Boys' Make-at-Home Things :: TOYS THAT HIDE IN THE WOOD BOX

TOYS THAT HIDE IN THE WOOD BOX

THE farm barn with its loft hung with cobwebs and the great hay mows, and the farm wagons to scramble out and in is surely a delight to the country boy; but if one corner of the barn has a big pile of clean, smooth blocks and sticks of kindling wood, the charm of the place will be redoubled.

A glance, only, at a heap of ordinary, everyday kindling wood will suggest all sorts of plays to the resourceful boy. With the aid of a few simple tools, a hammer, a light saw, and some wire nails, the pieces of wood may be changed into crude, but realistic toys that will give the little folks quite as much pleasure as any to be found in a toy shop.

Look, first, at the building possibilities of a pile of kindling wood. The long, straight sticks may be balanced on the barn floor to represent a regiment of soldiers. With penciled faces, and soldier caps they make very fine little men; and if there are two opposing armies, a most exciting sham battle may be carried on with horse chestnuts and green apples for ammunition, and a prize for the general whose kindling-wood forces stand up the longest.

A miniature pig pen may be built by piling up kindling-wood sticks in log-cabin fashion. The sticks selected for the pen should be, as nearly as possible, of the same length. Two sticks should be laid parallel. These are then connected by laying other sticks across their ends. The boy should continue building in this manner until the pig pen is of a good height. A very fine, fat pig may be made of a small cucumber, having twigs stuck into his body for legs, one of the vine tendrils for a curly tail and melon seeds for ears.

A log house is constructed by building a foundation similar to the pig pen. The roof is formed by laying a row of sticks, quite close together, across the top. A family of little clothes pin dolls may live most comfortably in a kindling wood house.

In front of the house there should be a strong, rail fence to protect the inmates from any Indians who may come in while the builder is away. To build a Virginia rail fence, two sticks of kindling wood should be crossed in the shape of a letter V. A third stick is added at a similar angle with the second stick. This form of building is continued until the fence is of the required length. Going back to the first stick, a second layer of sticks is started on top of the first layer; and the fence may be built as high as one wishes by the addition of a third and a fourth layer.

There are ever so many playthings that can be built from the wood found in the wood pile. A boy who is clever with his jack knife will be able to make a set of ten pins from sticks of kindling wood by carving little round heads at the ends of the sticks. Very straight bits of wood which will balance well should be chosen for the ten pins. He can also carve quaint wooden dolls for the little sister.

The accompanying illustration shows a toy barnyard that was made by a group of children. Their only tools were a couple of hammers, a toy saw, some nails and a jack knife. The only materials used were found in the wood pile in the wood-shed.

The barnyard fence is constructed from lath. Long strips are used for the bars of the fence. The fence posts are bits of lath, also, carved in six-inch lengths, pointed at the top with a knife, and nailed to the longer strips. Bits of leather are tacked in place for the gate hinges. Bits of kindling wood split into narrow sections are nailed together for the pig pen and the cow shed. Some old wooden boxes are used for the farm wagon and the wheelbarrow, the curved edges of the wheelbarrow being made with a jack knife. The box cover is used as wheel material, two circles being cut out of the soft wood with a jack knife and fastened to the body of the wagon with dowel sticks. Another box is mounted on a standard of lath and forms a very realistic pigeon house. The chicken coops are little wood squares nailed together at an angle of 90° with bits of lath fastened across the front. With the addition of a rude barn made from scraps of wood, a dog house—which is only a small edition of the barn—and a cattle shed, the farmyard is complete—a crude but unfailing source of amusement for many rainy days.

TOY BARNYARD MADE OF KINDLING WOOD

Diagrams of a Sled, a Chicken Coop and a Table.

