindling wood, wooden
clothespins, natural twigs, old envelopes and newspapers, and in this
way to encourage resourcefulness, originality, inventiveness, and the
power to do with supplies at hand.
Everything described in the book has been actually made by the authors,
and made by such practical and simple methods that a child's mind can
grasp them, and a child's hands be easily trained to manufacture the
articles. It is, therefore, our hope that the "Little Folks' Handy Book"
will be found useful both in Kindergarten and Primary grades of the
schools and in the home nursery; a helpful friend to teachers and to
mothers.
LINA BEARD.
ADELIA B. BEARD.
FLUSHING, N. Y., _February 10, 1910._
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. PAPER BUILDING CARDS 1
II. TOYS MADE OF COMMON WOODEN BERRY-BASKETS 5
III. STRAW AND PAPER FURNITURE 9
IV. A NEWSPAPER BOAT WHICH WILL SAIL ON REAL WATER 15
V. PAPER JEWELRY 19
VI. WHAT TO MAKE OF EMPTY SPOOLS 28
VII. OLD ENVELOPE TOYS AND HOW TO MAKE THEM 47
VIII. TOYS OF CLOTHESPINS 55
IX. SCRAP-BOOKS 64
X. TOYS MADE OF COMMON KINDLING WOOD 70
XI. LITTLE TWIG PEOPLE 79
XII. VISITING-CARD HOUSES 90
XIII. PLAYING INDIANS WITH COSTUMES MADE OF NEWSPAPERS 98
XIV. CHRISTMAS-TREE DECORATIONS 106
XV. A HOME-MADE SANTA CLAUS 124
XVI. NATURE STUDY WITH TISSUE-PAPER 130
LITTLE FOLKS' HANDY BOOK
CHAPTER I
PAPER BUILDING CARDS
MAKE your building cards of ordinary writing-paper. You may have as many
cards as you like, though twelve are all that are used to make the
things shown in our photographs.
[Illustration: FIG. 1--Cut an oblong out like this.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2--This is the building card.]
For each card cut an oblong of paper five inches long and two and a half
inches wide. This is a very good size, but you can make them a little
larger or smaller. Always remember, however, to have them just twice as
long as they are wide, and all of one size. When you have cut out the
oblong (Fig. 1) fold it through the middle, bringing the two short edges
evenly together. The dotted line in Fig. 1 shows where it is to be
folded. Now open the oblong half-way and you will have the building card
(Fig. 2). They are very simple and easy to make, aren't they? But
wonderful and delightful things can be built with these pieces of
paper. You can have a whole camp of little tents by standing the cards
with the folded edge up; and to make
=A Camp Chair=
all you need do is to push two of your tents close together, then on top
of their folded edges lay another card with one flat side down to form
the seat and the other side up for the back.
[Illustration: FIG. 3--You can make a little camp chair.]
The second illustration (Fig. 3) shows just how to do this. Use the
tents again for
=The Pyramid=
in Fig. 4. Stand three tents in a row close together. On top of these
make a floor by laying two cards across with one side of each card
extending down at the back of the tents. Then build a second story--two
tents this time, with a floor on top.
[Illustration: FIG. 4--Use the tents to make this pyramid.]
The third and top story will be one tent, which forms the peak of the
pyramid. Of course you can make your pyramid very much larger by adding
more tents to the first row and then building it up higher.
=The Stable=
is very cunning with its four little stalls. To build it you must stand
the cards on their side edges as in Fig. 2. One side forms the back wall
of the stall, the other the side wall. When you have reached the end of
the row you will find the last stall lacks a side wall, but all you have
to do is to slide another back wall behind the last and there you have
the needed side wall. Put a roof over the stalls just as you made the
floors for your pyramid, and then stand a tent on top for the cupola.
Place a card at each end of the stalls, as shown in the illustration,
and your stable is ready for its tiny horses.
[Illustration: FIG. 5--A little stable with four little stalls.]
Build
=The Garden Wall=
(Fig. 6) by standing the cards on their side edges. You can make the
garden any size or shape you like, but always have the gateway just
wide enough to hold the tent roof on top. See how the cards stand with
edges in on either side of the opening. This will support the
tent-shaped roof. Perhaps the children will want a house in the garden.
You can build one if you try. Then see how many more things can be made
of the paper cards, for I have not told you half of them.
[Illustration: FIG. 6--A garden wall and gateway.]