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Little Folks' Handy Book




BOOKS BY LINA BEARD AND ADELIA B. BEARD

          _Illustrated by the Authors_

          ON THE TRAIL

          THINGS WORTH DOING AND HOW TO DO THEM

          RECREATIONS FOR GIRLS--INDOOR AND OUTDOOR

          WHAT A GIRL CAN MAKE AND DO, AND NEW IDEAS FOR WORK AND PLAY

          THE AMERICAN GIRL'S HANDY BOOK; or, HOW TO AMUSE YOURSELF
            AND OTHERS

          LITTLE FOLKS' HANDY BOOK

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS




Little Folks' Handy Book

By

LINA BEARD AND ADELIA B. BEARD

With Many Illustrations

by the Authors

          Charles Scribner's Sons
          NEW YORK  CHICAGO   BOSTON

          COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY
          CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

Printed in the United States of America

J


SPECIAL NOTICE

All the material in this book, both text and cuts, is original with the
authors and invented by them; and warning is hereby given that the
unauthorized printing of any portion of the text and the reproduction of
any of the illustrations or diagrams are expressly forbidden.


[Illustration]




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._




CONTENTS


  CHAPTER                                                  PAGE

     I. PAPER BUILDING CARDS                                 1

    II. TOYS MADE OF COMMON WOODEN BERRY-BASKETS             5

   III. STRAW AND PAPER FURNITURE                            9

    IV. A NEWSPAPER BOAT WHICH WILL SAIL ON REAL WATER      15

     V. PAPER JEWELRY                                       19

    VI. WHAT TO MAKE OF EMPTY SPOOLS                        28

   VII. OLD ENVELOPE TOYS AND HOW TO MAKE THEM              47

  VIII. TOYS OF CLOTHESPINS                                 55

    IX. SCRAP-BOOKS                                         64

    X. TOYS MADE OF COMMON KINDLING WOOD                    70

    XI. LITTLE TWIG PEOPLE                                  79

   XII. VISITING-CARD HOUSES                                90

  XIII. PLAYING INDIANS WITH COSTUMES MADE OF NEWSPAPERS    98

   XIV. CHRISTMAS-TREE DECORATIONS                         106

    XV. A HOME-MADE SANTA CLAUS                            124

   XVI. NATURE STUDY WITH TISSUE-PAPER                     130




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.

[Illustration: FIG. 1--Cut an oblong out like this.]

[Illustration: FIG. 2--This is the building card.]

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.

[Illustration: FIG. 3--You can make a little camp chair.]

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.

[Illustration: FIG. 4--Use the tents to make this pyramid.]

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.

[Illustration: FIG. 5--A little stable with four little stalls.]

Build


=The Garden Wall=

(Fig. 6) by standing the cards on their side edges. You can make the
garden any size or shape you like, but always have the gateway just
wide enough to hold the tent roof on top. See how the cards stand with
edges in on either side of the opening. This will support the
tent-shaped roof. Perhaps the children will want a house in the garden.
You can build one if you try. Then see how many more things can be made
of the paper cards, for I have not told you half of them.

[Illustration: FIG. 6--A garden wall and gateway.]




CHAPTER II

TOYS MADE OF COMMON WOODEN BERRY-BASKETS


USE a one-quart wooden berry-box for the china closet (Fig. 7). Turn the
empty box facing you, and slide the prongs of a clothespin up through
the open crack at the lower right hand of the box. Allow one prong of
the clothespin to come on the outside and the other prong on the inside
of the thin wooden side of the box; adjust the clothespin well to the
front edge of the box, and it will form the right-hand front leg of the
china closet. Add another leg in like manner on the same side of the box
for the back leg; then slide two more clothespins up on the opposite
side of the box to form the remaining two legs (Fig. 8).

[Illustration: FIG. 7--The berry-basket china closet.]

[Illustration: FIG. 8--Slide clothespins on the basket for legs.]

The prongs of the clothespins do not reach up to the top of the inside
of the box, but leave sufficient space for a shelf. Make the shelf by
laying a clothespin across from side to side, supported by the prongs of
the back legs, and another across, supported by the prongs of the front
legs (Fig. 8). The clothespin used for the front of the shelf will
probably have to be a trifle longer than that for the back, as the box
is wider in front than at the back. Set some toy dishes on the top, the
shelf, and the inside bottom of the china closet, as in Fig. 7.

With another quart berry-box and four more clothespins make the


=Doll's Table=

Slide the prongs of a clothespin down on either side of the box at the
four corners (Fig. 9), then turn the table right side up, placing it on
its feet. Set the table with toy dishes, and dinner will be ready (Fig.
10).

[Illustration: FIG. 9--Slide the prongs of the clothespins down on the
sides of the box.]

[Illustration: FIG. 10--Make the doll's table.]

The table can be turned into a dressing-case by standing two clothespins
on their heads at each side of the back of the top of the table, and
sliding a piece of stiff paper across from clothespin to clothespin
between the prongs for a mirror (Fig. 11). Of course, the addition of a
fringed white paper, or cloth scarf, over the top of the dressing-case
would enhance its appearance, as would also a table-cloth over the top
of the dinner table, but the covers were purposely omitted in the
photographs that one may see exactly how the articles were made.

[Illustration: FIG. 11--The table can be turned into a dressing-case.]

Make a


=Dolly's Bassinet=

(Fig. 12) of a small oblong berry-basket with four clothespin legs
slanting outward at the bottom and the prongs of the legs on each side
brought together at the top (Fig. 13). On the centre of one end of the
