and file them quite smooth, and slightly bend either end left and
right from the holes. Now take a piece of thin wood cut as in the
diagram, with a long wide slot, so that it forms a sort of fork,
and with screws or tacks hammer this on to the stern of your vessel
at the two holes, so that it projects with the whole fork clear
of the vessel. Now thread strong elastic through the holes in the
tin blades of the propeller with the ends knotted firmly, making
a double loop, each end looping over the respective forks. Twist
this tightly round on the same principle as in the making of the
wishbone clapper, and when the twist is released it will propel
your boat a considerable distance either backwards or forwards
according to the direction the thread is twisted.
A DOLL
MATERIALS REQUIRED:--
An old knitted stocking or pair of cotton gloves, two
shoe-buttons, strong thread, some brown or black mending yarn,
tissue paper, wadding, scissors, darning-needle.
[Illustration: FIG. 97.]
This doll is made of old stockings or old knitted or woven gloves.
If only black stockings can be got it can be a nigger doll, or it
can have its face alone made of light-colored glove. The stuffing
must be of tissue paper roughly shaped to the right size and
wrapped round with some yarn to keep it shapely, or this may be
again wrapped round with a layer of cotton wadding. Shape the arms
and legs separately, and fasten over the knitted covering very
neatly with big, but firm, stitches. Stitch a line right through at
the wrists and flatten out the hands, and make lines of stitching
to mark the fingers and the line of the toes: make a sort of "dart"
where the leg bends at the ankle.
For the head--put an extra wad of soft padding under the face
portion so that it is very soft and bulgy, and stitch firmly into
this two shoe-buttons for eyes. Take a large darning-needle and
take your stitches right through the head to the back; use very
strong doubled linen thread. The knitted covering used for the head
may be all gathered into the back and simply flattened roughly into
place with big stitches, as you will cover it with "hair" later on.
Now take your needle through again and make the two tiny stitches
for the nostrils, and pull these stitches back very tight also.
Two more stitches form the mouth with a wee one below to make a
hollow below the lips. Now firmly stitch the head into place, and
with brown or black knitting or mending yarn carefully make large
stitches radiating from the crown of the head to the forehead: do
not pull these tight, and use double wool if you like. Make long
loose loops of wool all round the back of the head and above them
stitch as before into the crown. This makes a really very good doll
if it is carefully made, and not too hurriedly done.
A BROWNIE
MATERIALS REQUIRED:--
A pair of old kid or leather gloves, tissue paper, flat milliner's
wire, strong thread of the color of the gloves, stamp-paper, ink
or water color paint, scissors, strong needle.
[Illustration: FIG. 98.]
This is a very jolly little fellow, and he is made of old kid
gloves. His head and body are stuffed with tissue paper. The head
is just wrapped with a square piece cut from the wrist of the
glove neatly gathered in at each side and tightly tied. The loose
ends must then have each one corner trimmed off in a sloping line
towards the neck; this forms his flappy pointed ears. Now get two
tiny rounds of gummed stamp-paper and ink on each an eyeball, only
partially covering the paper, and gum these on for the eyes, and
with pen or paintbrush put in his mouth and nose. You can give him
a very woeful expression if you make his mouth turn down. Cover his
body with the back of the gloves, so that the three "points" or
rows of stitching make a trimming for his jacket. The legs and arms
are made of slips of the kid stitched carefully over the flat wire
used by milliners. The ends of the strips are left free and cut to
a pointed flap to form feet and hands. Stitch limbs and head very
firmly into place and bend at elbows and knees. This Brownie can
be made to sit down and take many different positions; he is a very
lifelike little doll. You can also make him a wee nightcap out of a
knitted glove and put a feather in it, and dress him with a little
cloak.
KITES
MATERIALS REQUIRED:--
Thin straight sticks of canes, strong paper or thin cotton
material, strong thin string, strong paste, large-eyed needle.
[Illustration: FIGS. 99 TO 101.]
