Horse and Cart. Gum wheels (size of penny) and matches for shafts on the match-box as in Fig. 128. File or sand-paper a cork quite smooth and round the edges. Cut a horse's head out of cardboard and colour it, make a slit with a knife in the widest part of the cork, insert the horse's head, insert the tail and four matches for legs. Gum a piece of paper on the horse's back, turn up and gum the ends of a paper strip to form loops for shafts to go through. These shafts can be gummed into the loops or fastened by thread or paper to a collar round the horse's neck. (This latter way is difficult for little children.) The collar is cut out of paper. A piece of thread can be put through a hole in the horse's mouth for reins. Paper seats may be added to the cart.
A Coster's Donkey Barrow can be made in the same way, by substituting a donkey's head and cutting the box as in Fig. 129.
The van described in Chapter V might be harnessed to a horse.
Russian Sledge. To make the sledge cut two runners out of brown paper (as A in Fig. 130), and gum on each side of a match-box. Make two brown-paper seats, C, D, and gum on. Cut part of the cover of a match-box as in Fig. 131 to form the back of the sledge, B. Gum a brown-paper hood round this. A narrow strip of brown paper, E, is bent and fastened on as in diagram. A match or piece of cane, F, is gummed in front of the box, and to this the horses are harnessed. The horses are made as already described. A piece of silk or thread is looped round their necks and gummed under the straps of the outside horses, then tied to match stick, F.
This toy and some of those following will be found very useful to illustrate geography lessons.
A Reindeer Sledge (Fig. 132). Make the reindeer as the other animals. For the sledge the bottom of a match-box, A, and a piece of brown paper are needed. The brown paper should be in length one and a half times the length of the match-box and broad enough to wrap round a match-box and cover every side except one narrow side. Fold the paper in two along C B. Draw the runners on the doubled paper and cut out as in Fig. 133. Cut the straps E O and G P along the top K F and L H; double them along M and N. Gum M K F and N L H to the bottom of the match-box, A. Do the same on the other side; pieces M K F, etc., may be cut shorter for convenience in gumming. A piece of brown paper forms the back, D (Fig. 132). Finally, a piece of paper just the size of the match-box can be pasted over A to make the sledge look tidy.
The Howdah on the elephant's back, the next model, is a simple one, though difficult for some little fingers. A is a little paper case, in which four halves of matches are glued, a square piece of paper with a little fringe cut round is gummed on the top (Fig. 134).
South African Trek waggon (Fig. 135). This is made from two match-box covers, A and B, fastened together by a strip of paper; two match-boxes, C and D, are gummed to the top; part of one box, D, is cut away as in the figure. A strip of brown paper must be gummed along A and B, and a piece along the bottom of boxes C and D; the outsides of C and D may be left their ordinary blue colour. A piece of bluish-grey paper, E, is folded in three and gummed inside the sides of boxes C and D, as in figure; three or four divisions should be pencilled on each paper side. The wheels are cut out of cardboard—the large wheels should be somewhat larger than a penny, the small wheels a little smaller—these are gummed to the sides. F is a strip of brown paper, through which a piece of thread passes to fasten the waggon to a stick, G, gummed across the oxen's backs; this can be fastened to a stick, H, and so on. Five pairs of oxen should be yoked to the waggon in this way.
An Irish Jaunting-car (Fig. 136). This toy is made from one match-box. First two cardboard wheels are cut out. These are gummed on each side of the match-box cover as in Fig. 137. The box is then cut in half (Fig. 138) and each half gummed to the cover, e.g. E F G H (Fig. 138) is gummed to A B C D (Fig. 137).
Two pieces of brown paper are bent as in Fig. 139, and gummed on, L M N O to H G J K, to form foot-rests. A piece of paper bent as in Fig. 140 and gummed on to the front closes up the hollow cover and forms the back of the driver's seat. A similar piece without the top, P, is gummed to the other end. Before putting on the seat the top may be covered with coloured paper, to represent the upholstered part of the car. Shafts of cardboard or cane are cut out and gummed underneath the seat to the cover and a cork horse is harnessed to them.
