|
Zoetrope... just one of many animation toys depending on "persistence of vision"... culminating in motion pictures and the cinema.
 Build Your Own Zoetrope "... The zoetrope, or Wheel of Life, takes the Phenakistiscope's principle
of using slits to view the image and folds it into a rotating drum.
Invented in 1834 by William George Horner, the image was drawn on a
removable strip of paper, so the animations were changeable. The slits
were equally spaced around the drum, and the images were spaced along
with them. The viewer spun the drum and watched the animation through
the slits. This was perhaps the most popular and longest lasting of all
of these toys...." CLICK HERE for some MORE animation toys that depend on "persistence of vision"from Bizarrelabs. including the Thaumatrope, the Phenakistiscope, the Kineograph, the Mutoscope, the Praxinoscope, the Muybridge, and the Zoopraxiscope... all culminating in George Eastman's invention of celluloid film... and Edison's Kinetograph and the Kinetoscope "peep hole" type machine... and finally Dickson's Kinetophonograph which added sound...
Build
Your Own Zoetrope Here's another set of plans for yet another Zoetrope.
Gizmos... and the Slithering Snake Tour! Now You Can Doodle in 3-D!
 Polymorf
offers instruction in
"gizmoneering" ... and other 3-D construction
methods. "... Gizmos are gadgets you can build
with Polymorf to make your models come alive! You
can use these simple mechanisms alone or combined
with each other to make models of flying eagles,
creeping spiders, pouncing cats, or telescopes
that have two-axis rotation. As a toy inventor you
will learn how to engineer complex mechanisms that
use bearings, levers, pivots, push rods, hinges,
braces, etc. to power the action that you desire.
Polymorf is the toy making toy!" Free Slithering Snake Tour
Subscribe to their Free Newsletter.
|
Mechanical
Toys You Can Make Yourself
"....The
Mechanical Toys Page is devoted all toys
that are powered mechanically or that are
kinetic. The toys on these pages are powered
by rubber bands, springs, flywheels, candles
and gravity. The best thing about these toys
is that many of them can be built at home
with no special tools. I have built most of
the toys and written instructions, with
diagrams and photos, on how to build them
yourself using bits and bobs scrounged from
junk...."
|
Light Mill/ Crookes Radiometer
Wikipedia's Definition of Crookes Radiometer "... The Crookes radiometer, also known as the light mill or solar engine, consists of an airtight glass bulb, containing a partial vacuum. Inside are a set of vanes which are mounted on a spindle. The vanes rotate when exposed to light, with faster rotation for more intense light, providing a quantitative measurement of electromagnetic radiation intensity. The reason for the rotation has been the cause of much scientific debate...."
Buy one from Edmond's Scientific
Pop-Pop
Boats
Pop-pop
boats "....are powered by a simple
boiler consisting of a thin coiled tube of copper.
The tube's ends extend out the back of the boat
into the water. The coils in the middle of the
tube extend over a small flame, which heats the
water in the coils. When the water boils, the
steam jets out the back, propelling the boat
forward...."
Mousetrap
Powered Toys
Mousetrap
Powered Cars and Mousetrap Powered Vehicles
Boomerangs
United
States Boomerang Association
Boomerangs
for Kids How they work.
How to fly them.
How
to Make a Returning Boomerang Out of
Cardboard
How
to Make a Four Wing Paper Boomerang Finger
Boomerangs from File Card Paper
| Optical Toys
"Optical Toys is a vibrant little company, devoted to the creation of various sorts of paper toys. We take pains to faithfully reproduce original antique pieces but also publish toys of new designs and forms. The company started on the living room floor in 1988 with a focus on bringing to the modern market, early paper movie toys with the belief that the invention of the cinema historically interrupted interest in these types of toys.... As we have grown, we have discovered an equal fascination with paper toys, most especially those of a unique (and weird) graphic sensibility. The company now distributes some 50 different products and flipbook titles. Phenakistascopes, flipbooks, thaumatropes and other paper toys are sold in museum and specialty shops throughout North America, Europe, Japan and Australia." |
Folk Toys
Frederic Prescott's Limited Editions
Gestural Engineering: The Sculpture of Arthur Ganson "... Self-described as a cross between a mechanical engineer and a choreographer, Arthur Ganson creates contraptions composed of a range of materials from delicate wire to welded steel and concrete. Most are viewer-activated or driven by electric motors. All are driven by a wry sense of humor or a probing philosophical concept...."