These are several of the commoner and easier kites to make. They
are usually made of paper pasted over the frame, but it is in
all cases better if children will take the trouble to make their
kites of thin cotton material and tack or baste it into place with
large neat stitches; this really takes very little more time than
pasting. The frames in every case should be of the lightest and
straightest sticks possible to find. You can sometimes get very
good ones which are used in strengthening cardboard boxes, or if
you do not mind spending a few cents the narrow slips of wood used
in making picture-frames are the very thing and any picture-framer
can supply them.
Perhaps the most usual kite is that shown in Figure 99. The two
cross-sticks are first firmly lashed in position and the ends
notched and tightly fixed in place with tight "stays" of string.
Now cut your paper or cloth at least two inches wider all round
than the outline of your framework, cutting away the angles at the
corners, so that you have a neat flap to turn over all round. Never
use gum or mucilage for a kite, good strong paste is best, if it is
to be made of paper. Now at the three points where your "balances"
are to be attached to the kite, paste on a little square patch of
cloth so that the string or "balance" as it is called does not
tear the fabric or paper, and fasten the ends of your two strings
through the two upper patches and knot it firmly round your wooden
framework. The loose ends of your balances must now be run through
the third patch and fastened to the vertical spar of the frame. The
string of the kite is fastened round these balances by a slipknot.
Next add the tail, which needs careful adjustment to the weight of
the kite; it can be weighted with rolls of paper at intervals, or
little bundles of fresh grass. Scottish boys often weight it at the
end with a "divot" which is a little piece of actual turf, both
grass and root, all together.
Figures 100 and 104 are another form of kite most commonly used
in Scotland. This needs only one straight spar of wood, and the
curved "bow" at the top can be made of light cane, such as is used
for basket-making; or what is very good, if enough can be got, is
a length of flat steel such as is used in lady's corsets. Fasten
the "bow" to the spar by lashing it into a notch or groove at the
top and bend it evenly and fasten it firmly by stays of string as
in Figure 104, both across and to the end of the spar. Now lay on
to your paper or cotton material and cut it out as before in Figure
100, with a good turnover to paste or stitch down, and add the
patches where the balances are attached. These kites look very gay
if a tassel of colored paper or wool is added at each end of the
bow.
Figure 101 is a very good kite to make if a really large one is
wanted. The two long cross-spars of wood must be notched to fit
each other about one-third of their length from the top of the
kite, and stays of string must be so arranged that they spread
about twice as wide at the bottom as they do at the top. This
kite must have four patches to insert its balances through and
the slipknot of the kite-string is fixed around both. Another
"balance" should be fixed from the lower corners of the kite from
which the tail is hung. This is a very steady kite.
Figure 102--a box kite.
This is a comparatively modern form of kite and looks very
complicated. It is really less so than it looks. Take two long
narrow strips of thin cotton material about eight inches wide and
four and a half feet long (this is for a kite about thirty inches
long). Have four straight thin spars of wood about thirty inches
long, and after joining the two ends of your strips of cloth
together make at intervals a narrow "casing" into which insert
the ends of your spars. You can either place the casings at equal
distances on your material, or you can arrange it so that the open
ends of your kite form oblongs. Now have four flat spars of thin
wood measured to make diagonals at each "box" end of your kite, and
bore a tiny hole in the middle of each to insert a pin when the
kite is stretched. At the ends of these diagonals cut a rectangular
notch to hold the spars apart, tie the kite-string considerably
nearer one end of the kite than the other, or you can attach a
balance and fix on the kite-string by a slipknot. This kite needs
no tail, and can be folded and rolled away by slipping out the
diagonal spars.
Figure 103--a round box kite.
[Illustration: FIGS. 102 AND 103.]
This can be made of very strong brown paper pasted so as to form
a wide tube, like a large paper bag with the bottom cut out. Only
two spars are needed. Inside the paper tubes arrange near each edge
a circle of cane, as is used in basket-work or for stretching out
the crown of a cap. Set this into place and lace through the paper
a strong string and lash the cane through to the spar. This should
hold quite steady if it is well done, but it can, of course, have
a third straight spar if necessary. Attach the string as in the
other box kite.
[Illustration: FIGS. 104 TO 107.]