A Mexican Cart with Ox Team. A match-box is cut as shown in Fig. 141. Two pieces of narrow cardboard are cut the length of the box; holes are made in these and four matches are inserted in each. These matches are then glued inside the sides of the box.
While these matches are drying the wheels can be made. The wheels are very large (the diameter nearly equal to the length of the box); they must be shaded to represent solid wood. Two strips of cardboard, A and B, are gummed on as in the figure. A strip of brown paper gummed underneath the box forms the shaft, which can be gummed or tied to a match lying across the oxen, just behind their horns. This match is tied to the horns; this is the correct way of harnessing oxen.
A Donkey with Panniers. The panniers can be made of brown paper, in the same way as the mug described in Chapter IV; they are gummed to a strip of paper, which can be fastened to the donkey's back (Fig. 142).
A Persian Method of Travelling. The bottoms of the panniers, X and Y (Fig. 143), are made from a small square of paper folded and cut as in Fig. 144. A is gummed on B and D on C; H on G and E on F. The hood is made of a piece of brown paper gummed inside the paper boxes X and Y. The panniers can be gummed to a strip of paper, the middle of which is gummed to the donkey's back.
An Eskimo Sledge (Fig. 145). The sledge is made of a match-box turned upside down; one end, A, is bent back as in diagram; the other end, B, is cut in half, bent outward and shaped as in diagram. A match, C, is glued to the ends, and to this is tied the thread that harnesses the dogs. A team consists of twelve dogs.
A Seal can be made from a cork as in Fig. 146, and placed on the sledge.
A Belgian Milk-cart (Fig. 147). Two pieces of cardboard, A, are gummed inside a match-box; cover the box with paper, colour it green and mark as in the figure. Small corks should be filed to resemble milk cans. The carts generally contain six, three large and three small cans; they are yellow in colour. Two pieces of cane, or two match sticks, D and C, are glued under the cart for shafts; the ends are slipped through pieces of looped paper gummed to the backs of the dogs. A piece of string tied to the ends of the shafts and round the dogs fastens them to the cart. The dogs are grey, and one is often smaller than the other.
Russian Dog Sledge (Fig. 149). This is made from a piece of paper folded along C D (Fig. 148); draw the sledge and cut out as in the diagram; bend along K L M. When opened out the sledge appears as in Fig. 149. Runners A B and E F are fastened together by strips of paper.
A seat may be gummed over G and H. A piece of thread attached as in the figure harnesses the sledge to five dogs, made of corks.
Cork Boats. Besides the submarine described in Chapter VI, many other boats can be made from corks, all of which will float well. The corks are joined together by pieces of wire passing through the middle. For the keel cut a narrow strip of lead (not more than ¼ inch wide); point both ends, bend them up at right angles as in Fig. 150; make slits in the corks and push in the pointed ends of the lead. The keel is made more secure by driving pins or thin nails through the lead and the corks. The keel also helps to hold the corks firmly together and prevents them from slipping round on the connecting wire.
A Steamer (Fig. 151). Select three corks, as uniform in size as possible. Cut and file part of their round surface quite flat as in Fig. 152. Shape the bow and stern. The funnels are made of two small corks, fastened by pins. The masts consist of pieces of cane or thin sticks.
A Sailing-boat. A very pretty little sailing-boat can be made, as in Fig. 153. The sails are of glazed lining. The edges of this do not fray, so the sails do not require hemming, and as they must be as light as possible, this is a great advantage.
The gaff, A, is tied with thread to the mast, also the boom, B; both are pieces of cane, to which the mainsail, D, is sewn. The end of the boom is tied by cotton to a piece of wire at the stern, shaped as in Fig. 154. Care must be taken that the lead keel is exactly in the middle, and that the sails and masts are not too heavy, otherwise the boat will blow over on its side.
