craftgrrl | A project for ya'. (Reply)

Someone just posted that they needed a project for a new baby. I was going to post this in the comments, but then thought maybe someone else might be interested as well.

I don't have a picture of this, but it's something I had when my kids were very little, and I thought it was *very* cool, and it would be pretty easy to make with the right peices. I'm going to try to describe it as best I can.

It's basically a little wooden carousel

You will need:
A round wooden base, say about 4 - 6 inches across, with a hole in the center the size of a dowel.
A dowel about 18 inches tall
A larger wooden round with a hole in the center slightly larger than the dowel.
Ribbon
Small wooden animals - circus animals or horses or whatever suits you

The dowel goes into the base (wood glue will hold it)
The larger round goes onto the dowel next.
Then you connect ribbon to the top of the dowel and then to the sides of the larger wooden round. I think there were four ribbons. They should hold the larger round just a little bit above the base, so the two aren't touching.

Then you put wooden animals on the larger round, in a circle. It seems best if you put them toward the outside edge of the circle, so they don't get tangled in the ribbons when it spins.

Here's how it works. When you turn the larger round, the ribbons spin around the dowel, lifting the round slightly and putting it in motion. Then the ribbons naturally unwind and then wind up again in the opposite direction. It should continue moving back and forth (not quite spinning, but more like rocking) for quite a while.

I hope I have described it well enough for someone to figure this out. When my oldest daughter was very little, she loved to watch the animals rock back and forth. I loved the fact that it was made out of wood. I wish I knew what happened to it.

If there's any part of this that isn't clear, I'll try to answer any questions.