Toys from Mother's Workshop

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Teeter-tot tunnel-slide for the pre-schoolers at your house - see the text for downloadable construction details.

A Wooden Soldier

What's the holiday season without a wooden soldier or two to join the festivities? To make this pint-sized fusilier, you'll need a scrap of wood that measures 1-3/4" X 2" X 7-1/2", a second odd piece about 1/2" X 3" square, and a 2-1/4"-long section of broomstick or dowel.

Cut or sand the corners from the "body" block, round one end of the billet, and remove a slot—as shown—to simulate a pair of legs. The guardsman's arms are made by cutting the dowel lengthwise down its center, then sanding and beveling the two resulting pieces as indicated. To make the base, simply trim the 3" square of wood to form a circle, and smooth off its top edge.

Now, paint all the parts, tack the arms in place, and glue the figure to its stand. If you wish, you can also whip together—using a 10" X 20" piece of stiff cardboard and the scaleddown template we've provided—a simple guardhouse . . . which you can color as you see fit. 

Click here to download the toy-parts template. 

Click here to download the soldier construction details.

A Teeter-tot Tunnel Slide

This three-way rocker may help keep you from going off yours during those "it's dark out already and there's nothing to do" doldrums that all too often seem to plague restless little ones over the course of the winter season. To make the multiple-use plaything, you'll need a 42"-square section of 3/4" plywood, a 32" X 48" piece of 1/4" plywood (make sure the panel's grain runs perpendicular to the four-foot dimension), ten 16" lengths of 1 X 2 (which you can buy in strips or cut yourself-to 3/4" X 1-1/2"-from wider boards), and the assorted hardware that's called for in our illustration.

Start by upscaling the pattern illustrated below on a large piece of paper to form a "life sized" template. Then transfer the twin shapes to your 42"-square sheet of 3/4" plywood as illustrated . . . and mark the positions of the necessary screw holes. With that done, cut out the two sides, clamp them together, and bore the holes in "two birds with one stone" fashion.

Scale:
1 Square = 1 inch

Next, secure the ten ribs—broad sides exposed—between the frame sides, using 1-3/4" wood screws (make sure the heads are countersunk slightly). Cut your remaining plywood board in half, against the grain, andusing glue and screwssecure the two resulting pieces to the upper and lower faces of the rib bed. (We held our sheets fast at one end with four countersunk 3/4" screws, then "walked" the panels into position, anchoring them where needed as we went along. Your version, of course, may need more or fewer fasteners than ours did, depending on the "formability" of your plywood.)