A Paddle-boat. Two pieces of cork pinned on each side of the steamer and cut as in Fig. 155, or even left round, make very realistic-looking paddle wheels. Other models, such as a dreadnought, a fishing smack, etc., are easily made.
A Flying Proa of the Ladrones (Fig. 156). These boats are used chiefly in East Indian waters. They are remarkable for their speed. Bow and stern are equally sharp pointed. One side of the proa is flat, and in a straight line from bow to stern (Fig. 157), but the other is rounded as in other vessels. The outrigger prevents the boat from turning over.
In the model the outrigger is made of a cork fastened to the side of the boat by match sticks or pieces of cane.
An Eskimo Canoe is very easily made by pointing the ends very sharply and hollowing out a hole in the centre (Fig. 158). Fig. 159 shows an Egyptian Dahabieh. For this boat it is better to use four corks, as two sails are carried.
In the Double Canoe (Fig. 160) the two boats are joined by a thin piece of wood, A. A slanting hole is drilled in A for the mast. Mast and yards are best made of cane. These little boats look wonderfully effective on the water.
Cork Wrestlers (Fig. 165). This is a very amusing toy and is very easily made. Cut and file two corks to the shape shown in Fig. 161. Drill a hole through the shoulders (a a) and hips (b b), and flatten these for the limbs to work against. The arms and legs are made of cardboard. Cut out the legs as in Fig. 162 and make holes in them. Pass a piece of stout wire through the hips and the holes in the legs and double the ends over, so that the legs will not slip off, but let them be loose enough to move freely.
In shaping the legs make them bend slightly at the knee, as this makes the figures more life-like in their movements.
The arms must be cut out in pairs as in Fig. 163. Make holes near the shoulders and one at c. Then fasten the arms to the body in the same way as the legs.
The heads are made of cork, the eyes, mouth, etc., being marked in ink. Cut a slit across the neck and one across the top of the body. Fasten the head to the body by inserting, with the help of a pen-knife, a strip of calico into both these slits, so that the head is fairly close to the body (Fig. 164). The heads will move about as the figures wrestle. Paint the legs and arms.
Pass a piece of thread through the holes c. Hold one end of the thread steady and move the other about and you will cause the little figures to wrestle in a most life-like manner. If it is necessary to make the figures heavier, little pieces of lead may be glued to the feet.
Similar little wrestlers (Fig. 167) can be made from two wooden clothes-pegs (Fig. 166). Cut the pegs in two along the dotted line. The upper part forms the head and body of a wrestler, and the lower parts are used for the legs. Drill holes through the bodies (at A in Fig. 166) and through the legs at the thin ends; fasten these to the body with wire.
For the arms two pieces of thin, flat wood are necessary, about 3 inches in length. Bore holes at each end and in the middle, shape them roughly with a pen-knife to represent the joined hands of the wrestlers. Fix these pieces to the bodies and work them as described in the case of the cork wrestlers.
Swiss Musical Figures. These amusing little toys were first invented by the Swiss. They are not musical in the sense that they produce any sound, but they dance about to music when placed on a piano lid, or on any flat surface which vibrates.
The figures should be small and light and are easily cut out from a cork.
Shape a cork as in Fig. 168 and hollow out the centre (A). Cut out arms and legs of thin cardboard. Fasten the legs to a piece of wire passing through the hollow in the cork (B C in Fig. 168), so that they hang loosely. Fasten the arms to the shoulders with wire. Make four tiny holes in the bottom rim, E, with a pin; get some stiff bristles (from an old clothes brush), glue them into the holes and when firm cut them level, so that the figure stands upright, with the feet a little above the ground. A head is then made of cork, and a little dress and bonnet of paper added. This little figure, resting on the bristles, is affected by the slightest vibration. Other figures, such as a soldier, a clown, or animals, such as a dancing bear or a monkey, can be made on the same principle.
An interesting series of ships can be made of cardboard and paper. These ships can be used to illustrate the history lesson or to illustrate a lesson on the evolution of the ship.
