Wooden Toys

So, for Christmas, I thought it would be fun to make the boys some wooden toys. I love wooden toys. Two of my favorite toys I remember from childhood are ones that my dad's grandpa made for him. One was a man that does flips when you squeeze two sticks together. The other is a toy called Jacob's Ladder that is really difficult to explain in words. So, those were my picks for the boys this last year. I made my oldest boy a flipping gymnast since he loves gymnastics and my younger boy a flipping bear. I really like the way the gymnast works because sometimes it's leg catches on the string and it looks like it is doing special tricks on the bar. I also made each of them a Jacob's ladder. Here are some photos and videos of the toys in action. The boys took their flipper toys to Grandma and Grandpa's house when we visited after Christmas and Grandpa liked them so well I made him one for his retirement. However, I was too dumb to remember to take pictures of it before giving it to him. He worked for the church in the Church Education System. So, if you hold the toy in one direction, it is a middle-aged man dressed in a suit and the stick says "CES--Church Education System". If you look at the toy from the other side, the man is an older man, dressed in a luau shirt, complete with wife beater tank top underneath, swim trunks, sun glasses, and a gold chain necklace that has a big gold bling pendant that says "CTR". The stick on this side says "CES--completely emancipated slacker". He really liked it. I wish I had a picture to show you because it's my favorite of all three of the flipper toys I have made. Oh well. I guess you'll just have to imagine it. I hope to carry on the tradition and make at least one wooden toy for each of my children every Christmas. If I had had more time, I would have liked to make some nice little wooden storage boxes for the toys so they last longer and can be a keepsake, but I've never gotten around to that.  SORRY THE VIDEOS ARE SIDEWAYS.