Stoner/Hatton
Some traditional American folk toys
Science Toys You Can Make Yourself
Bizarre Stuff You Can Make In Your Kitchen "....an ever growing warehouse of the kinds of projects some of the more demented of us tried as young people, collecting in one place many of the classic, simple science projects that have become part of the collective lore of amateur science. It is a sort of warped semi-scientific cookbook of tricks, gimmicks, and pointless experimentation, concoctions, and devices, using, for the most part, things found around the house. These are the classics. Strange goo, radios made from rusty razor blades, crystal gardens... amateur mad scientist stuff. If you happe to learn something in the process, consider yourself a better person for it...."
Bipedal Ornithopter: the Strangest Robot "Get plans for this singular flying machine from santos@88net.net at twenty bucks a set, or free (SASE) to folks of modest means."
Science Toys You Can Make With Your Kids
Toys from Trash A wide variety of toys you can make from recycled materials.
Shoebox Holography
The Infinity Mirror
Infinity mirror "... has lights that seem to go very deep into the frame. It's particularly dramatic in a darkened room. However, when the mirror lights are off and the room lights are on, it's just like an ordinary mirror. The basic idea is that there is a one way mirror at the front of the unit. Behind is another mirror. The lights reflect against the mirrors which in turn reflect against each other which give you the effect of depth. Our model what made with leftovers: scrap lumber, a string of Christmas lights, two panes of glass, and some leftover reflective film designed to control sun and reflect it back out of your house. When the highly reflective film is applied to glass, the glass become a one way mirror." PLANS FOR A DO-IT-YOURSELF INFINITY MIRROR. How to Build an Infinity Mirror... which can be hung on the wall or turned into a table top.
Make a simple Infinity Mirror out of CD jewel cases and mylar scraps.
Dynamo Flashlight
Dynamo Hand-Powered Flashlight
Forever Flashlights has a nice selection
Flight
Toys and Primitive Weapons
Boomerangs,
Slings, Bolas, Atlatls and Throwing Rings.
All of these aerodynamic devices have their roots
as primitive airborne missiles used by early man
for both weaponry and sport. These devices are
still in use by both primitive and advanced
technology societies today. Flight-Toys is
your one-stop-source for information about these
flying toys and hunting devices
Science Experiments
Concoct Extremely Weird Science Projects--Robot Food, Saucer Slime, Martian Volcanoes, and More
By Mark Frauenfelder
For every budding mad professor, this super-secret lab manual contains recipes for icky slimes, zippy robots, edible geology, and other gizmos and experiments. These countertop science projects are educational, safe, and fun!
Every page is in full color and loaded with illustrations, and it's printed on easy-to-clean laminated paper, so you can make your Goon Goo, hovercrafts, portal paper, spool-bots, and other experiments without fear of staining the book.
Try three experiments from Mad Professor:
Goon Goo
Comeback Can
Martian Volcano
Fun Science Gallery
Newton's Apple
Reeko's Mad Scientist Lab
Science for Kids
Reeko's Mad Scientist Links
101science.com
Exhibits
MIT Museum
HowStuffWorks.com is an amazing, award-winning online destination for anyone who wants to know how anything works! Originally started by Marshall Brain as an entertaining and fascinating place for people to learn about the world we live in, the site has grown to be one of the top 500 Web sites in the United States.*
Living Science Projects
The Butterfly Website Butterfly Raising and Farming Information
|
"If you look like a dork, that's one thing. If you know you're a dork and you celebrate it, that's something else entirely. This is the classic deluxe felt beanie with a spinning propeller on top. Wear it at your next tenure meeting to take an edge off the seriousness." 
