THE PROPELLER STICK

A classic folk /science toy gets easy to make

     I don't care if my ancestors were playing with this folk toy a century ago. It is as magical today. And it will be just as fascinating to future generations even if we harness nuclear fusion for power and interplanetary travel becomes routine. That's what "classic" means: timeless, immortal.

     If you haven't crossed paths with a magic propeller stick (also known as a whimmy-doodle in Appalachia), you're in for a treat. You hold the stick in one hand and rub bumps on it with another. Mysteriously, the propeller spins fast... really fast. Some people can make it reverse direction at will.

     There is some cool science going on here. In the "more about" page I will make the case that this propeller is closely related to such seemingly disparate subjects as hula-hoops and modern 

     industrial fasteners. This project lends itself to endless experimentation. Change the propeller shape? Sure! Make multiple propeller heads like a mythological Hydra? Go ahead and try it. I have a lot of fun when I make this project with groups of kids, seeing the creative variations they come up with.

Traditionally, people have whittled notches into a wooden stick with a pocket knife to create the bumps-- not a very safe elementary project. I offer this easy-to-make version that uses a coat hanger or other wire with a couple of wavy bends instead of the whittled notches.

HOW TO MAKE THE PROPELLER STICK

What you need:

WIRE: Any of the following work.

COAT HANGER: For a lot of people, this will be the only wire they have without having to go out and buy something. The thick ones can be a little hard to bend, so use the thinnest one you can find. You will need pliers to bend it again and again in the same place until it breaks. This is called metal "fatigue." You need about a 12" piece

.

UTILITY WIRE: Small, inexpensive rolls of solid steel, copper and aluminum wire are available from building centers and hardware stores. Thickness is denoted by a gauge number for maximum confusion. The bigger the gauge number, the thinner the wire is. Typically you will find utility wire that's around 20 gauge.

One strand of this wire is too flimsy, but doubling and twisting a double strand is perfect. Start with a 24" (2 foot) piece and fold it in half. Holding the two ends with

pliers, twist the wires together with a pencil or pen. The green lines indicate a break--only in the picture. It was getting too long to show the whole wire on the

 ELECTRICAL WIRE: By this I mean the stiff, solid wire used inside the walls of houses not the flexible stuff used for appliance cords. If you know an electrician, ask if they have any scrap "Romex," any gauge. From that you can cut out three pieces of wire (black, white and bare). Use the bare one first, or strip off the last two inches of insulation where the propeller will spin. You need about a 12" piece.

ELECTRIC FENCE WIRE: I happen to have a roll lying around. Even doing this project with hundreds of kids a year, I've got a lifetime supply.

Thin cardboard

I use cereal boxes to help make people aware of how much stuff we waste, but poster board works.

Scissors, pencil or pen, pliers and paper-punch

The paper punch is convenient and it leaves a clean edge that works well on the propeller stick. You can punch the hole in the propeller with a pencil or pen. Pliers help bend stubborn wire.

Step 1

Bend the wire

It does not have to look exactly like the example. It should have a couple of gentle bends in the middle. Use pliers if needed.
It should have some sort of handle on the back end that allows you to get a firm grip so the wire doesn't twist in your hand. It should have a couple of inches straight on the front end where the propeller has room to spin.
If you are using thin wire that you doubled up and twisted, make the loop the front and the two ends the handle end. The loop will keep the propeller from falling off.

Step 2

Make the propeller.

Make a propeller that's about an inch wide and about three inches long. Try to get the hole as close to the middle as possible. A simple and accurate way to locate the center of a rectangle is to draw a straight lines from corner to corner. Where they intersect is the center.
If you have hole punch, use it to make the hole in the center of the propeller. Skip the next two paragraphs to the next step.
If you don't have a hole punch, you can punch through the cardboard with a pen or a pencil. Put a washcloth or sock or something on the table and the propeller on top so you punch into the soft stuff.
The cardboard that was where the hole is now--but is now pushed out around the edge--can get in the way of the spinning. Use your thumbnail or fingernail to fold those tiny bits of cardboard outward so they lie down flat against the propeller. They will spring back up somewhat. That's OK.

Step 3

Make a stop to hold the spinning propeller on.

Skip this step if you made your propeller stick out of thin wire that you twisted because the loop at the front end will keep your propeller on. For everybody else, if you wrap several inches of tape around the front end, not only will it help keep the propeller on, it can also blunt the sharp wire end.

Step 4

Try it!

If you are right-handed, hold a pen or pencil in that hand. Hold the pencil--not horizontally and not vertically--but at about a 45 degree angle. Grip the propeller in the other hand. Push the pen to the bumps firmly and rub. Once you "get it" it will be easy to get the propeller to spin furiously, but allow a few minutes this first time. Experiment. Rub fast, rub slow, hard, soft, vary the angle of your pencil.

STANDING PAPER GOOSE AND DUCK

HOW TO FOLD A STANDING PAPER GOOSE AND DUCK   WITH  PAPER  ART  INSTRUCTIONS

     Spring is here so it is is a great time to make ducks and geese and other creatures and critters to celebrate the new season. Today I have provided you with 2 patterns, one for a stand-up paper duck, and one for a stand-up paper goose. Just print out the pattern, fold it in half, cut it out, and stand it up…it is as easy as that.

