Anticipating childish whims and brief enthusiasms is at best a difficult assignment. There are, however, many still-popular games and toys which have come down to us through the ages. If objectively analyzed, it will be found that their merited popularity is based upon at least one common denominator, i.e., they are fun-producing.

Nowadays there is much learned dogma concerning the segregation of children into progressively hard and fast age groups. It may afford some relief, therefore, to leaf through a report by the United States Department of Commerce on the "Number of children by age groups," wherein only three groups are enumerated: those under 5 years, those 5-9 years, and the group 10-14 years old. For those interested in statistics, it is noted in passing, that in 1950 there were 41,658,000 children in the United States under 15 years of age, a total which is due to rise to 42,876,000 in 1955, according to the Bureau of the Census.

There is one important point upon which both educators and toy manufacturers agree, however. It is the fundamental idea that a good toy must be fun-producing, no matter how much education may be built into it. This is a basic concept of this volume, because it is sincerely believed that the amateur toymaker who keeps this target firmly in mind cannot fail of success.

Block Truck

A combination pull toy and peg board, this simple wagon or truck will also provide mobile storage for blocks when play is done. By making blocks of different shapes with a separate color for each shape, the child's muscular and eye-hand coordination will be exercised while, at the same time, elementary color, size, and shape discrimination is being explored.

As illustrated in A of Figure 3.2, the truck body is a piece of 3/4-in. wood 41/2 in. wide by 81/4 in. long. The corners of the truck and of all blocks are filed and sanded smooth, regardless of their appearances in the diagrams. The pegs consist of 1/4-in. dowels 31/8 in. long, which are chamfered at both ends and glued into holes bored | in. deep in the exact locations indicated in A.

For the satisfactory functioning of this toy, not only must the pegs be accurately located, but the oversize holes bored through the 20 blocks must be in the exact positions diagrammed in B. Furthermore, the blocks themselves should be cut to the exact dimensions shown, after which their corners can be rounded. All blocks are 3/4 in. thick.

As noted in B, the wheels can be cut to the same size as the circular blocks, or may consist of any four identical disks large enough to provide clearance for the truck body. Consult Chapter 1 for appropriate axles; the ones illustrated present a workmanlike effect not previously discussed.

Fig. 3.2. Truck and blocks.