NOVELTIES FOR CHRISTMAS

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1930, Page 6 (Supplement)

NOVELTIES FOR CHRISTMAS

SIMPLE TOYS AND GAMES 1 . ' _ l_ . Most people regard Christmas as a time of good cheer and jollity. The whole house puts on festival dress, and the dining room in particular becomes the focus of the celebrations. Especially when children are the principal guests it- is worth while using a,little imagination im arranging the decorations of the room and particularly the” table. Wooden Toy Animals. * - . . V It is surprising what a large number of quaint birds and other animals can be cut out of fretwood and made to look quite realistic with a little paint, carefully applied. For instance, the little goose arid duck shown in the diagrams can be cut out of three-sixteenths wood and fixed to bases half an inch wide to allow them to stand up. -The wings of the goose are cut separately and fixed with tiny nails so that they can move. The bodies of the birds can be painted white, wings-grey, beaks orange, and eyes black. . Other birds and animals will readily suggest themselves for cutting out in the same way, and if a number are made in pairs they will amuse young children for hours, especially if a toy Noahs Ark is provided, at the same time. «

The: Acrobatic Clown. This wooden toy, made chiefly from will cause a good deal of amusement. The little clown, placed on top of the, staging, tmnei continuous somersaults till he reaches the bottom of the inclined strips. - ■ x To make the toy, obtain about five feet of three eighths square wood and cut eight pieces each seven inches long. Near one end of four Of the pieces xU two slots at a slight angle as shown in C. Each slot should be one quarter-mdh wide and one-eighth of an inch deep. _ . Now cut eight pieces D, to the sizes given, from stripwood one-eighth of an inch thick and taper .< • end of each. Glue the other end of each strip into one of the slots and fix with a small nail E. At a,, distance of three inches from the bottomof each upright cut a slot one-eighth of an inch deep, ar.d ' o-lue and nail the cross-pieces F.'F, in position so that each pair of uprights is five, inches apart. The bottom parts of the uprights should be hah ed and nailed to the cross-pieces G,G. _ Cut two more pieces H from half-men square stripwood and cuts two 'slots in each to take the two side frames which can then be glued in place. The little clown can be made from a piece of thin fret-wood four inches wide and five inches Acrobatic Clown ?. ,

long. Mark out the wood into one inch squares, as shown in the. diagram, and then draw m the outline of the figure. The squares will help you to get the proportions right. Drill a small hole K through the hand , and cut out the figure a fretsaw. Now, if you are handy with a. paint-box you can paint the figure in bright colours on both Sl< All that is required now to complete the toy is a four inch length of steel knitting needle which must fit tightly in the hole through the clown s hand. You will find that if the figure is now placed with the spindle resting on'the top rail, as in the diagram, and the figure is given a slight turn with the finger, the little clown will turn over and ■ over from one pair of rails to the others in quite an amusing fashion. A , The wooden framework can be painted in colours in keeping with the figure.