STAND-UP PAPER DUCK PATTERN

Print the pattern (BELOW). Fold the page in half and cut out the duck shape. Then you will have a duck shape as seen on the picture above (LEFT). Fold the neck as seen in the picture above and the fold the wings in a bit so that the duck is standing 

 

STAND-UP PAPER GOOSE PATTERN

 

  Print the pattern (BELOW). Fold the page in half and cut out the goose shape. Then you will have a goose shape as seen on the picture above (LEFT). Fold the neck as seen in the picture above and the fold the wings up so that the goose is standing on its own.

MAKE A FOLDABLE PAPER STAND-UP ROOSTER

Make a Foldable Paper Craft Stand-Up Rooster

     In order to make this standing roosters craft, all you will need is a printer, some printer paper, and a scissor. Here is the 
printable instructions / diagram. Just print that page out. Cut out the rooster. And bend on the lines within the diagram. It should then be able to stand up on its own. I hope it works well for you.

STANDING RAMS PAPER FOLDING CRAFT

Standing Rams Paper Folding Craft

In order to make this foldable paper Ram craft, just get out your printer. Print out this printable Ram folding 

diagram. Then after you print this out, cut him out and fold on the dotted lines. Then this fierce Ram should stand

on his own. You can play with him as a paper toy or you can put him up on your mantle.

CRAZY PAPER THING

 How To Make A Crazy Paper Thing: Step By Step Instructions

Download Crazy Paper Thing template (PDF)

If you don’t have a printer, you can still create this bit by hand. Dimensions are

Overall paper: 12cm x 24cm
Individual strip: 12cm x 3cm
Fold lines per strip: 5cm, 9cm

In the image above, the vertical lines are the cut lines, and the horizontal are the fold lines. When you’re done, you should have eight matching strips, measuring 12cm x 3cM                     

  Next, fold each strip along the fold lines. You’ll end up having eight pieces of paper that look roughly like this.

Then, tape each piece to form a triangle like so. In my head, I kept thinking of these guys as “ramps,” as it helped me match what was happening in the tutorial video.

.When you’re done, you should have eight of these guys.

Line them up like so: two columns, four ramps per column. If, like me, it helps to imagine a miniature Excitebike motorcycle jumping over these… feel free.

.Next, take two pieces at a time and add a bit of tape down each ramp. You should end up with four connected pieces, like what’s pictured above.

As a reference, each piece should bend a little, like this.

Almost there! Next up, connect two pieces together with a bit of tape on the back of the ramp.

You should now have two large pieces.

  This part was where I got confused in the video. Take the two columns, and place them side by side in your palm. Make sure the smallest side of the ramp is pointing up, and that both pieces mirror one another.

Add some tape across the bottom two pieces (near the wrist), and another piece of tape across the top two pieces (near the fingertips). Once you’re done, flip the whole thing over You’re ready to play! If all went well, you should be able to do this: 

THE OSCILlATING WOODPECKER

Why doesn't it drop or stop?

Here is yet another clever folk toy that uses science to puzzle and amaze observers. It uses it's potential energy to bob back and forth like a woodpecker. It was redesigned a bit so that even young kids can help make it. The classic version usually uses a tiny spring--as from a pen--but we simply use a rubber band for springyness.

What you need:

1/4" OD clear PVC tubing plastic or drinking straw.

The clear 1/4" tubing is available from any hardware store. It is sold by the foot off rolls. You only need 1" per bird, but get a couple of feet to make a curvy, loopy drinking straw (like a "Krazy Straw"). It is food grade. You can substitute a rigid plastic drinking straw. The thin kind school cafeterias always seem to have are the best.

thin rubber bands

How thin the rubber band is determines--more than anything else--how well the project works. If you are using a rubber band assortment, use the thinnest ones.

white poster board, scissors, tape

The poster board is about as thick as cereal box cardboard. Cereal boxes are one of my favorite things to recycle, but for this little bit use white poster board, which takes coloring well.

Assembly step1

Print the pattern, cut out the body and wings.

Step 2

Cut a 1" piece of tubing or straw, tape

Tape the straw securely into the fold in between the bird halves. The same amount of straw should stick out the top as the bottom. Use three pieces of tape on top of each other to really hold it on

Step 3

Finish assembly and try it out.

Use a tape doughnut to hold the two halves of the body together, and to attach the wings. Cut the thinnest rubber band you can find and thread it through the straw.
To make it go, get the woodpecker toward the end of the rubber band that the head points to. Stretch the rubber band vertically. Make sure your hand is not near your eye, so the rubber band will not snap your eye if it breaks.Shake your hands up and down a few times, then suddenly hold them still. The bird should keep on bobbing... and bobbing...and bobbing all the way down until its potential energy is exhausted.

NOTE:

If the wookpecker won't work, you can experiment with making the diameter of the straw smaller.

To make the diameter smaller, slice the piece of straw lengthwise. The cut edges will overlap a little, decreasing the diameter. Squeeze the straw a little bit so the edges overlap, as shown at right. Tape so it stays overlapped as much as you want it.

 I'd like to know how this project goes for you. I'm happy to answer questions about it. Feedback from you is an important way for me to know what works and what needs clarification.