Diagrams of a Cart.One of the simplest toys to make of wood basket scraps is a little play sled. For this you will need three oblong pieces of wood—one of them (Fig. 1) measuring four inches wide by seven inches long, and the other two (Fig. 2) measuring two and a half inches wide by nine and one-half inches long. Some pieces of an old packing box about a half inch thick will do very nicely for these. Mark the outlines first with a pencil; then cut them out with the saw, and “true them up” with a knife—that is, take off the little roughnesses that the saw has left, and make the edges perfectly straight and square. Next the two long side pieces which you have made must be shaped. Measure off on the lower edge (with the piece standing in position as though it were on the sled), two inches from the front end. Connect this by a line with the upper front corner, and cut it. Then round off the lower end of this cut so that it curves into the bottom. Now make a nail hole near the front end of each side piece for a string to go through, nail the side pieces to the other oblong which you made for the top, and the little sled is done.

Another very simple toy to make of this material is a little chicken coop. This is made of one square piece of wood and another piece which is almost square. The first piece (Fig. 3) measures seven inches each way, and the other one (Fig. 4) measures seven inches in one direction, and in the other direction seven inches less the thickness of the wood. This is because one piece laps over the end of the other, and the end of the first piece forms part of the other side of the coop. When these pieces are cut and made perfectly square and true, lap the longer piece over the end of the shorter so that it will be just even with the surface, and nail in position. For the slats (Fig. 5) cut some strips an inch wide and thinner than the sides of the coop. Lath is good if you have it. Two of these strips are ten inches long, two are seven inches, and two are four inches. The longest ones are nailed across the open sides of the coop, one on each side, an inch above the bottom. The middle-sized ones are nailed two inches above these, and the shortest ones two inches higher. Then the ends of these strips are sawed off almost even with the coop.

A little table may be made from one block of wood six inches square, and four cylinders three and a half inches long. For the table top (Fig. 6) select a piece of wood about an inch thick. Make this true, and smooth the top with sandpaper. Then mark on the under side a square which is four inches on a side, and exactly an inch away from each side of the table top. At the corner of this inside square are to be made the holes for the table legs. For these holes you will have to use a bit and brace, and make the holes one inch in diameter and a half inch deep. If you haven’t a bit and brace, you can, with a little more trouble, whittle out the holes. For the table legs (Fig. 7) take four pieces of wood one inch square and three and one-half inches long. By whittling off each long corner edge you can make these from square prisms into octagonal, or eight-sided prisms. Then keep shaving off these corner-edges until the prisms are so many-sided that they are practically round. Smooth them with sandpaper, and glue in place in the holes in the under side of the table top.

A strong little cart may be made almost as easily as these other wood toys. Cut from some pieces of wood three quarters of an inch thick, two side pieces (Fig. 8) measuring three inches by ten inches, two end pieces (Fig. 9) three inches by five inches, and one bottom piece (Fig. 10) five inches by eleven and a half inches. In the center of one of the end pieces make a nail hole for the string to go through. Nail the sides and ends together, lapping the end pieces over the ends of the side pieces. Then nail the bottom piece on. For the shafts of the wheels (Fig. 11) take two pieces of wood nine inches long and one inch square. For a space of two inches in from each end make the shafts cylindrical just as you did the table legs, leaving the center portion, which is five inches long, square. Nail these shafts to the bottom of the cart at points two and a half inches from each end. Next cut from 1 inch-thick wood four wheels (Fig. 12), three and a half inches in diameter. These may be cut out roughly with a saw, and worked down to the marked line with the knife. Then cut in the center of each of these wheels a hole about one and one-sixteenth inches in diameter—enough larger than the shaft so that the wheels will turn easily. Slip the wheels in place, and drive into the shaft from opposite sides, outside of each wheel, two small finishing nails. These are to keep the wheels in place, and must be driven in carefully so as not to split the shafts.

These are all attractive wood basket toys to make, and besides this, each one of them may be adapted, by enlarging, for some real use. The sled, with the addition of iron strips for runners, may be really used; or by using two sleds and an extra board fastened to both so that they will turn, it may be made into a “bob-sled” or “double.” The chicken coop, enlarged, will comfortably accommodate the mother hen and her brood of chicks which are the beginning of every boy’s first poultry venture. The little table may grow into a flower stand, and the cart, made larger and stronger, will rival any shop-bought express wagon for durability and comfort.

A SET OF DOLLS’ FURNITURE MADE BY GLUEING TOGETHER BLOCKS OF KINDLING WOOD

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