"Let me do it. Let me make it," is the cry when a child sees an older person putting together the different parts of an interesting piece of work; and it is this desire to do things himself, this impulse toward self-expression, that, when properly directed, forms so great a factor in his all-around development and education. Using the hands and brain together stimulates interest and quickens observation and intelligence, and, as the object takes form beneath the little fingers, the act of making, of creating, brings with it a delight and satisfaction which the mere possession of the same thing made by another can not give. "Look! See what I have made," comes with a ring of triumph as the childish hands gleefully hold up the finished article for inspection.
In this book we have endeavored to open a new and large field of simple handicrafts for little folk, giving them an original line of toys and a new line of materials with which to make them. We hope in these pages to bring to children the joy of making creditable and instructive toys of such ordinary things as empty spools, sticks of kindling wood, wooden clothespins, natural twigs, old envelopes and newspapers, and in this way to encourage resourcefulness, originality, inventiveness, and the power to do with supplies at hand.
Everything described in the book has been actually made by the authors, and made by such practical and simple methods that a child's mind can grasp them, and a child's hands be easily trained to manufacture the articles. It is, therefore, our hope that the "Little Folks' Handy Book" will be found useful both in Kindergarten and Primary grades of the schools and in the home nursery; a helpful friend to teachers and to mothers.
Flushing, N. Y., February 10, 1910.
Make your building cards of ordinary writing-paper. You may have as many cards as you like, though twelve are all that are used to make the things shown in our photographs.
Fig. 1—Cut an oblong out like this.
Fig. 2—This is the building card.For each card cut an oblong of paper five inches long and two and a half inches wide. This is a very good size, but you can make them a little larger or smaller. Always remember, however, to have them just twice as long as they are wide, and all of one size. When you have cut out the oblong (Fig. 1) fold it through the middle, bringing the two short edges evenly together. The dotted line in Fig. 1 shows where it is to be folded. Now open the oblong half-way and you will have the building card (Fig. 2). They are very simple and easy to make, aren't they? But wonderful and delightful things can be built with these pieces of paper. You can have a whole camp of little tents by standing the cards with the folded edge up; and to make
Fig. 3—You can make a little camp chair.The second illustration (Fig. 3) shows just how to do this. Use the tents again for
Fig. 4—Use the tents to make this pyramid.The third and top story will be one tent, which forms the peak of the pyramid. Of course you can make your pyramid very much larger by adding more tents to the first row and then building it up higher.
Fig. 5—A little stable with four little stalls.Build
Fig. 6—A garden wall and gateway.Use a one-quart wooden berry-box for the china closet (Fig. 7). Turn the empty box facing you, and slide the prongs of a clothespin up through the open crack at the lower right hand of the box. Allow one prong of the clothespin to come on the outside and the other prong on the inside of the thin wooden side of the box; adjust the clothespin well to the front edge of the box, and it will form the right-hand front leg of the china closet. Add another leg in like manner on the same side of the box for the back leg; then slide two more clothespins up on the opposite side of the box to form the remaining two legs (Fig. 8).
 Fig. 7—The berry-basket china closet. |
 Fig. 8—Slide clothespins on the basket for legs. |
The prongs of the clothespins do not reach up to the top of the inside of the box, but leave sufficient space for a shelf. Make the shelf by laying a clothespin across from side to side, supported by the prongs of the back legs, and another across, supported by the prongs of the front legs (Fig. 8). The clothespin used for the front of the shelf will probably have to be a trifle longer than that for the back, as the box is wider in front than at the back. Set some toy dishes on the top, the shelf, and the inside bottom of the china closet, as in Fig. 7.
With another quart berry-box and four more clothespins make the
Slide the prongs of a clothespin down on either side of the box at the four corners (Fig. 9), then turn the table right side up, placing it on its feet. Set the table with toy dishes, and dinner will be ready (Fig. 10).
 Fig. 9—Slide the prongs of the clothespins down on the sides of the box. |
 Fig. 10—Make the doll's table. |
The table can be turned into a dressing-case by standing two clothespins on their heads at each side of the back of the top of the table, and sliding a piece of stiff paper across from clothespin to clothespin between the prongs for a mirror (Fig. 11). Of course, the addition of a fringed white paper, or cloth scarf, over the top of the dressing-case would enhance its appearance, as would also a table-cloth over the top of the dinner table, but the covers were purposely omitted in the photographs that one may see exactly how the articles were made.
Fig. 11—The table can be turned into a dressing-case.Make a
 Fig. 12—A perfect little bassinet. |
 Fig. 13—The bassinet without the drapery. |
A comical little berry-basket
 Fig. 14—A comical berry-basket "bow-wow". |
 Fig. 15—Put the legs on slantingly. |
Fig. 16 shows two clothespin horses attached to a
Fig. 16—The berry-basket wagon with clothespin horses.A handful of straws, such as are used for lemonade and soda-water, several large sheets of writing-paper, and some small-sized pins—these are your materials. A pair of sharp scissors, a ruler marked off into whole, half, and quarter inches, and a lead pencil—these are your tools.
Fig. 17—The old-fashioned bedstead.We will begin with the old-fashioned four-post bedstead with its canopy and valances (Fig. 17). It is easily put together, but you must be careful to cut the straws for the posts all exactly the same length, making them about seven inches long, and to have your measurements for the other parts quite correct, in order that the bedstead may stand perfectly upright. Select four straight straws for the posts—sound and whole. Split straws will not do.
The mattress and canopy are exactly alike; each has its valance, and they are just the same size; so directions for one will answer for both. Cut an oblong of writing-paper eight and a half inches long and six and a half inches wide. Be sure that the ends and side edges form perfect right angles; if they do not, the bed will be crooked. The edges of your sheet of writing-paper are at right angles to one another, and if you use the top edge of your paper for the top edge of your oblong, and the side edge of the paper for one side edge of your oblong, the rest will come out all right.
Fig. 18—The mattress and canopy.Now draw perfectly straight lines across your oblong from top to bottom, just one and a half inches from each edge (Fig. 18). Then from side to side draw two more straight lines; the first one and a half inches below the top edge and the other one and a half inches above the bottom edge. This gives the mattress with a border all around. In each corner of the mattress, a little more than a quarter of an inch from the end and side lines, draw a small cross as shown in Fig. 18. Be sure these crosses are placed correctly, and are exactly alike in mattress and canopy. Now cut out the four squares at the corners of the oblong, as indicated by the heavy lines in Fig. 18, and insert the point of your scissors in the centre of each little cross and snip along each line of the cross. Do not make the slashes too deep.
Fig. 19—Slide the paper down to the pin.Cut the edges of the border, or valance, into small points, as in Fig. 17; then bend the valance down at the sides and ends of the mattress. The dotted lines in the diagrams show where to bend the paper. Make the canopy just as you have made the mattress, but cut deeper points on the edge of the valance.
Through each of the four straw bedposts run a small pin two and a quarter inches from the end of the straw (Fig. 19).
Fig. 19