Easy Homemade Toys for the Holidays

By The Mother Earth News Editors
Published on November 1, 1982
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by Adobestock/shintartanya

Ever consider building easy homemade toys for the holidays? You probably already have the odds and ends necessary to make these classic playthings.

This article shows you how to start building homemade toys for the holidays.

The holiday season’s here again, and that means it’s time to start figuring how to be sure there are toys under the tree come Christmas morn! But there’s no need to sabotage your savings account (if you’re one of the lucky folks who still have one) for a passel of fancy store-bought amusements. MOTHER’s workshop elves have been busy cobbling up a few goodies for their youngsters . . . and you can duplicate those efforts by referring to the dimensions provided on the accompanying grid diagrams, and following the suggestions given in our descriptions of each toy. We think you’ll agree that these playthings are sturdy and easy to assemble. Perhaps best of all, building homemade toys for your children can provide you with the satisfaction of a job well done . . . and your children with the pleasure that comes from being able to say, “Mom (or Dad) made this for me!”

Easy Homemade Toys: Boom Crane

The cab of our handcranked crane is formed by sandwiching a boom (cut from 1 by 6 pine) between two pieces of 2 by 6. A cardboard template will, of course, allow you to trace the proper shape on each section of wood so that you can cut it out with a coping or band saw.

Before joining the three pieces, be sure to drill the series of 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch holes in the boom (plus the 1/8 inch nose hole and a guide slot), as well as the 9/16 inch and 1-3/4 inch openings in the cab’s sides. Then you can go on to yellow-glue-and finish-nail-the parts together.

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