Thread: A Conundrum.

G'Day Pete,
No conundrum; just keep doing what you enjoy, making toys and giving them away.
They will always be appreciated by children while the parents will be in awe of your exploits.
From what I've seen you do make great toys and any child would just be head over heels with the gift.
I'm not sure if that helps, but my encouragement.
Cheers, Crowie

Originally Posted by STAR

. Most toys are for ages between 18 months and five years What do you make for a lot of today's kids who have everything.

I used to make up toy kits that my kids would have to put together themselves..(including paints and glue)..that seemed to keep them amused well into their tweens

I guess this is a dilemma all hobby woodworkers face; be it toy making, box making, pen making or just making furniture. There comes a time when we have pens, toys, boxes etc littered all over the house. In fact, this can be said of most hobbies, photography for instance, just how many pictures do we want or need?
Unless you are aiming to sell your finished project then it is easy to start thinking "why am I doing this"? I know I can make it but whats the point.? I suppose we all feel that way at times but this is one of the pleasures of a hobby, you can do it when you feel inspired to do it and gain satisfaction from what you are making.
I always try to find something challenging to make so I don't get bored and find it very satisfying to see something I have created from a piece of timber to something I feel is worthy of my effort.
Toys are great fun to make and enjoy and watch young children take pleasure from something you have made but of course the interests of older children are not the same as a toddler or kindergarten aged child and their interests lay elsewhere what with modern day technology, computer games and the like but there are some things that even appeal to the older children that can be of use to them for many years to come. Jewellery box for instance can be a lifetime treasure that someone has made for them.
Wooden puzzles are something that everyone find intriguing regardless of age. I don't just mean jigsaw type puzzles, there are many forms of wooden puzzles, cubes, boxes etc
There are outlets for your projects other than giving them away to children. I make stuff and donate to charities and find much pleasure in that and knowing it may have done some good in the community and someone may have gained from it.
I don't know the answer Pete but I do know we need to have interests that keep us challenged and inspired. I love my woodworking and also enjoy working with computers. (my other hobby) so between them I keep myself out of mischief.
Of course there is the other great benefit we have achieved and that is making some great friends on here and meeting them from time to time.

I have pondered this myself as my oldest grandchild has just turned five.

All of mine, so far, are grand-daughters, so I foresee the day, a few years hence, when I shall make a few jewellery boxes for them.

Depending on the inclinations of the child, I suppose that there is always the possibility of making things like the old fashioned pencil boxes and presentation boxes to hold hair brushes, etc.

I bought the oldest a big magnifying glass last Christmas because she was always playing with ours when she visited. At that stage, I would have liked to have made a nice box to keep it in but I ran out of time.

Although not quite in the sort of toy category that you might be referring to, I can testify that a "Thomas" table for kids of age, three and above, will get heaps of use... https://www.woodworkforums.com/f174/thomas-table-133552/


My grandkids have heaps and heaps of whizz-bang electronic toys and I too thought that I should not fill up their house with even more stuff but most of the later toys were requested by their dad. This is sometimes because of jealousy between one and another over particular toys. However, he has also found that they play with the wooden toys more imaginatively than they do with the all singing, all dancing, electronic toys.


One other development is that some of the young mums, friends of my daughter-in-law, plus rellies, who have seen my grandkids' toys have asked if I would make some for them in return for $. I am not interested in making toys for income so I have politely refused these requests but obviously if the quality of the toys is good, there does seem to be some sort of market for them, albeit I suspect that the return on hours invested might not be good.


There are also things like whirlyjigs which can appeal of older aged kids.



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Pete I think kids play with toys for more than up to the age of five
Its the parents who think thats the cut off time not the kid .
I guess I have a lot more to do with presents for age groups than most, but for e.g. I sell cattle trucks to parents for presents to kids that are seven and eight years old.
Forts and dolls houses you are looking ten yr. olds
Billy carts from three to eighty, yes the guy who won Bangalow in 08/ 09 was that old.
Then the teen things. You aint ready for the scrap heap by a long shot.
Phil

Here's my, " ten cents worth. " As I have been a toymaker since about 1982, or thereabouts, I have discovered over the years that kids NEVER simply grow out of wooden toys. they grow out of electronic whatevers, but wooden toys always seem to hold that charm, and in some families, the wooden toys when outgrown by one child are handed onto the next child, or even given as a gift to a rellie, or especially with girls, kept for when they are grown up for their children.

