MATCH-BOX TOYS
Many simple and effective toys can be made from match-boxes. The
great advantage of these toys is that the children can readily supply
the materials themselves. In every case the toys explained here have
been made by young children, whose ages vary from four to seven. The
materials used are match-boxes, matches, paper of different kinds,
white, brown, coloured, and cardboard, while in some toys corks and
silver paper have been introduced. For sticking paper on to the boxes,
gloy or vegetable glue is suitable, but when matches have to be fastened
into or on to the boxes it is best to use liquid glue or seccotine. Some
of the toys can be made more effective by colouring them with crayons.
[Illustration: FIG. 74]
[Illustration: FIG. 75]
=A Canoe.= To make the canoe (Fig. 74) the inside portion of the
match-box is gummed to a piece of stiff paper or cardboard pointed at
each end. Strips of paper gummed to the sides of the box form the seats.
The paddle (Fig. 75) is made of a match, to the ends of which paper
discs are gummed. To get these circles the children can use farthings
and draw round them. The paddle and the seats can be coloured with brown
crayons.
[Illustration: FIG. 76]
=A Kayak.= For the kayak (Fig. 76) a piece of paper is measured to fit
over the box; it is doubled in half and a small hole cut in it, then
gummed to the sides of the box.
=A Motor-car= (Fig. 77). The car consists of a match-box without the
cover. The seats are of white paper. The following them measure and cut
a piece of paper, A B C D, that will just cover the box from side to
side, making bends _a c_ and _b d_ where the edges of the box come. Fold
paper into four as in Fig. 78. Cut along _e f_, and cut off the shaded
portions and fold as in Fig. 79. Gum the parts G and M to the side of
the box.
[Illustration: FIG. 77]
[Illustration: FIG. 78]
[Illustration: FIG. 79]
Wheels for all match-box toys are made from stiff paper or cardboard,
the circle being drawn from a farthing, or, where larger wheels are
necessary, from a halfpenny. The spokes are drawn on the wheels. These
can either be gummed to the sides of the match-box, or, if holes are
made in the wheels, they can be fastened to each end of a match, which
is then glued to the bottom of the box.
[Illustration: FIG. 80]
[Illustration: FIG. 81]
=A House or Barn.= From the covers that are left, after making the canoe
and the motor-car, a house or barn can be made (Fig. 80). One cover is
cut open and the top bent back as in Fig. 81. A portion of the second
cover is cut off (Fig. 82).
[Illustration: FIG. 82]
Side A is then gummed to B, and C D is fastened to E F by means of
a piece of folded paper covering the whole of the roof. This paper
is double the size of C D H G (Fig. 82), is coloured grey or blue to
represent slates, and folded along the middle.
[Illustration: FIG. 83]
=A Sentry-box.= This is an easy toy to make. The children will notice
that one end of a match-box is double--that is, one piece of wood
overlaps the other. If they unfasten these and bend them out they form
the roof of the sentry box (Fig. 83). A piece of paper can be pasted
behind to fill up the hollow. The toy looks more effective if covered
entirely with brown paper. A soldier can be cut out of paper, coloured
and gummed to the bottom of the box.
[Illustration: FIG. 84]
=A Castle.= A castle can be made from the cover. A piece of paper is
cut to fit round it, doors and windows are marked on it with pencil
or crayon, and one edge is cut to represent battlements (Fig. 84).
The flagstaff is a match glued inside. A larger castle can be made by
fastening two or more covers together.
=A Jack-in-the-box.= These toys are so simple that the diagrams almost
explain themselves. In the case of the Jack-in-the-box the children like
to decorate the half-opened match-box with coloured paper. The little
figure is made of bits of wool, a piece of cotton is tied round the
neck and put through a hole in the top, a match is tied to the cotton to
prevent it slipping back; another piece of cotton tied to the waist of
the doll pulls it down (Fig. 85).
[Illustration: FIG. 85]
[Illustration: FIG. 86]
=A Belfry.= In the belfry the back of the box at A has been cut out, the
bell is made of paper or cardboard, covered with silver paper (Fig. 86).
A match stick is passed through a hole in the bell, and gummed to each
side of the box. Another match is gummed to the bell, and a piece of
cotton attached for ringing.
[Illustration: FIG. 87]
=A Van= (Fig. 87). The van is made from the inside of a match-box; the
cover is of brown paper gummed inside the sides of the box. The seat
is also of brown paper, while one end is bent back for the flap of the
waggon. The shafts are made of matches.
[Illustration: FIG. 88]
=A Milk-cart= (Fig. 88). The can is a cork covered with silver paper,
which is used to cover chocolates, etc. The paper can be screwed into
a little knob at the top. In Fig. 88 the wheels are the same size. Two
are fastened to a match for the axle, which is then glued underneath
the box; the third wheel is glued between two matches, which are
fastened underneath the box. In Fig. 89 the side wheels are larger and a
cardboard set of shafts is made for the small front wheel.
[Illustration: FIG. 89]
[Illustration: FIG. 90]
Fig. 90 shows the shape of these shafts. The shaded portion is bent at
right angles to the shaft and glued under the box. The small wheel can
be gummed between these shafts, or, if the shafts are fastened on with a
space between them, and holes made in each end, a piece of match stick,
on which the small wheel is mounted, can be passed through the holes. A
match is glued across the back of the box (Fig. 88) to form the bar by
means of which the cart is pushed along.