Figures 105, 106, 107--a plane kite.
This is a most beautiful and graceful kite and combines the box
kite and the older varieties. The box portion is made with casings
run into the cotton material at equal intervals so as to form a
three-sided box. Fix in your three spars, all equal in size, and
along each side fix a plane, or wing, of thin cotton material; it
can be of another color and looks very gay if this is done. Make
a little bag or pocket at the outer corner of each wing, and into
this insert the ends of the fourth spar, so that the latter may be
slipped out and the kite folded up. The string should be attached
near the "nose" of the kite. It needs no tail.
A MONKEY ON A STICK
MATERIALS REQUIRED:--
Some thin three-ply wood, two long knitting-pins, two small reels,
a piece of hat wire, some small staples, pliers, an awl, a fret
saw, water color paints and brushes, mending wool.
[Illustration: FIG. 108.]
Draw your monkey carefully on the three-ply wood, the body and
limbs all separate, and a thin stump on to which the tail must be
fastened. With the awl pierce tiny holes through arms, body, and
legs, where they are attached, and insert a piece of wire, and with
the pliers turn a small close knot in it on each side to prevent it
coming out. Small wire paper clips will do instead if they can be
got. Now saw off the rims of your two reels--they must be the same
size--and into one of your reels fasten two staples over the pin
and into the reel, so that they hold the pin very tightly, catching
the pin just at one end. With another staple through each hand
fasten the arms of your monkey to this reel, and slip the other
reel round the same knitting-pin and extend your monkey to its
fullest length, and now fix the other knitting-pin to the second
reel so that its point projects a little way through the first
reel. Keeping the monkey stretched to its fullest length fasten his
feet with staples to the second reel, and be sure that the limbs
work quite loosely in these staples. Now with mending yarn make a
tassel and fasten it to the end of your hat wire, and wrap the wire
all the way up with it almost to the end. Then proceed to lash the
wire to the stump of the tail and bend the tail in a nice curve;
this will vibrate when your monkey is worked up and down.
A DANCING LADY
MATERIALS REQUIRED:--
Strong heavy white cardboard or thin wood, sharp knife or fret
saw, crinkled paper, water color paints, a tiny portion of a
quill, a tiny roll of tin or lead foil, small fine pins or wire,
a small piece of narrow ribbon, a little writing paper, mucilage,
string, scissors, pliers.
[Illustration: FIG. 109.]
This dainty little figure can be made to dance along a double
string and can be very pretty. Cut out the body and legs and arms
all separately; they may be drawn on white paper, or cut out
and pasted on to the cardboard. If you find it difficult to make
a pretty face, a suitable one may be cut from some picture post
card and pasted on. The arms and legs must be fastened on to the
body with a little wire which should be run through a tiny bead
and twisted so that it does not come out. Roll the lead foil into
a little long weight and stitch one down to the lower portion of
the body both at the back and front. The crinkled paper skirt must
be gathered on a draw-thread with a needle and tied evenly and
tightly round the waist and fastened neatly with a little ribbon
sash. Through the stomach of the little figure insert a tiny length
of the quill of a feather and glue it into place; let it project
towards the back more than the front. Through this quill run your
string doubled so that there is a long loop both back and front and
be sure that the string works easily through the quill. A portion
of a tiny reel will do instead of a quill if it is glued on to the
back. The object of the quill or reel is to form a tube, so that
the figure will slip along this when the string is slackened,
but that it will hold firm whenever the string is tightened. The
weights must be heavy enough to make the figure balance and run
downwards as the string is sloped. A pair of butterfly wings can
be cut out of writing paper and painted and fastened to the back.
A little garland of everlasting flowers or moss or beads can be
fastened to the hands if you wish to do so.
A MODEL AEROPLANE
MATERIALS REQUIRED:--
Soft white wood, laundry pins, thin cardboard, a tiny piece of
mica, mucilage.
[Illustration: FIG. 110.]
