PREFACE
"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.
Lina Beard.
Adelia B. Beard.
Flushing, N. Y., February 10, 1910.
LITTLE FOLKS' HANDY BOOK
CHAPTER I
PAPER BUILDING CARDS
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.
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
A Camp Chair
all you need do is to push two of your tents close together, then on top of their folded edges lay another card with one flat side down to form the seat and the other side up for the back.
The second illustration (Fig. 3) shows just how to do this. Use the tents again for
The Pyramid
in Fig. 4. Stand three tents in a row close together. On top of these make a floor by laying two cards across with one side of each card extending down at the back of the tents. Then build a second story—two tents this time, with a floor on top.
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.
The Stable
is very cunning with its four little stalls. To build it you must stand the cards on their side edges as in Fig. 2. One side forms the back wall of the stall, the other the side wall. When you have reached the end of the row you will find the last stall lacks a side wall, but all you have to do is to slide another back wall behind the last and there you have the needed side wall. Put a roof over the stalls just as you made the floors for your pyramid, and then stand a tent on top for the cupola. Place a card at each end of the stalls, as shown in the illustration, and your stable is ready for its tiny horses.
Build
The