Here’s another wonderful vintage book from Gutenberg.org by Lina and Adelia Beard. In it, the authors show how to make all sorts of toys, jewelry and ornaments with wildflowers, leaves, grasses, pods, seeds and other things found outdoors. Great hands-on, skill expanding projects, if you’re game to try your hand at some classic toys, which could easily be “modernized” for the 21st century kid. It only takes some imagination.

from the introduction:

Mother Nature is every bit as fond of the little folks in her human family as of the grown-ups, and while she prepares untold joys for lovers of the outdoors among men and women and larger boys and girls, she never forgets the little ones.

For their benefit she keeps an open toy-shop full of marvelous playthings, all free to any child who wants them, and instead of the children paying her for what they take she pays them for coming to her by giving them rosier cheeks, brighter eyes, and stronger bodies. She puts more glee into their laughter and greater happiness into their trustful little hearts.

As in the large department stores in big cities, the goods in Mother Nature’s shop are changed for each season of the year; so the little shoppers have constant variety and hail every new season with fresh delight. This book is written to call attention to the beautiful and wonderful things to be found in Mother Nature’s toy-shop and to tell what to do with them, for one must know how to use the amusing material that is furnished.

After really getting into this most enchanting of all toy-shops with eyes open to see its wonders, we found that the difficulty to be met was not how to write about them, but how to stop writing. The display was so varied and so inviting, it seemed that we must tell the children about everything we saw, but if we had gone on seeing more and telling more there is no saying what size this book would have been.

There are dozens of illustrations by the authors showing exactly how to make your creations. This is a genuine, old-fashioned and almost magical guide for children who love the outdoors and who are imaginative enough to play with their own toy creations.

This ebook is available in kindle and EPUB formats, and is also viewable online.

Click here to go to the page, then choose the format you wish to view/download.