[Illustration: FIG. 91]
=A Field Gun.= Fig. 91 shows how the match-box is cut. The gun is made
from a roll of brown paper. A piece 4 or 5 inches square is large
enough. Yellow bands can be chalked round the cannon. The wheels are
made of circular discs, the size of a penny. Shots can be made from
silver paper, or from plasticine. [Illustration: FIG. 92]
=A Field Gun and Limber.= The gun in Fig. 92 is mounted somewhat
differently. A is one-third of a match-box cover, with one narrow
side cut away, covered with dark grey paper; two holes are made in it
opposite each other; the gun has a match or piece of cane passed through
it, and the ends of the match or cane pass through the holes in A.
B is a piece of cardboard or stiff paper shaped as in diagram: the
shaded portion is gummed underneath A.
[Illustration: FIG. 93]
=The Limber= (Fig. 93). This is made from a match-box (C), covered with
dark grey paper and fitted with a cardboard cover E, similarly coloured.
Match sticks, coloured black, form the shots. The handle consists of two
match sticks, or two strips of cardboard, glued together. The wheels
must be the same size as those for the gun.
[Illustration: FIG. 94]
=A Porter's Truck.= This is made from a box of which three sides have
been cut away (Fig. 94). It can be covered with brown paper, and matches
can be glued across it. The handles are of matches, the legs of stiff
paper fastened to the bottom. The children can make little paper parcels
and boxes to put on the truck.
[Illustration: FIG. 95]
=A Sweep's Barrow.= The figure (95) shows how the match-box is used. A
bundle of matches tied together represents part of the sweep's outfit.
The broom is made from a roll of paper, the ends of which have been cut
into a fringe. The broom and matches can be darkened with crayons or ink.
[Illustration: FIG. 96]
[Illustration: FIG. 97]
=A Windmill= (Fig. 96). Prepare the inside of a match-box as described
in the case of the sentry-box, and place it inside its cover, securing
it with a little gum. Paste a piece of paper in front to hide the
hollow. The sails of the windmill are made of brown paper, cut as in
Fig. 97, and gummed to strips of cardboard which form the framework of
the sails. The whole can then be fastened to the box by a paper-clip.
[Illustration: FIG. 98]
=To make the Sails turn.= Bore two holes through the windmill; round a
match stick by rubbing it with sand-paper; glue the sails to one end
of it, pass it through the holes and glue a circle of cardboard to the
other end to prevent it slipping back. Fig. 98 shows a more complicated
but very effective way of making the sails. The paper is cut along the
dark lines and bent back along the dotted lines.
[Illustration: FIG. 99]
=A Tram-car= (Fig. 99). For this toy two insides of match-boxes are
needed. The children could cut and gum to one box a piece of cardboard A
B. Then into this box are gummed six matches of the same length. While
these are drying the wheels can be made and the top prepared. The top is
a box turned over with a piece of paper gummed round the edge. The paper
should be coloured yellow. The projecting paper forms the rail round
the top of the car. When the matches are quite firm the inverted box is
placed over them.
[Illustration: FIG. 100]
=A Church= (Fig. 100). This is made from a combination of the barn or
house and the castle. A strip of paper can be gummed along both sides to
keep the two parts together.
=A Match-box Train= (Fig. 101). The engine is a match-box turned upside
down, to which is gummed a cork covered with red or green paper. The
broad end of the cork has been sand-papered to make it more equal to the
other end. The funnel is a piece of cardboard blackened and inserted
into a slit in the cork. Half a match-box glued to the cork forms
the cab. The coal tender is a match-box on wheels; a piece of brown
paper can be pasted round one end to form the back and the sides. The
simplest way of making a carriage is to fold a piece of paper into
three, mark on it the door and the windows and gum it to the inside of
the box. For this piece of paper the children can get the measurements
from the match-box.
[Illustration: FIG. 101]
In order to make a long carriage like a real train a child suggested
gumming two match-boxes together, end to end.
When a long train was complete the children at once wanted to make a
station (Fig. 102).
[Illustration: FIG. 102]
For this purpose two or three match-box covers can be fastened together
by covering them with white paper (marked to represent the boards of a
platform) and gumming them to a piece of cardboard, A B C D. The paper
must be left long enough at each end to be gummed to the cardboard
and form the slopes of the platform. The waiting-room or shelter is a
match-box gummed to platform as in diagram, with a triangular piece of
paper pasted behind to form a roof. A seat can be pasted inside. The
name of the station, signals, and a signal-box (a half-opened match-box
standing on end) can be added. [Illustration: FIG. 103]
[Illustration: FIG. 104]
[Illustration: FIG. 105]
[Illustration: FIG. 106]
=A Railway Bridge.= Gum two sets of four match-box covers together as A
and B in Fig. 103. Next, take a half-opened match-box (C in Fig. 104),
gum cover securely to box, turn it upside down and to it gum cover D,
and to this, half a cover E. Fasten this to A by strips of paper gummed
on each side (see shaded part in Fig. 105). B has a similar arrangement
fastened to it. These portions form the two sides of the bridge, but
the steps so obtained are too high and extra paper steps must be made.
For each of these take a piece of stiff paper L M N O (Fig. 106). L M
equals width of match-box; M O equals three times thickness of box.
Fold in three along T U and R S; fold L U and T S in halves and bend
paper to form steps. L Q is gummed to A and R O to E. Repeat for each
intermediate step.
[Illustration: FIG. 107]
Next cut a piece of cardboard the width of the match-box and long enough
to leave a suitable distance between the two ends of the bridge to allow
the match-box train to pass through, or two trains to pass each other.
Gum this to the top of A and B (Fig. 107).
[Illustration: FIG. 108]
Next cut a piece of paper F G H J to fit across both parts of the bridge
and to project to form railings or a wall, cut out the archway, colour
to represent stones or bricks, and gum to bridge; cut and colour a
similar piece for the other side (Fig. 108).