Materials. Cardboard of medium thickness (thin cardboard will bend and thick is difficult to cut), white paper—cartridge paper or ordinary exercise paper—and coloured paper or chalks, scissors and pen-knife, ruler.
The Viking Ship (Fig. 170). Give the children oblong pieces of cardboard, A B C D, about 8½ inches by 2½ inches. A line, E F, drawn across the middle of the cardboard gives the top of the ship. The ship is then drawn on the cardboard, and the shaded part of the cardboard is cut away. Dragons' or serpents' heads are drawn on paper, cut out and gummed on to the stern and prow (as G and H); a tongue cut from red paper can be added to each dragon. (The 'dragon ships' were, as a rule, the largest, the 'serpent ships' being smaller and better adapted to sailing.) The mast is cut out of cardboard and gummed behind the ship; the sail is cut out of paper and gummed to the mast. The shields are cut out of cardboard and pasted along the sides. The ship may be painted white, blue, red, or any combination of colours; the warriors' shields were also of different colours. The sails were generally in coloured stripes, blue and white or red and white. Masts brown. For teachers who want to be historically accurate the following notes on the viking ship may be useful.
The viking ship (from ninth century on-wards) was clincher-built, caulked with hair, and iron fastened. One ship we know to have been 78 feet long by 15½ feet of extreme breadth; the ships varied in length from 50 to 150 feet. They had from twelve to thirty-five seats for rowers. Generally both ends of the vessel were alike, so that it could be steered from either end by the paddle, which was used everywhere until the invention of the rudder.
Standards and pennants were used, and possibly the two-armed iron anchor (for the Romans used it), so the children can cut out pennants and anchors for their ships.
Children delight in naming their ships and should be given some of the 'real' old names to choose from. These old names generally referred to the figure-head, which was of wood or metal, in the shape of the head of a dragon, deer, bird or other animal—e.g. Dragon, Serpent, Raven, Deer of the Surf, Sea-king's Deer, Horse of the Sea, Sea-bird, etc. To support the boat two pieces of cardboard are cut and folded, as N P O Q (Fig. 171). The cardboard must be half cut with a pen-knife along the line R S, so that it can be bent easily.
The portion N R P S is gummed to the back of the ship, R S O Q bent at right angles to N P R S forms the support, with corner S T Q cut off, so that the ship tilts a little backward.
A Ph[oe]nician Warship, 480 B.C. (Fig. 172). This is made, as the viking ship, from oblong A B C D; pieces of paper, E and F, with railings drawn on them, are gummed on each end; a stern ornament, G, is cut out of paper and gummed at one end. (When a vessel was captured in olden days this was kept as a trophy.)
Small circles are drawn along the side of the ship to represent the holes for the oars, or holes may be made in the cardboard and matches or strips of cardboard passed through for oars.
A device of the sun (common to Carthaginian vessels) should be drawn on the sail and prow. The ship can be coloured in stripes yellow and red, with one blue band near the top; stern ornament red and yellow; sail yellow with red sun.
The ships represented in Fig. 173 and in Plate IV are made in the same way. In all these a piece of cardboard forms the foundation. Masts, high funnels, anything likely to bend, should also be cut from cardboard, but sails, stern or prow ornaments, railings, flags, etc., are best cut out of paper. By means of a needle and cotton, rigging can be added to the ships.
A Tudor Ship (Fig. 173). Tudor ships are difficult, because of their elaborate and lofty forecastle and poops. A simplified one is shown in the figure. This can be easily managed by the children if an oblong A B C D is given them, divided into six parts lengthways, or if the oblong E B F D is given them. In the latter case the poop and forecastle are cut out of paper and gummed on separately. The ship is coloured red, yellow and blue, the sails white. The ship may be decorated with many flags.
The Cunarder has red funnels, with a black band at the top and two black lines underneath.
