The Jumping Frog.—If you are skilful with your pocket knife you can cut out a representation of the animal from a lump of wood, and paint it to make it more realistic. If, however, you have not the requisite skill, you can still construct the toy by using a walnut shell in place of the carved model. In either case the actual mechanism for "jumping" is the same.
You want a good-sized shell, or rather half-shell, some very strong thin twine, and a match. First you must bore two holes in the sides of the shell, not too near the edge, then tie a loop of twine round the holes and the edge (Fig. 95). Now if you put a piece of match stick between the strings, and twist the string by turning the match round, you will complete the jumping mechanism (Fig. 96). Keep your finger on the match to prevent it flying back, and carefully turn the shell upside down on the table, holding it all the time. Now if you press one finger on the side of the shell so that it slips suddenly from under, then your frog will perform an astounding leap in the air. But, in your eagerness to get a big jump, do not twist the string too tightly, otherwise the holes will break out.
Fig. 95.
Fig. 96.
If, as mentioned above, you are skilful enough to cut out the frog, you will need to hollow out the body so that there will be room for the turning of the match.
You can also do very much the same with a fowl's "wishbone" if you tie a loop of string round the two prongs and use the match as shown above.
The shell of an ordinary hen's egg does not seem to give much scope for construction. Yet much can be done with it. One of the best things you can make is