Children's Toy-Making

Originally published in the 1910s, this book is an introduction to the art of making toys by children, and of making the most of simple tools and simple materials. The purpose of the book is to encourage children not only to copy but also to create, or at any rate to copy not only from the book but from the world around them.

Dolls' houses and furniture, railways, boats and other vehicles offer endless possibilities of original and attractive design; and mechanical toys, whether driven by wind, water, elastic or the works of an old clock, offer an equally wide field for invention. At a later age girls will no doubt be ambitious to devise useful articles for the home, while boys may become interested in engineering and electrical models, optical toys, etc.; the deftness of hand, acquaintance with elementary principles, and self-confidence acquired through the simple work described in this book, should stand them in good stead.

"Self-reliance and ingenuity are valuable assets with which to start upon the more serious tasks of life, and if our-hints on toy-making contribute in any way to the development of these qualities, this book will not have been written in vain", said the author.

Contents Covered:

• Introduction
• Toys for Little Ones: Paper and Cardboard
• Toy-making and its Educational Possibilities
• General Principles and Materials
• Paper Work for Infants
• More Paper Toys
• Match-box Toys
• More Complicated Match-box and Cork Toys
• Cork Animals Harnessed to Sledges, etc
• More Core Toys
• Cardboard and Paper Ships
• Cardboard and Paper Toys
• Simple Woodwork
• Materials
• Some Difficulties in Toy-making
• Merry-go-round, Swinging Boats, and Great Wheel
• Flying Airships, Gondolas, and Steam-roller
• Fire-engine, Motor-lorry, and Steam-roller
• Gipsy Caravan and Bathing Machine
• A Train and Railway Station
• Red Cross Motor and Taxi-cab
• Swinging and Jointed Animals
• Toys of Cardboard and Wood: Mechanical Toys
• Additional Tools
• Capstan, Dreadnought, Liner
• Motor-car, Swinging Cradle, Deck-chair
• A Tram-car
• A Crane
• Windmill, Water-wheel, Well
• Drawbridge and Siege Tower
• War Engines Past and Present
• A Fire-escape
• Castle, Tournament, and Fir
• An Old Chariot and Some Quaint Dolls' Furniture
• Railway Signal and Signal-box
• Lighthouse, Transporter Bridge
• Yachts and Boats: The Use of the Chisel
• The Fret-saw
• Little Gymnast, Dancing Clown, Rocking Animals
• Moving Figures
• Some Old-fashioned Toys
• Little Swordsmen
• Some More Fret-saw Toys
• Toys Worked by Sand
• Toys Worked by Wheels, etc
• Kites, Gliders, and Aeroplanes
• More Old-fashioned Toys
• Lift, Pont Roulant, Tower Bridge
• Soldering and Screw Steamer
• Toys Worked by Wind and by Convection Currents
• Buildings at Home and Abroad
• A Theatre