Toys

[chattius 2,536]

I was always impressed how my grandpa created toys from what people would call carbage. Well the war generation probably learned to be creative. Yesterday our second needed photos for a school project: animals in a small lake, rather a mud pit. A tin , bottom and top removed, thin plastic foil, rubber ring and you have a tool to watch mudpit animals magnified. The foil is formed into a lens shape by the water pressure and so it is like a magnifying lens.

 

 

 

There are a lot of cheap toys that impress kids and can be created in a hurry if you have kids visiting. Hope I have no Alzheimer when I have grandkids and remember all the tricks still...

 

 

What little toys you know, probably everyone had a surprise kids visit -nephews, ...- and had to improvise?

[masteff 64]

My granddad took a wood roof shingle, split off a strip of it, then shaped it with a saw and knife to make a crude arrow (the thick part of the shingle being the head and the thin part being a wide flat tail). He cut a notch near the front and then gave us a short stick with a heavy string that had a knot at the end. Put the string in the notch with the knot to keep it in place. Then fling it with the stick. Try to keep it from getting stuck in the trees or lost in the brush. (He lived in the country so no risk of hitting the neighbors.)

 

Of course the absolute best was rubber band guns!! a block of wood cut roughly like a gun, a notch at front and clothes pin at the back for the trigger!

[chattius 2,536]

Yes remember those,a deadly anti-fly weapon

 

Used it to knock out flies as life food for my spiders (actually big spiders in the roof of the barn)

 

 

Light weight version for classroom battles

 

The hui machine: you rub a wooden stick on the carves and the propeller spins, (if you move your thumb on the right part of the carves--- the trick is not known by kids probably)

 

 

I learned this when studying maths

[gogoblender 3,073]

Great topic ! I got such a kick out of seeing that pond magnifier here, and chattius you said it really well..."stuff that kids think will be cool" ... My newest nephew is turning two this year, with a great summer looming next year.

 

Now... why wasn't I smart enough to attack a rubber band to a gun housing

 

dang

 

 

gogo

[chattius 2,536]

Whipping top, with a bit of training you can move it doing figures like eighs, hearts,.... Well I have the tools needed to do one in a few minutes in my craftmanship barn.

 

 

Or just two nails bended....

 

 

Or how to do a knot in a belt... One end in each hand and you are not allowed to release grip works even at parties if people don't know the trick

[chattius 2,536]

Kite weather

 

[chattius 2,536]

Last month:

gras blade piping to imitate Bambi

flutes from elder-berry branches

Today:

'Helicopter' from tiny potatoes and feathers. Lot of different feathers, a falcon got a pigeon it seems. Did some good autorotaters for the twins and a howler/noise make assymtric thrown potato-rotater for myself.

[gogoblender 3,073]

Keep forgetting about kits!

Wind is free (for now) and the kites are wonderful things to see flying. I'm city, so none around here, but I think Schot picked up some for relatives this summer, and wanted to present. I remember the only one me and my brother got when kids, flying it was a distaster...just could get it to float!

 

gogo

[chattius 2,536]

The two rope kite can do real nice acrobatics. Our sailingplane club has a kite flying department which does it as a sport in a national league.