CHAPTER X

MOVING TOYS

How would you like a merry-go-round with all the animals prancing one after another, each with a girl or a boy on its back, riding along regardless of the speed of the steed, like the real ones you have tried in the parks and at the seashore?

=The Merry-go-round=

Fig. 257, is easily made, the work consisting mostly of stringing different things on a hat-pin and sticking the pin through a box. Procure a long hat-pin (Fig. 258), a large, empty spool (Fig. 259), three small corks (Fig. 260) and, for a foundation, a round flat box if you can obtain or make it, if not, a common note-paper box must answer the purpose. A piece of string about a yard long and two shank buttons will help out the simple machinery (Fig. 259). The canopy is of paper or card-board (Fig. 261) and the support for the animals of card-board (Fig. 262).

Lay a piece of card-board flat and place over it an ordinary tea-plate; hold the plate steady and draw a circle on the card-board by running the lead-pencil around the edge of the plate. This will give a circle of about the desired size. Then draw bands across the circle, as in Fig. 262; to do this draw lines dividing the circle into quarters and at the left of each of the four lines draw a line a little more than half an inch away from it, making four bands (Fig. 262). Cut out the circle, then the four wedge-shaped pieces between the bands, and bend up the end of each band five-eighths of an inch (Fig. 262).

On these ends paste any stiff paper animals you may happen to have, (Fig. 263), selecting those which will balance each other, as the merry-go-round must revolve evenly. Colored scrap-book animals look well and are stiff enough to hold themselves firmly in place. Should you not happen to possess these, animals from old pamphlets, advertisements or newspapers may be used. They should be stiffened by being pasted flat on thin card-board or stiff paper. When fastening the animals on the merry-go-round paste the body of the animal to the turned-up end of the card-board band (Fig. 263).

=In Making the Canopy=

use a small saucer or bowl as a guide to draw the circle on paper or card-board. Cut out the circle, point it around the edge (Fig. 261), turn the points down and the canopy is [Illustration: Fig. 262.] ready to go on the hat-pin. If you do not have the correct-sized plate, saucer, or bowl, the circles may be drawn with the aid of a home-made compass. To make the compass, take a pair of scissors and a piece of card-board (Fig. 264), punch two holes about two inches apart in the card-board and through them pass the points of the scissors until they extend through on the other side an inch or a trifle more; secured in this way the scissors make a very good compass. Adjust the scissors so that the distance between the two points is four inches, then firmly [Illustration: Fig. 263.] stick the sharper point in a piece of cardboard and, keeping that steady, slowly move the other point around in a circle, pressing it down only hard enough to scratch the surface (Fig. 264). Make the circle for the canopy in the same way, but have the distance between the scissor points [Illustration: Fig. 264.] much less—not more than two and one-fourth inches—in order to preserve the correct proportions.

Now watch the almost

=Magical Forming of the Merry-go-round=

Pass the long hat-pin (Fig. 258) through the exact centre of the canopy (Fig. 261) then put on one of the corks (Fig. 260); work this up tight to the canopy that it may hold the latter in place. Twist the cork around and around on the pin, as it will be apt to go on crooked if the pin be forced carelessly through the cork. String on another cork, working it up the pin midway, then slide on the bands, with the animals attached, pushing the pin through the exact centre of the pasteboard; next put on the large spool.

=The Box Must Have Some Holes=

made in it before using; puncture two one inch from the front edge and four inches apart in the lid; then make two more holes through both lid and box on the front side half an inch from the top and five inches apart, as seen in the illustration. Fig. 257.

Stick the loaded pin through the centre of the box-lid, bringing it well down, and cover the extreme point of the pin with the last cork in order to prevent the pin from coming through and pricking. This cork must lie firmly on the bottom of the inside of the box.

The merry-go-round is now ready for the machinery to set it in motion. Pass the string around the spool and cross the two ends in front (Fig. 259) keeping the ends crossed; thread one of the ends through the two holes on its own side of the box, bringing the end out from the front of the box, do the same with the other end of the string as shown in the illustration. To prevent the string from accidentally slipping back through the holes, tie a shank button on each of the ends.

Now, holding the box with one hand, gently

=Pull One End of the String=

with the other hand and see the animals go dancing around, just like the big wooden griffins, zebras, and giraffes on real carousels.

