Detailed and copiously illustrated, this in-depth handbook offers instruction for constructing more than 50 wooden toys designed to appeal to a child's sense of imagination and playfulness. A brief introduction covers the basic techniques—gluing, sanding, and making wheels—and each project presents a meticulous diagram, a handy materials list, step-by-step instructions, and a photograph of the completed toy. Designs include stylized versions of a Model T car, a crane, and the Spirit of St. Louis airplane, as well as projects specifically for beginning woodworkers, such as pull-along trains and circus animals. Instructions for finishing and detailing ensure that the completed crafts will last for years.
Make toys that will be treasured for generations! Wooden toys stand the test of time. They're played with, love and often go on to become treasured family heirlooms. Plus making toys is a great way to put to good use all those small offcuts of nicer wood you've been saving. Making Classic Wooden Toys is filled with 21 projects selected from the archives of Popular Woodworking Magazine and American Woodworker. The toys inside hark back to a time of childhood wonder and fun. From tricky puzzles and clever gizmos to sports equipment and kid's furniture, you'll learn to make a wide array of gifts that any child is sure to love. Within these pages you'll find step-by-step instructions along with helpful photos and illustrations for: • A variety of wooden puzzles • Tabletop versions of games including hockey and foosball • Fun furniture including a play table, a game table and a tractor-trailer toybox • Popular lawn games including bocce and kubb • Spinning tops, whistles and other classic toys What better way to show your love for a child than with a handmade wooden toy that will be passed on for generations to come?
In a lineup of children's toys that are mass produced, disposable, or made of plastic, a handmade wooden toy will stand out every time: they're sturdy, timeless, and just plain fun. With twenty projects that are smartly designed and built to last, Classic Wooden Toys delivers the goods that can stand up to an energetic child and still look great when passed from one generation to the next.
When it comes to making that special wooden toy, space is the new frontier. Wooden toy designs have changed very little since long before we first landed on the moon: plenty of cars, p-prop planes, trucks, and trains--and, yes, that occasional Buck Rodgers-era rocket--but few projects that hint at the world of the future. No longer. With Wooden Toy Spacecraft, the iconic wooden toy blasts off into the 21st century with this collection of 12 state-of-the-art spacecraft that you can build in a weekend. Going well beyond tired old rocket ships, woodworker Gonzalo Ferreyra offers up an intergalactic fleet of original designs that can fly proudly alongside the classics we know from film, television, and our real-world history of space exploration. Dozens of detailed photographs and clear, concise instructions make even the most challenging techniques easy to conquer. With a few pieces of lumber, some cut-offs from your scrap box, and a healthy dose of future-vision, space geeks of all ages can craft a beautiful, awe-inspiring vehicle to proudly display or to gift to that special kiddo for hours of imaginative play.
In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to build 40 miniature models of race cars, airplanes, ships, trains, and more. These fun, compact designs will inspire you to get creative with as few as nine LEGO® pieces. Imagine what you can build with just a handful of LEGO bricks—almost anything! In Tiny LEGO Wonders, you'll create miniscale models of real vehicles like: –A space shuttle –Jets, planes, and helicopters –Flatbed trucks and cement mixers –France’s high-speed TGV train –F1 racecars –Muscle cars –Cargo, cruise, wooden ships, and more! Let your creativity run wild!
Expensive electronic toys come and go, but the toys children really like the best are often the simplest. The plain handmade wooden train, doll cradle, or circus animal can provide the key that unlocks a young imagination. This book makes it easy to create toys that will win a permanent place in any child's heart. After years of working with young children, veteran woodcrafter and educator James. T. Stasio has distilled his expert knowledge into a handy, inexpensive guide to making 12 wooden toys of enduring appeal: helicopter, oil truck, biplane, destroyer, freight train, cargo ship, rocking horse and squirrel, circus animals and acrobats, doll cradle, work truck, truck bank, and fighter plane. You don't have to be a master craftsman or purchase expensive materials. If you can use a saw and a screwdriver, you can make any of these charming toys. For each project, a list of materials indicates how much wood and the kind of hardware you'll need. Exact-size templates for every part make cutting out the wood simplicity itself. And a large, easy-to-grasp exploded diagram shows precisely how to fit the parts together. The introduction also provides handy tips on selection of wood, finishing, and more. Best of all, these sturdy toys will stand up to almost any amount of rough handling. And there are no batteries to replace!
A triumphant memoir by the former editor-in-chief of French Elle that reveals an indomitable spirit and celebrates the liberating power of consciousness. In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor-in-chief of French Elle, the father of two young children, a 44-year-old man known and loved for his wit, his style, and his impassioned approach to life. By the end of the year he was also the victim of a rare kind of stroke to the brainstem. After 20 days in a coma, Bauby awoke into a body which had all but stopped working: only his left eye functioned, allowing him to see and, by blinking it, to make clear that his mind was unimpaired. Almost miraculously, he was soon able to express himself in the richest detail: dictating a word at a time, blinking to select each letter as the alphabet was recited to him slowly, over and over again. In the same way, he was able eventually to compose this extraordinary book. By turns wistful, mischievous, angry, and witty, Bauby bears witness to his determination to live as fully in his mind as he had been able to do in his body. He explains the joy, and deep sadness, of seeing his children and of hearing his aged father's voice on the phone. In magical sequences, he imagines traveling to other places and times and of lying next to the woman he loves. Fed only intravenously, he imagines preparing and tasting the full flavor of delectable dishes. Again and again he returns to an "inexhaustible reservoir of sensations," keeping in touch with himself and the life around him. Jean-Dominique Bauby died two days after the French publication of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. This book is a lasting testament to his life.
Introduce children to the craft of woodworking and watch their executive function skills thrive. The Guide to Woodworking with Kids is a culmination of craftsman Doug Stowe's four-decade career in woodworking and nearly twenty years of working with students K-12 in his Wisdom of the Hands woodworking class at the Clear Spring School in his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. This comprehensive guide offers step by step instruction for teachers, parents and grandparents to offer safe woodworking opportunities to their students and kiddos as a way of developing a wide range of valuable life-skills. Based in part on the philosophies of Froebel's Kindergarten and Educational Sloyd, this book illustrates the importance of doing real, hands-on activities in school and at home that enable students to: Think things through for themselves Develop skill, originality and inventiveness Explore their own self-interests Plan, organize and execute meaningful work Prepare to profitably employ leisure time Be handy and resourceful Develop both character and intellect Create useful beauty to benefit family, community and self The Guide to Woodworking with Kids is more than a woodworking book, it's gives parents, grandparents and teachers the confidence, encouragement, and the insight needed to safely engage children in life-enhancing creative arts.