This model was made by a boy of eleven and is most beautifully
proportioned and put together. The body and wings and floats and
little boats are all made of the white wood, well smoothed with
sandpaper; the steering-gear is of cardboard. The propeller is
made of mahogany and the tiny wind-screens of semicircles of mica.
All is put together with "laundry" pins. The ailerons on the upper
planes are held by strips of narrow tape.
A FARMYARD
Such toys as this can only be suggested very briefly, but children
with any common sense and imagination can make most elaborate and
delightful collections.
[Illustration: FIG. 111.]
The box used for the byre or stable is only one of many more
elaborate buildings that can be made. The dwelling house of larger
boxes, the barns, the haystacks, the pigsty, the chicken coop,
troughs, and such things can all be made of larger or smaller
boxes. Buildings can be thatched with straw, rushes, hay; or
corrugated paper may be put on the roof. The palings here are made
of matches set into posts of wooden pegs, much like those used by
gardeners to label plants. Trees and flowering plants can be made
by getting small bushy bare twigs and wrapping their branches with
moss, or fastening on everlasting flowers of gay dyed colors. Old
sponges may be dyed green and cut up and fixed in the branches. A
reel sawed in two makes a good plant pot for these.
The sheep illustrated here is made of a cork, with legs of matches.
Its head is a tiny bean fixed to the cork with a pin, both neck and
body are wrapped in cotton wool, and it is neatly fastened on with
white mending yarn. The lamb is made of a large bean and a small
one, with legs of pins; the beans must be soaked before setting in
the pins. Noah's ark animals can be used to increase the live stock
of the farm. Fields can be made of green crinkled paper, and a
piece of glass or a tiny mirror can be used to make a pond. Carts,
barrows, and farm implements can be made of all sorts of things,
and clever children can really make wonderful farms. Windmills and
other simple machines can be introduced also.
A DOLL'S HOUSE
These can be made of bandboxes or orange-boxes and can be either
very simple or as elaborate as you please. If cardboard boxes are
used, Figure 113 shows how it can most easily be arranged to give
the pitch of the roof. One story may be piled on another so that
the house can be enlarged at will. Doors and windows are easily
cut in the cardboard boxes. The windows can also be glazed if you
get a few rolls of cinematograph film and fit and paste it on,
but children must be warned that this is very inflammable and it
is dangerous to bring it near the fire or gas. The inside of the
rooms may be papered, and on the walls little pictures may be
pasted. The illustrated catalogues from furniture shops can often
be cut up, and the diagrams of doors, etc., cut out and pasted on
the doors of your house. Figure 112 shows a sitting-room and a
little shop or kitchen. In the latter the counter and dresser are
made of matchboxes. The shelves are of strips of cardboard with
uprights of cane, wire, or knitting-needles. The fireplace in the
sitting-room can be made of a lid of a cardboard box stitched to
the wall, and in it another box (a matchbox, for instance) can be
set to make the grate. A good table can be made as in Figure 114,
which is made by using a lid of a small box, and to the inside of
its corners glueing the legs, and then the larger top of thick
cardboard can be fixed on with mucilage. The little shields for
the corks of bottles, made of pleated lead foil, make very pretty
pots and kitchen vessels in such little houses. Rugs can be woven
of wool and string, and cushions, etc., to furnish the place. But
there is no end to the things a child can make for a doll's house
if imagination is encouraged to work the hands.
[Illustration: FIGS. 112 TO 114.]
Other "Community Toys" can be made--railway stations, signals,
and signal-boxes are very popular; a market place with its little
tented stalls is charming. The houses we see in pictures of foreign
lands give great interest, and many are so easy to make that it
is quite possible to illustrate the history of home building by
means of a series of toy houses. The darker side of life has even
invaded our nurseries, and they too have shown the games of the
trench and the guns: and it will be good to plan in our playwork
now for the rebuilding of the world in the ways of peace, for it
is these children of ours who must lead the world back or forward,
for better or for worse. All the world is in their hands, though
the hands may not yet be strong for more than the making of toys.
We older children do but play other games with more serious intent,
yet all the same the difference between the game and the business
is but a difference of degree.
THE END
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
-Plain print and punctuation errors fixed.