Of course, the merry-go-round needs boys and girls to ride the animals and enjoy the sport. Look them up in the advertisements of old magazines, newspapers, or wherever you can find paper young people. Cut them out neatly and let them take turns riding on the different animals. When cutting out the legs of the paper children, merely cut up a deep slit to divide the legs in order to make the riders cling firmly to the various animals.

The brighter the colors used in the merry-go-round the gayer and more attractive its appearance. There is

=Something Very Fascinating=

in the toy; even grown people are interested and amused as they watch it whiz around with its burden of happy little paper children. Another lively game for paper children is the

=Flag Dance,=

(Fig. 265), where each doll actually waves its own little paper flag as she dances to and fro.

Make four small flags of different colored tissue-paper, each 1½ inch wide and 3 inches long, which allows for fastening to the staff.

Four little paper girls can be cut from Fig. 266. Take four half-sheets of stiff, unruled white writing-paper, fold each lengthwise through the centre; then trace Fig. 266 and cut it out of an extra piece of paper. Lay this half figure with its straight edge on the fold of one of the papers and with a lead-pencil draw a line around it. Cut out and open (Fig. 267). Make four dolls. Cut the flag-staff off the right hand of two and off the left hand of the other two, that the hands on the outside of the group, when the dolls [Illustration: Fig. 265.] are in place, may hold the flags (Fig. 268). Draw or paint a face and dress on each of the little girls, being sure to use the inside of the bend or fold for the front of the doll, as this slight inclination to fold forward after the doll is cut out and straightened out flat is of great assistance in bracing the figure when it is in position. Cut a slit up between the feet, but no further. Let the legs be of one piece, to insure greater strength to the standing doll (Fig. 267). Fold the flag-staff lengthwise, also the hand holding it, and give to each of the paper children one of the home-made tissue-paper flags by pasting a flag on every flag-staff (Fig. 268). When the dolls are ready, obtain a very flexible, slender, cloth-covered, long steel from a dress-waist or stays, and tie a strong black thread from end to end, making a stretch of nine or ten inches. On the centre of this thread tie another about a yard long (Fig. 265), and on the steel foundation fasten the four dolls. They should stand erect, one on each end, and two midway between centre and ends.

Fig. 268 shows the method of pasting the feet of the figures on the steel; slide the steel up between the feet; then bend them forward and glue one foot on each side of the steel, flat against it. Fasten a flag, about four and a half inches long, on the end of a long, strong hat-pin; then stick the pin firmly in a small pastry-board and slip the steel with its pretty children over it, resting the centre of the steel flat against the pin, which is now a flag-pole (Fig. 265).

Take hold of the loose end of the thread and step-back from the table on which the dolls are placed. When a sufficient distance away to cause the thread to stretch out straight give it a number of gentle jerks in quick succession. This will cause all the paper children to rush back and forth, waving their bright flags in triumph.

They can enter more heartily into the play if there is music, and it gives life to the “flag dance.” Ask your companion to strike up the “Star-Spangled Banner” on a comb while you make the little paper children dance in time to the music, which you can do by jerking the thread to the musical rhythm.

Find three large-sized button-moulds and some burnt matches for your

=Button-mould Tops=

Select round matches, as they will fit the holes in the button-moulds. Place one mould flat down on a piece of orange-colored paper and draw a line on the paper around its edge. Cut out the circular paper and paste it on the flat side of the button-mould; then pierce a hole through its surface, exactly over the hole in the mould, slide a match, unburnt end first, through the mould, until it extends about one-third [Illustration: Fig. 268.] beyond the bottom of the mould. If the match does not seem firm, fasten it in place with a little mucilage. When this top is finished, make two more of the same size, one covered with red and the other with green paper. No string is necessary for spinning these tops; merely give each one a twist with the thumb and second finger of the right hand and around it goes.

=The Game=

consists in spinning the three tops, one immediately after the other, the red top first, then the orange one, and last the green, allowing them all to whirl around together and not disturbing them in any way until the last one to cease spinning falls. The top which keeps up for the longest time scores the first point. When the first round is finished set the tops twirling again, commencing with the orange one and taking the red one last. Mark down the score of the winning top and give them all a third and last trial, leading with the green top and bringing in the orange last. The top which gains the greatest number of point wins the game. Should each top gain a point, the game would be a “tie,” and necessitate the playing of it all over again.

In case two friends would like to join in the sport, the game may be changed. Let each, with closed eyes, select a top, leaving one for the hostess. At a given signal have all the tops spin at once. The top which stands up longest wins the first point, and the greatest number of points the game. Allow two rounds, making six points to each three-handed game.