Old-Timey Toys From Christmas Past
(Page 2 of 8)
November/December 1978
By the Mother Earth News editors
Click here for downloadable construction details.
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Follow the same procedure in the construction of the wooden dog. Scale its pattern up, trace it onto a 3/4" x 4" x 10" scrap of pine, cut Fido to shape, drill the two 3/8" axle holes, paint (or burn) on the eyes, let 'em dry and give Bowser's body a protective coat of polyurethane. The ears — two pieces of vinyl upholstery fabric — are securely attached with small brads (glue those brads if necessary to make absolutely certain they'll never come out for a toddler to swallow). Then the wheels are put on exactly as they're mounted on the duck and car above, a screw eye and pull-string are added, and the dog is "ready to roll."
Click here for downloadable construction details.
"Toys that entertain are all right," Talkeetna, Alaska's Gretchen Walker states, "but toys that entertain and teach are even better."
One of the simplest stocking stuffers of all — a toy which teaches that air really does have mass — is a parachute, and the one you see here couldn't be simpler to make. Cut out and hem a 15" square of light fabric (the lighter and tougher, the better) and tie a 24" length of kite cord to each of its corners. Then thread a spool over the other ends of the lines and knot the four strings together so the spool can't slide off. When wadded up and tossed high into the air, of course, this toy parachute will pop open and float its payload (the spool) to the ground just like the real thing.
Click here for downloadable construction details.
Although the spear-the-fish game you see here is a traditional Eskimo plaything, variations of the little reflex coordinator can be found all over the world. (The idea is to hold the stick with the fish suspended from its string, then toss the fish into the air and spear it in one smooth motion. This is more difficult than you might think!)
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