Francis' Junction: D.I.Y. Children's Playthings

As Frank Caplan wrote in the first Creative Playthings' catalogue in 1949:

"Play has a basic role in the drama of a child's development. It is a serious business for the child, his true means of learning and growing...Every child should have a wide variety of play materials to evoke in him a spirit of inquiry; to develop physical manipulation to the fullest; to stimulate creative expression. He requires not only the miniatures of real objects in the adult world, but also building blocks, clay, finger paints, et cetera, that he can adapt to his particular needs."

Playthings for children need not be expensive or do you need to buy them from the toy stores. There are many toys or crafts that you can do them yourself with simple materials found in the home such as old newspaper, cardboard boxes, shoe boxes, shopping bags, old calendars, plastic bottles, milk cartons, cereal boxes, etc.

D.I.Y. playthings are simple and beautifully made to promote a child’s creativity and imagination.

Here are some examples of playthings that I have made for my grandson Aden:

Lego costume Deadpool from DC Superheroes

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Captain Rex's helmet from Star Wars and Broad Sword Spear

Captain Rex's helmet from Star Wars

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Legends of Chima

Legends of Chima is a television series based on LEGO Legends of Chima series of LEGO sets.

Laval

Laval is the Prince of the Lion Tribe.

Laval (head mask, sword, shield, shoulder pads and chi)

Chima's Laval head mask

Cragger

Cragger is the Prince of the Crocodile Tribe, the son of Crominus and Crunket, and the twin brother of Crooler.

Speedorz are among the vehicles used by the characters to battle with one another or travel across the large land of Chima. They are also used competing for CHI by jumping through rings, knocking over obstacles, dodging obstacles and other challenges. The Speedorz are shaped like the head of the animal who rides them.

Speedorz of Craggar and Laval

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Cars

Cars is a 2006 American computer-animated comedy-adventure sports film produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and directed and co-written by John Lasseter and released by Walt Disney Pictures.

Lightning McQueen

"Speed. I am speed."

—Lightning McQueen

Lightning McQueen (or simply known as "Stickers", as Sally calls him) is the protagonist in Cars and the deuteragonist in Cars 2.

Lightning McQueen

Francesco Bernoulli is a character in Cars 2. Francesco Bernoulli grew up in the shadow of the famous Monza race course in Italy. He is an international Formula Racer champion. The ladies love Francesco’s open wheels, youngsters look up to his winning spirit and fellow racers envy his speed.

Toothpaste box for the body

Mater: "My name's Mater!"
Lightning McQueen: "Mater?"
Mater: "Yeah, like "tuh-mater", but without the tuh!"

—Mater introduces himself to Lightning McQueen

His model is a 1955 Chevrolet Tow Truck. His best friend is Lightning McQueen.

Tow Mater from Lightning McQueen

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Halloween Costumes

Halloween skeleton costume. Plastic mask from RM2 store.

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Batman - glove puppet

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The Flash is a fictional comic book superhero from the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940).

Nicknamed the Scarlet Speedster and the "Crimson Comet" all incarnations of the Flash possess "super speed", which includes the ability to run and move extremely fast, use superhuman reflexes, and seemingly violate certain laws of physics.

Flash helemet

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MineCraft

Minecraft is a sandbox independent video game originally created by Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Persson and later developed and published by the Swedish company Mojang since 2009. The creative and building aspects of Minecraft allow players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D procedurally generated world. Other activities in the game include exploration, gathering resources, crafting, and combat.

MineCraft - Pig and Character made from toothpaste boxes

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Minion

Minions is an upcoming American 3D computer-animated comedy film and a spin-off/prequel to Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013). It is being produced by Illumination Entertainment for Universal Pictures

Minion mask of Kevin

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BoBoiBoy

BoBoiBoy is a Malaysian animated series produced by Animonsta Studios, centering on a boy who has superpowers and the ability to separate into three.

"Adu Du is a short tempered, bossy alien, and BoBoiBoy's arch nemesis. He was originally a lone alien miner who is scouting the galaxy for a new energy source for his people until he accidentally discovers that liquified cocoa beans on earth are the most powerful source of energy in the galaxy. Now he has been tasked by his emperor to take control Earth's cocoa beans. To achieve this Adu Du has been given super gadgets that will grant him superpowers but unfortunately the super gadgets have ended up with BoBoiBoy and his friends instead."