THE TOY LAB

WRITTEN BY ARVIND GUPTA

ILLUSTRATED BY VIDITA NANDA

arvind gupta electric enginere by degree,

teacher by fate. he has brought science
into the lives of many through unformal
education. he belives that learning
science does not requier heavy equipment
or 16 hours a week module. science can be
learned from things you have but dont
use. scrap and junk that one never throws
away but never have any use for.

preface
hello my precious little ones,
im arvind gupta, a science lover and
enthusiast. our government calls me
the best teacher.
we are all told that science is
around us but did you know, you can
also learn it from things around you,
im here with my mischievous friends
to show you some ways. the first step
to learning anything is understanding
how it works. my friends and me will
help you with building these fun toys
and you with how they work.

contents
1

cd balloon hovercraft

the newton color spin wheel

the balancing ballerina

13

the straw flute and pan flute

17

the jumping bug

21

newton color wheel template

25

arc and skirt template

27

ballerina template

29

bugs template

31

cd hovercraft
thing youll need for the construction

check for a hole in the

sketch pen cap easy way
is to blow and see if
the air passes through.

ask an elders
help for making
a hole in the
rubber.
balloon

compact disc (cd)

rubber base

sketch pen with cap

6

if not you can use a push pin or

a soft board pin to make a hole.

fix the sketch pen

cap in the rubber
base.

apply rubber glue

around the cd
center.
let glue dry just
a little, so that
the rubber becomes
sticky and holds
on to base. place
the rubber base
with the hole and
the pen cap in a
manner that the
hole of the rubber
is lined withe the
hole of the cd

pull the cap from the

back of the sketch pen,
to expose the refill and
remove it.

tie the balloon at the

back of the pen with
a rubber band. make
sure the rubber band is
tightly wind around the
balloon

push the nib/tip of the

pen out to make it a hollow
tube.

now how exactly does

this work?
theres an easy
explanation for this
awesomeness.
when you blow the
balloon you are filling
the balloon with air,
once you leave it on the
smooth floor the air
travels through the pen
tube and through the
tiny hole in the pen cap
and out of the cd.

blow in the balloon

through the pen

pinch the balloon so the air

does not escape from the it.

place the tube and

balloon in the cap while
its still pinched to
keep the air in
place the
hovercraft on
a smooth floor
and let it
flow and run
like the wind.

this air that comes out

the from the pen, to the
base makes a cushion of

air that the cd floats on

and the pressure of the
air make it move.

the newton color spin wheel

thing youll need for the construction

poke two
holes in
the center
of the card
1cm apart.

push pin
card disc
string

newton color wheel card

(provided at the back)

10

glue

you will need a piece

of string, this string
could be a jute rope or
nylon rope anything you
can spare. but steer
clear from kite rope or

even stitching thread

they are too thin for
this toy.
now cut approximately
meter of the string.

11

now hold the string

and start winding
the string in which
ever direction you
please.
once
wind
pull
from

you can not

it any more
the string
both sides.

youll see the disc

move spin and the
color wheel with
the rainbow colors
would be a grey
white.
apply glue on the
card disc and stick
the template of the
newton color wheel
on it

after the glue is dry

redo the holes with
the help of a push pin.
pass the string through
the hole.

pass the sting through

both hole and tie a
knot at the end of
the two string
ends like
show.

in about 1666 newton

passed sunlight through
a triangular glass prism
and obtained a spectrum
of colors. The sunlight
was dispersed (split up)
by the prism into its
component colors, and
spread out on paper.

12

this demonstrates that the

white light is made of
all the color spectrum and
this can be reversed. when
all the rainbow colors are
seen at a speed the human
eye that catches images
every 1/6th of a second
sees only the white.

13

the balancing ballerina

apply
glue
on the
steel
nuts.
stick
it to
the arc
at both
ends as
weights.

thing youll need for the construction

cut the templated of the

ballerina, the skirt and
the ark provided in the
back.

cut through the hands

and attach the skirt
so that the hands
are above the
skirt. now stick
the skirt to the
waist leaving
the hands free.

steel nut

card arc
(provided)

fold the leg

so that the
legs are
visually
aligned.
one behind
of the
other
card skirt (provided)

14

card ballarina
(provided)

15

notch the feet, so that

figurine has an slot to
accomodate the spoke.

stick the
the bolts
where you
the slits
hands and
them.

16

arc with
under
make
for the
glue

now hold the skewer

steady and balence the
notched feet of tick
the figure on it,
youll see the
ballarina dancing and
moving on the stick
without falling

because of the low centre of

gravity the Ballerina will
not fall and will rock on
the spokeh . the weight of
the bolts, the legs forward
and back, and the straight
posture creates a balence and
center of gravity. creating
the three spoke alignment.

17

the straw flute and pan flute

thing youll need for the construction

snip the straw on one end to make a

A or an upward arrow.

scissors

cellophane
tape

18

drinking
straws

the straw
should look
like so and
have two
distinct
flaps.

now keep the

side that has
been cut in
your mouth
and blow on
it.
you will
hear a
noise and
as you start
to cut the
straw from the
other end
the straw
starts poducing
different
soungs with
each cut.

19

why does this happen?

sound is produced
by vibrations, when
you blow into a
uncut straw, its
expected when the
air comes out the
other hole. but as
soon as you make
the cuts and blow
through the straw
now divided in two

flaps will produce

the vibrations needed
make sound. the
vibrations bounce
of the walls of the
straw, and hence
as the straw goes
shorter the sound
changes because the
length the vibration
has traveled is
changed.
take
tape
side
need

a piece of cellophane
and lay it down sticky
up tape the ends if you
to.

place the straw length

wise so that you have one
straight edge and the other
is a slaint.
stick some tape
over the seires
of flutes to
make a pan
flute.

enjoy your
pan flute
that makes
various
notes

now take some straws

and cut them in order
of legnth. they can be
1 cm smaller than each
other or i inch.
make 5 straws of
different lengths and
make the a shaped cut
on all of them

20

21

the jumping bug

thing youll need for the construction

make sure the ring is half an

inch wide all around. press it
flat against the ground to find
the diameter of the circle and
cut.

you will have two equal length arcs

of molded plastic

take a plactic
bottle and cut a
ring from it.

push pin

suction cup
card bug
(provided)

scissors

22

eraser

plastic
bottle

place one of
the plastic
arcs on the
eraser. find
the middle
point of the
length and
width make
hole big
enough to fit
the suction
cup nose.

23

once the both the bottle

arcs have holes in the
center place the over
each other in a X
position, so that
the holes
match.

when you press the bug the

vaccum cup expels air, when
the pressure is removed it
tries to fill the air again,
but because of the material
and the shape of the cup
that is not possible. hence
the cup sticks to the
ground.

but the cup does not leave

its attempt at getting
air in the cup the concave
molded plastic helps the
vaccum cup, so after a
while of fighting the cup
regains the lost air. due
to the sudden filling of air
the overwhelmed cup jumps,
making the bug jump with
it.

fit the neck of the

suction cup in the two
holes mainting the
cross. use some
glue if it does
not stay.

place the bug template

provided in the book, over
the suction cup to cover the
holes. at this point you can
also paint the bottle for a
cleaner bug.

place the bug on a smooth

surface so the vaccum cup
can stick to it and press
and leave. in a matter of
momments you will see the
bug jump.

24

25

cut and use this template for the toy on page 8 the newton color wheel top

26

27

cut and use this template for the toy on page 12 the balancing ballerina.

28

29

cut and use this template for the toy on page 12 the balancing ballerina.

30

31

cut and use this template for the toy on page 20 the jumping bug

32

33