Toy Making

Toy making is the craft of designing and building your own toy by hand. In wooden toy making, you cut and join pieces of wood, then decorate them to create a character, animal or contraption. It mixes simple woodwork skills with a big dose of imagination, and at the end you have a one-of-a-kind toy to play with.

Wooden toys have been made by hand for hundreds of years. Classic designs include spinning tops, peg dolls, pull-along animals, cars and trains. Robots and creatures made from blocks of wood are great fun too, because there's no right way for them to look. Nuts, washers, keys and other bits and bobs make brilliant eyes, noses, buttons and bolts, giving everyday hardware a second life.

A saw cuts wood to size. A small hand saw or junior hacksaw is easy to control, and a clamp or vice holds the wood still while you cut.

A hand drill makes holes for joining pieces or fixing on wheels and arms.

A mallet or small hammer taps pieces firmly together.

Sandpaper smooths rough edges and corners, so your toy is nice to hold.

Wood glue, screws and nails hold everything in place.

Your Activity Leader shows you the tools and how to use each one safely. Then you plan your toy. It might be a wooden robot dog, a person or something nobody has ever seen before. You cut and put the pieces together, then decorate with nuts, washers and other finds to bring it to life. There's plenty of room to change your mind along the way. Sanding the edges smooth and adding the final details is often the most satisfying part.

Yes, and it's lovely to share. Children get to use real tools with a grown-up alongside them, which builds confidence and practical skills. The design is all theirs, so imagination leads the way. It's a calm, creative session, and the pride on their faces when they hold up something they made is hard to beat. Grown-ups often end up wanting to make one of their own too.

You might also like Wood Whittling, LEGO Engineering and Kite Building.

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