The Super-Dreadnought should be coloured dark grey. Children will delight to make, in a similar way, a Roman galley, Columbus' Santa Maria, in which he discovered America, the Black Prince, in which Sir Philip Sidney's body was carried to England, Britain's first Ironclad, etc.
Instead of cardboard supports pieces of wood (about ¼ inch thick, 1 inch wide, the length equal to that of the ship) can be half sawn through along the middle line and the ship inserted in this slit; or pieces of wood (cubes) may be glued to the back. In the first case the surface of the wood should be painted blue to represent water.
Materials. The cardboard used should not be too thick; medium thickness is best (threepence a sheet). Almost any paper that is not too thin can be used for making hinges. All kinds of cardboard boxes will be found of great use in making shops, engines, etc.
Tools. Scissors with round points are safer for children to use, though perhaps not quite so suitable for the work.
Knives. For little children the carton knife, consisting of a small blade projecting not more than a quarter of an inch from the handle, is the best, as the smallness of the blade does much to prevent the children cutting their fingers.
For older children the "London" or "Leipsic" pattern is suitable, or they can use their pen-knives. These can be sharpened quite well on an ordinary knifeboard.
Rulers. The "non-slip" safety ruler is the best. It grips the paper well, and the depression between the raised edges enables the children to hold it steady when cutting.
Adhesives. Higgins' vegetable glue or seccotine.
A Pigeon-house (Fig. 178). On a piece of cartridge paper draw an oblong 8 inches by 2 inches, and divide it into four squares (Fig. 174). On the top of each construct an equilateral triangle. Make a flange about ¼ inch on the sides of the triangles, as shown in Fig. 174, and on the sides of the squares. Cut and fold back the doorways. Fold and gum together. Flanges 1, 2, 3, 4 should be folded in. Draw and cut out a square, side 2½ inches (Fig. 175); gum the house on to this.
For the post draw an oblong 8 inches by 2½ inches (Fig. 177). Fold into five lengths (½ inch wide). Draw J K and L M ½ inch from the ends of oblong E F G H. Cut along the lines, cut off the shaded portions, and fold along the dotted lines. Gum the two outer portions over each other to make a four-sided post.
For the base cut a square, the side 3 inches (Fig. 176), and to this gum the flanges at L M. Gum the house to the flanges at J K. To make the top stronger, a second square (the side 2½ inches) can be cut; the flanges at L M are gummed to this, and then the house is fastened on.
Other easily made farmhouse models are a hen-coop, a barn, a pigsty, the farmhouse itself, etc.
The Noah's Ark (Plate III). As this is a fairly large toy, it is best made from separate pieces of cardboard hinged together by strips of paper. If it is cut from one or two pieces, the size of the cardboard is somewhat unmanageable.
The following Noah's Ark is of a suitable size for holding cork animals.
Two pieces of cardboard are cut, 8½ inches by 4 inches (Fig. 179). Cut two other pieces, 3½ inches by 6 inches. Mark and cut these out as A and C. In one side, A, a door is cut. A paper-fastener is put in to form the handle. On the other sides windows may be drawn and coloured. When fastening the pieces together the children must be very careful that the bend of the hinge is straight.
Fig. 179 shows the pieces of the Noah's Ark hinged together. The children will find it easier if they paste the hinges on A and C first and let them dry thoroughly; then they can fasten A to B and C to B and D, and lastly D to A, but B must be firmly hinged to A before C is attached, and so on with the other parts. However, there is plenty of work to be done while the children are waiting for the paste to dry. (In their eagerness to finish toys the children often want to paste or glue too many things together at once.)
For the bottom of the ark a piece of cardboard, 13½ inches by 5 inches, is cut and pointed at each end.
For the roof the children can get the measurements themselves. The long side of the ark is 8½ inches, so that if the roof projects ½ inch on each side of this the length will be 9½ inches. They must measure E F (Fig. 179); this will be about 2½ inches. Now, the roof must cover E F and F G and project about a ½ inch beyond E and G, so that the width of the roof must be 6 inches. Therefore, they must cut a piece of cardboard 9½ inches by 6 inches. Down the middle of this a half cut is made, along which the cardboard is folded. A stronger method is to cut the roof in half and hinge the two pieces together by a piece of paper cut and coloured to represent tiles; thus the roof will open and shut easily without breaking. The roof can be coloured or covered with blue paper.
