Animals and Birds. Vegetable. Use large vegetables for body; twigs or toothpicks for legs; straw, string, yarn, for tails; pins, beads, buttons, cloves, currants, raisins, for eyes; leaves, paper, cloth, for nose and ears; gashes for mouth.
Paper. Cut out freehand, or from heavy outline, in newspaper, drawing paper, wrapping paper.
Pasteboard. Cut with strong scissors or with coping saw. These may have legs, heads, and tails made separately and attached with thread, string, or fine wire so they will move.
Wooden. Draw from paper designs, cut from whitewood or other soft wood, with coping saw. These, too, may have movable limbs.
Kindergarten supply houses publish a set of paper patterns for animals and one for birds.
Animals and birds may be colored with water colors. Or wooden ones may be painted “true to life”, using the shellac and colors; about three coats are required. They are then waterproof, and the colors will not run. A paper or pasteboard support can be fastened to the back side of animals so they will stand up. Birds may be hung by a thread from the ceiling or window frame.
Boys who can whittle can carve out animals, thus providing some with three dimensions.
Houses. Houses are easily made from boxes by cutting out or drawing on doors and windows, with slanting or flat roofs of pasteboard or corrugated board. Porches, lean-tos, extensions, chimneys, steeples, gables, can be added by gluing or sewing on additional pasteboard. Castles, forts, silos, water towers are made from round boxes. Houses may be decorated with water colors.
Animal and menagerie cages are made by cutting out strips from one side of a box. Staircases are made of folded paper or bristol board.