I can see your eyebrows going through the roof and hear the surprised question on your lips – “what has toy making got to do with sustainable living?”
The way I see it........lots! Rather than giving our kids cheap plastic toys based on corporate marketing that are made in China that break in 15 minutes, let’s go take a step back and see if we can’t come up with locally sourced, hand crafted quality toys that will keep them amused for years. You can do a lot with off cuts, recycled pallet wood or wood locally grown to make creative and wonderful toys made with love. Damn! Now I’m sounding like a commercial!
Anyway, think about it, and see what you can come up with for your kids or grandkids.
The Book of Toy Making – Pamela Peake – The Paul Press (UK) 1986 ISBN 0 85223 580 1 – This book covers a wide range of toys (30 sets of plans in all) including soft toys like rabbit, rag doll or teddy; simple wooden toys like a jigsaw swing or train, to more ambitious projects like a puppet theatre or dolls house. There are lots of “how to” line drawings and some colour photos. There are basic sections on tools and basic processes.
Working Wooden Toys – Marion Millett – Blandford Press (UK) 1985 ISBN 0 7137 1565 0 – the note on the inside of this book says the toys in the book were inspired by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner. The book has a number of colour photos and lots of line drawing plans and the toys themselves are fairly simple so that anyone with a few tools and a bit of skill could make them. There are things like birds, balancing toys, pull along, push along and rocking toys, noise making toys. There is a small section on toy making processes. There are 43 projects in this book.
Make Your Own Wooden Toys – Jeff Burke; Fiona Neville; Ron Fuller; Dick Garrood – Windward (UK) 1987 ISBN 0 7112 0468 3 – There are 20 projects in this book from a fairly basic billy cart all the way up to a working set of scales, but most of the projects are easily put together with a minimum of skill and tools. There are lots of colour photos and a cutting list for each project as well as exploded drawing showing how the bits go together. A good beginner’s book.
Toys to Make (Over 60 simple educational toys for babies and preschoolers) – Susan Esdaile & Angela Sanderson – Lloyd O’Neil P/L (AUS) 1984 ISBN 0 85550 444 7 – Lots of black and white line drawings with some plans, the book has sections on babies playthings, making toys from recycled materials, dolls, soft toys, puppets, wooden toys and sound and percussion toys. There is also a section on playing from birth to five years. There are 65 projects in this book.
Simple Wooden Toymaking – Bob Mathias – The Hamlyn Publishing Group (UK) 1974 ISBN 0 0600 3446 0 – The first third of this book is all about tools, techniques and materials for making wooden toys, followed by plans for 21 projects including a barge, animals, dolls house, toy furniture and a toy box. There are a few colour photos but mostly lines drawings, plans and exploded diagrams and most of the projects are fairly simple.
Making Wooden Toys for All Ages – Bryan Mapstone – Greenhouse Publications (AUS) 1989 ISBN 0 86436 293 5 – There are 19 projects in this book of varying levels of complexity from a simple army vehicle or toy box up to a space port and rescue centre. There are lots of line drawings with dimensions and cutting lists for each project as well as a few colour photos that show what can be accomplished. There are also sections at the start of the book on understanding the drawings, tools (hand and power) methods and materials.
Fun to Make Wooden Toys – Terry Forde – David & Charles (UK) 1986 ISBN 0 7153 9968 3 – There are about 30 projects, some like the Alice in Wonderland Chess Set and the oil rig are reasonably complex. There is a section at the front of the book on tools, materials, techniques and dimensions and interestingly enough a section on toys for handicapped children (3 projects) and Victorian era toys (5 projects). Lots of line drawings and a few colour photos but to me the plans could be more detailed.
Easy-to-Make Learning Toys – John Coxon – Sterling Publishing Co Inc. (US) 1987 ISBN 0 8069 6548 7 – This book shows you how to make 50 simple wood projects. It starts out with a section on the basics covering making sure the toys are safe for young children, choosing and working with wood, getting a good finish, cutting and finishing plywood and more. The projects are divided up into categories – puzzles, birds and animals, decorative and useful toys, stacking and counting toys and finally action toys and games. There are some black and white and colour photos but mostly line drawings, the plans can be crude but there is a cutting list for each project.
Build Your Own Wood Toys – R. J. DeCristoforo – Sterling Publishing Co Inc. (US) 1989 ISBN 0 8069 6993 8 – There is a very comprehensive section at the front on tools and materials followed by 38 projects most of which are quite simple to build. Most projects have at least one black and white photo, a cutting list and at least one line drawing plan with dimensions. Project categories include basic pull toys, pull toys with action, trucks and cars, 0n-track train, games, wagons and riding toys.
Classic Toys in Wood – Janet & Richard Strombeck – Sterling Publishing Co Inc. (US) 1994 ISBN 0 8069 0622 7 – This book has 22 projects and while some are quite complex, the finished article is absolutely beautiful. Each project comes with colour photo and exploded blue print plans and construction notes, most don’t come with a parts/cutting list but a few of the more complex ones do. Projects include various vehicles like trucks, crane, steam roller and steam shovel, there is a “Marina” project that encompasses various ships and buildings.
Making Timeless Toys in Wood – Janet & Richard Strombeck – Sterling Publishing Co Inc. (US) 1986 ISBN 0 912355 05 0 – A bit of a rip off this one. There are photos for 37 projects but only plans for 20; you have to buy the others. 