As for certain toys being for a distinct age group, that's up to the individual parent/s, as I have had 10 yr olds buy wooden toys that were more suited to a THREE YEAR old; even had ADULTS buy wooden toys for, " the office, "
Once even had a business manager buy a toy articulated loader, & a dump truck as they reminded him of his childhood.

As Prime-Mover says, Suitable for ALL AGES, from
8 to 80;- From memory, was it the English Actor, Sid James, who said, " You are NEVER too old to be young. " which I think says it all.

Roger

Originally Posted by underfoot

I used to make up toy kits that my kids would have to put together themselves..(including paints and glue)..that seemed to keep them amused well into their tweens

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Thanks for your reply Undie. I have not seen you in here before, if not welcome to our little cubby hole.

I think that is a great idea, in fact I might get a chance this Wednesday he is down on the Coast from Mackay with his Mum for a week. I have to entertain him so I might make up some quick projects that he can assemble and we can both paint them together.

Then again he might tell me not too because he wants to do it himself. He is a very impressionable little guy.

Thanks

Hello Pete,

I understand where you are coming from. I too fear that someday my boys won't be interested in my toys. But as everyone else has said there are still toys for all ages.

A good example I have is maybe for the hardest group to satisfy and that is the teenagers. Here in the States yard games are real popular at parties, get togethers or BBq's.

Washers, Bag toss, Ladder rope. All of these games can be purchased but they are cheap China made crap like all store bought toys, but they can also be made at home ala woodworking comes into play. I have attached a washer board set that I made for my father in law back in 2009.
Attachment 179707Attachment 179708Attachment 179709
Attachment 179710Attachment 179711Attachment 179712
Attachment 179713

I have also made several bag toss games for friends although I didnt take any pictures but here is one from a website.
Attachment 179715

I also agree that the age doesn't stop at five. It depends solely on the child. I can't wait til my boys are little older so I can make them more complex models that they will appreciate and not break.

As far as motivation goes I like woodworking because I enjoy the challenge of making something from scratch and feeling proud that I made it. I'll be honest with you too being on the forum is a great motivation for me seeing what other people can build and their high level of craftsmanship.

Bret

Bret

The Mormons got it right - polygamy is the answer.

Put the old missus out to pasture, bring in a new one, and churn out a few new customers of your own

Originally Posted by Ron Dunn

The Mormons got it right - polygamy is the answer.

Put the old missus out to pasture, bring in a new one, and churn out a few new customers of your own

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I might finish up like Mr. Bobbit if I tried that.

Pete

What munruben said

Well done John.

There are a lot of kids out there who would love new toys, but their parents cannot afford to buy them. St Vinnies and the Salvos wwould know of deserving cases.
Also, the children's ward art the hospitals, the Camp Quality houses, Ronald McDonald houses etc The list is endless

Originally Posted by JillB

What munruben said

Well done John.

There are a lot of kids out there who would love new toys, but their parents cannot afford to buy them. St Vinnies and the Salvos wwould know of deserving cases.
Also, the children's ward art the hospitals, the Camp Quality houses, Ronald McDonald houses etc The list is endless

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Yes, I realize that. But I would want to know that a deserving child received it not some organiser's grand kids.

Seems a harsh call but I have seen it with my own eyes on more than one occasion. Call me cynical.

Pete

Originally Posted by STAR

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Yes, I realize that. But I would want to know that a deserving child received it not some organiser's grand kids.

Seems a harsh call but I have seen it with my own eyes on more than one occasion. Call me cynical.

Pete

Hi,
You could be right Pete BUT.

Bob H.

One answer, make grown up toys... also called Models.