When the body of the ark is complete, it must be placed on to the bottom, so that it stands in the middle. Two hinges on each long side will be sufficient to keep the ark steady, but hinges can also be made for the shorter sides. The hinges are more easily put on the outside, but would look neater if fastened inside the ark.
One half of the roof is fastened by paper hinges to three sides of the ark; the other half opens and shuts.
A strip of cardboard, the width of the door, is cut to form a gangway for the animals to enter the ark. Across this matches should be glued.
Very effective animals can be made from corks, as explained in Chapter VII. Easily made animals are the elephant, camel, giraffe, horse and donkey. The children will suggest other possible animals, e.g. a hedgehog, or porcupine, a small cork with pins stuck in it, etc.
Noah and his wife and children can be made from corks. A cork is filed round the narrowest end to form the head (Fig. 180). Eyes, mouth, etc., can be marked in ink. Round Noah is pasted a piece of coloured paper to form a cloak, open in front; this, with the help of match sticks for legs, enables him to stand. Half matches form the arms. A piece of round paper gummed to the head forms a hat.
Noah's wife (Fig. 181) has a piece of coloured paper round her body to form a skirt, on which she stands.
A Dog Kennel (Fig. 182). This toy is made of either cardboard or stiff paper, on lines similar to those of the Noah's Ark.
The bottom and the sides can be made from one piece, 7½ inches by 4 inches (Fig. 183). Half cuts are made along H A and B C. In fixing the front of the kennel it will be noticed that the bottom and the sides project beyond it. The back portion can be fixed to coincide with the edges of the bottom and sides. The roof can be measured and fixed as described in the Noah's Ark. Planks can be indicated by drawing lines across the sides and the roof. The kennel may be fastened to two strips of wood, Y and X.
A Shop. This can be made like the Noah's Ark, except that the bottom will, of course, be a rectangle, and one long side must be left open. The children can turn cardboard boxes of different kinds into shops quite easily. Perhaps one of the easiest shops to make is the butcher's. The inside can be covered with white paper, upon which the children have drawn tiles in blue or green pencil. A little paying-desk (Fig. 184) can be made of brown paper and gummed to one of the walls. Tables can be made of cardboard, or of wood if the children have begun woodwork. Joints of meat drawn on cardboard, and coloured with red pencil, look very realistic when cut out. To hang these the children can hammer nails half way into a piece of stripwood and glue it to the wall. The joints can be attached to the nails by pieces of string.
Other toys that can be made in a similar way from stiff paper or cardboard are castles, houses, a sentry-box.
A Wheelbarrow (Fig. 188). This toy is made of cardboard of medium thickness. Fig. 185 shows how the bottom and the sides are cut out from one piece. Half cuts are made along the dotted lines. Small holes are made at D and C for the axle of the wheel.
Figs. 186 and 187 show the two ends of the barrow. Before placing them in position a little seccotine should be put round their edges; with the help of this and the slits they will be quite firm.
The wheel is about 7/8 inches in radius. It is mounted on an axle made of a rounded match stick or piece of cane. Two small pieces of cork can be filed to the shape of E and F in Fig. 189, and holes made through them. They are then slipped on to the axle on each side of the wheel (Fig. 189) to prevent the latter from wobbling. The legs are made of strips of cardboard about ¼ inch wide and 2½ inches long (Fig. 190).
A very slight half cut is made along the dotted line, so that part of the leg, K, may be bent straight when H is gummed to the side of the wheelbarrow.
Fig. 191 shows another method of making the legs. A half cut is made along the dotted line, H is bent back at right angles to K and is gummed to the side of the barrow. The slant of the dotted line is the same as the slant of the sides of A in Fig. 186.