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 shells, cigar boxes, nut shells, 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
[Illustration: 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).
[Illustration: 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 compass 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).
[Illustration: 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 compass measure off the radius six times round the
circumference, 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 space 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
[Illustration: 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).
[Illustration: 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 circumference 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 circumference:
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.
[Illustration: 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).
[Illustration: FIG. 10.]
Using stiff paper, cut the seven sections as in Fig. 11. These should be
glued together, so that the connecting flanges 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.
[Illustration: 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 flanges), glued together and painted. If you are
good at painting, you can ornament the two sides with a heraldic device
in crimson or gold.
[Illustration: 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
passed 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 apron to come
just to the knees: this will take the place of the "surcoat" (and serve
to hide your knickers).
For "greaves" or leg-armour you can cut out and paint cardboard shapes,
like those shown in Fig. 13. These, when fixed with string, look quite
well.
[Illustration: FIG. 13.]