MAGIC CAN TOY

Enlarge Image Image Gallery This little feller?s ?all grins? as he prepares for an instant comeback.

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Spend a few minutes—and a few cent’s worth of hardware—to make your child a…

———— STAFF PHOTOS ————

Here's an easy-to-make toy that one of MOTHER'S staffers assembled in his spare time... and which you can put together in a jiffy for the "wee ones" on your Christmas list.

You won't need to gather a mountain of material to whip up this little plaything, either... just a fairly large metal can with two plastic lids (we used a No. 10 food container with a diameter of six inches and a height of seven inches, but a two-pound coffee can or a shortening tin will do fine), a wire coat hanger, three stout rubber bands, five large machine nuts (or any other suitable weight with a hole in its center, such as an "egg" fishing sinker or a short section of pipe), and a foot or so of heavy cord. You'll also need a pair of pliers with a cutting edge and a drill with a small bit (in a pinch, you can substitute a hammer and a thin nail for the drill).

Decorate your magic can as you see fit (better yet, let the li'l tyke try his or her hand at it) by drawing designs on a piece of heavy paper you've carefully cut to fit around the outside of the container and gluing it in place. Or simply paint right over the existing label with watercolors.

Now you're ready to make the magic. First, cut yourself a seven-inch length of coat hanger wire, slip the nuts over it, and center 'em. Then bend the wire (to an angle of 90°) on each side of the weights to keep 'em from sliding. While you're at it, form two 180-degree loops— about an inch and a half from the right-angle bends—in each end of the wire. These hooks will serve to hold the rubber bands in place. (Of course you'll tie the elastic hoops together—one end through the other, so all three are connected in a line—before you slip the ends into their respective loops of wire.)

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