Story Hour
Toys From Nothing
Written by Gene B. Williams
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NOTE TO PARENTS:
It’s fun to make things! Here at Nicker Stories, *Your Page* has lots of coloring pages you can get for FREE, and we often have special links to other places where you can find even more fun.
As you saw on the *Home Page,* this story began with a tree that had to be cut down. From there, anything found could be used. Sticks, pieces of board, wire, pipe cleaners, odd pieces of hardware. The only things purchased were paint, brushes and glue. Tools were also simple – small handsaw, hand drill, knife, pliers.
An adult may have to help with some of this, but even someone young can do a lot of it. It’s probably not wise to let a young child handle a saw, drill, or knife but you can do that for them and make a sort of “kit.”
The idea is to stimulate the child’s imagination (and your own). Try to not guide or lead them too much. Find a stick, for example, and ask, “What could this be?”
There is no specific size.
One of my favorites is the owl. It looks great, but is easy to make. Any suitable limb or branch can be used. This works best if it is straight. Cut the branch so that it is a little longer than it is wide. Other sticks can be carved to make the ears, eyes and nose. Then simply glue them into place. No paint is needed except for the eyes. To make it even more fun, the owl (or owls) can be mounted on another branch as a base.
The first snowman was made from a piece of leftover handrail. A piece of dowel will also work. So will a branch. A knife can be used to carve grooves to make the head and body. A child can use a triangular file to do the same thing. Then paint it white. After that, just as with a real snowman, the rest is up to your imagination. Drill holes into the sides and use sticks for arms. The eyes can be anything. Something to resemble pieces of coal is just one idea. A stick can be carved and painted orange to look like a carrot. A piece of ribbon makes a great scarf. All sorts of things can be used for a hat.
Old-fashioned single-piece clothespins work best for this. )The spring in the spring-type is a bit … distracting.) What kind of soldier it is depends mostly on the colors. Blue and white can be the Navy. Olive green for the Army. Perhaps khaki for the Marines? Arms are pipe cleaners. All the rest is whatever loose hardware happens to be around or available. A cotter pin makes a good rifle. Nut covers can be good Army hats. The admiral’s hat is a wing nut. The base is simply a washer. This is good because of the weight, but wood disks can also be used.
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You know the story behind this. It started when Dad had to cut down the mulberry tree. The reindeer were so popular that it didn’t take long for the entire tree to be gone (with the reindeer getting smaller and smaller). Of course, any kind of branches can be used. The branch for the body will be larger than the branch for the head. Even smaller branches are used for the legs. Twigs make the antlers. Drill four holes in the bottom of the body to hold the legs. Drill a hole in the top to mount the head, and drill a hole in the head for the same reason. Finally, drill two small holes in the top of the head to hold the antlers. A small piece of dowel is used to mount the head. You can glue the dowel into the head, or into the body, but don’t glue it both places. That way the head can swivel. Dabs of black paint can be the eyes. For Rudolf, a small piece of … whatever … gets glued on as his nose, and painted red.
You can make single reindeer, or a full set of nine (including Rudolf). Of course, if you have a full set, you’ll want Santa and his sleigh. This can be a little tricky, mostly because of the sleigh runners. An easy way to do that is to use wire and glue it directly to the sleigh. The sleigh can be clever, or it can be a simple box painted red. Keep the back of the box open for the presents. (Those presents can be painted pieces of wood, or perhaps you’d prefer Santa’s magic bag?) For Santa, the easiest way is to use a wood dowel, painted red, with something like cotton fluff glued on as the beard. The hat is easy to make if you can’t find one. His arms and legs can be something as simple as pipe cleaners.
Dad was out for a walk in the woods and spotted a fungus growing on a tree. He brought it home, nailed it to a cut branch, added a couple more branches (one carved a bit for the head) … he had a Thanksgiving turkey! As with other toys, they came in all sizes, some big enough to sit on, some the size of your finger. Later, he used a piece of shaped wood for the tail.
A NOTE ABOUT PIPE CLEANERS
These inexpensive wonders are … wonderful. They come in all colors, and they bend easily. Some of the projects here use them. They can also be used alone. Even small hands can bend them into shapes.
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