Nodders

Category: Toys | 1 July 2008, 18:29 | admin

Wouldn’t it be nice to meet someone who always agrees with everything you say?

You will need:

  • Cardboard box card
  • Pen
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Loo or kitchen tube
  • Thread
  • Sticky tape
  • Stick glue
  • Cereal box card
  • Paint
  • Coin
Start by cutting the top from a loo roll tube.
Draw around one end of the tube onto some cardboard box card, about 6cm up from the bottom straight edge.
Then draw the shape of the back end of the Nodder, around the circle.

Neil’s Nodder is going to be a cow, so that’s what he’s drawing.

Use the bottom straight edge of the cardboard box card as the bottom of the hooves.
When the outline is complete, carefully cut the shape out.
Place it onto some more cardboard box card, with the feet lined up along the bottom edge.
Take a pencil and lightly draw around the shape.
Use the pencil lines as a guide for drawing the front of the Nodder.
Once again, when you’ve finished the outline, just cut it out…
But this time, you need to cut the top part off, like this.
Now put stick glue all around the edge of the loo roll tube.
Stick it to the back end of the body, where the circle is.

Hold the tube in position, until the glue has dried.

When it has dried, put more stick glue on the other end of the loo roll tube, but only on the bottom half.
Then stick the front end of the cow onto the loo roll tube, so that there’s a gap above it, like this.
When the glue has dried, you should have something that looks like this.
Next, paint!

This one has been painted in black and white, to make it look realistic.

To make the head, draw a loo roll tube-sized circle onto a piece of cereal box card, and use it as a size guide to draw the head.
Go around the circle, and make it cartoon-like.
When you’ve finished drawing the head, carefully cut it out.
Now you can colour in or paint the head.
To make the head nod on the body, you need to make a mechanism.

For this, you’ll need a 12cm strip of thin cardboard box card.

Make a fold about a third of the way in, like this…
…and stick a coin at the other end, to act as a weight.
Tape the short and bent end to the back of the head.

You must tape it so that the folded bit is near the top of the head.

Next, you’ll need some cotton or thread.

Tie it around the card strip, near to the back of the head.

You then need to find a position for the thread - somewhere along the card strip - where the head balances and will nod smoothly.

Play around with the thread until the position right, then tape it into place underneath.

Then, holding the long bits of the thread so that they stay outside, place the end of the thin card strip with the coin inside.
Just pull the thread in place until the head nods freely.

Adjust the length until you get a good nodding effect, then just tape the thread in place on the back of the body.

And that’s it!

Here are some other ideas. A lion, perhaps…

…or a frog!
Or why not use a kitchen roll tube to make a sausage dog like this one!

Try it yourself!

Speak up!