The ecofriendly green movement has encouraged many parents to return to antique toy designs for their children. Wooden snake toys are easy craft projects for families to recycle brook sticks, wooden handles or more natural wood sticks from the yard. You can also make these recycled green toys to sell at craft shows or local fundraisers. Wooden snake toys will also encourage your kids to have more imaginative play time and stimulate their creativity.
Start with an old broomstick handle. Use sandpaper to smooth any rough patches to keep kids from getting splinters when playing with their recycled toys. You can also use a wooden dowel. Any size works, depending on how large and thick you want the snake toy to be. A diameter of one inch is usually the best weight for younger children.
Saw the wood broom into smaller cylinders, about two inches long. These will be the sections of the toy snake’s body. You can keep them all the same length or make some larger. Well designed toy snakes have longer pieces in the middle of the body and shorter ones near the tail.
Lay out the snake wood sections and decide how long you want the snake to be. A normal wood broom handle will usually make two recycled toy snakes. Take one piece and carve it to resemble a snake’s head. Simply use a pocketknife to trim the end into a soft rounded shape.
Choose the last three pieces in the snake’s body and trim them to resemble a tail. The tip of the tail should be pointed as small as possible. The middle and third pieces should gradually slope into the tail from the main size of the body.
For a more natural recycled craft snake toy, use a narrow branch from the yard. Choose a branch with a tapered end about one inch in diameter at the thickest part. Saw the branch in small sections, leaving the outside bark in tact.
Paint all the wood snake sections and let them dry. Glue two small buttons on the snake’s head section for eyes. Paint designs on the tops of each snake body section like the designs which run down a snake’s back. Look at photos of real snakes for inspiration like coral rings, diamond backs or stripes.
After all the pieces have dried, nail a small finishing nail in the center of each end, except for the tail and head pieces. Tie a small piece of invisible fishing line to each nail head connecting the pieces to each other with less than one-half inch between. Complete the wood snake toy by attaching the head and tail the same way. Make a leash for the snake with a piece of ribbon from the head piece to a comfortable arm’s length when standing up.
When your child pulls the snake behind them, the sections of the body will natural move like a snake slithering. Show you child how to make the snake do flips and other tricks and have fun watching them enjoy their recycled toy.
For a different kind of recycled wood snake toy, try painting wood thread spools and stringing them together.
