Made to Play!: Handmade Toys and Crafts for Growing Imaginations [Paperback]

Joel Henriques (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 11, 2011

Delight young children and encourage play through unique handmade toys. From sewn and stuffed musical instruments to interlocking paper building blocks and wooden animal figurines, the projects in this book are meant to encourage open-ended play. Organized by kid-loving subjects, the toys here follow the themes of Zoo; House; Blocks, Cars & Trucks; Dress-Up; Music; and Art. Overall, the projects here are meant to stimulate imagination, build confidence through success and enjoyment, and enhance the bond between family and friends through the creation of unique, artistic handmade toys and crafts. 

The thirty-five projects in this book include a variety of crafts, from drawing to sewing and light woodworking. The toys presented here are made out of wonderfully tactile materials—repurposed fabrics, wood, and paper—and invite opportunities for creative and imaginative play. Every project is easy to complete, made with accessible materials, and requires little time to make. The projects are simple enough that endless variation can come from the making of each, leaving enough room for you to make the item to suit your own personal interests.

With a design aesthetic that is clean, simple, and modern, each project is presented with full-color photos and hand-drawn instructional illustrations and templates. Projects include:

   • Modern Doll House and Doll House Furniture
   • Portable Zoo Animals
   • Abstract Vertical Puzzle
   • Wooden Nature Scene
   • Bottle-Cap Tambourine
   • Exploration Cape
   • Modern Alphabet Game
   • Shadow Puppet Theater
   • And more!

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The projects in this book will take you back to simpler times. Utilizing common materials around the household to make things—but with a modern touch—the beauty of this book lies in the simple toy and craft projects.”—Living Crafts Magazine

“Henriques has incorporated the experiences of his children’s imaginations at play into the amazing projects throughout this book. Although they may look simplistic to today’s high-tech kids, these projects will create lasting memories more precious than any video games.”—San Francisco Book Review

About the Author

Joel Henriques is fascinated by color, shape, and craftsmanship. He was drawn to painting as a child, inspired by his grandmother, a painter herself. She spent hours showing Joel the paintings of Matisse, Picasso, Miró, and many others. Through these and her own paintings, she taught him ideas about color and design and eventually coached him on his earliest paintings. These childhood experiences lead him to pursue a B.A. in Fine Art and Philosophy. Becoming a parent was, for Joel, another way of looking at art in the world. As a young child himself, he made many of his own toys. As a father, he began making toys for his young twins. He began to see that a beautiful, minimal, well-crafted object allowed his children to use and develop their own imaginations, rather than having an object tell them how they must play with it. Moved by his children's interaction with art, Joel began documenting these crafts on his blog, Made By Joel. Creating art for children, and for the child in everyone, is a powerful thing. Joel lives with his wife and three-year-old twins in Portland, Oregon. See more of his crafts at www.madebyjoel.com, and see more of his art at www.joelhenriques.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Roost Books (October 11, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159030912X
• ISBN-13: 978-1590309124
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #83,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #24 in Books > Arts & Photography > Decorative Arts & Design > Industrial & Product Design
  • #45 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Toys & Models > Toymaking

More About the Author

Joel Henriques is fascinated by color, shape, and craftsmanship. He was drawn to painting as a child, inspired by his grandmother, a painter herself. She spent hours showing Joel the paintings of Matisse, Picasso, Miró, and many others. Through these and her own paintings, she taught him ideas about color and design and eventually coached him on his earliest paintings. These childhood experiences lead him to pursue a B.A. in Fine Art and Philosophy.

Becoming a parent was, for Joel, another way of looking at art in the world. As a young child himself, he made many of his own toys. As a father, he began making toys for his young twins. He began to see that a beautiful, minimal, well-crafted object allowed his children to use and develop their own imaginations, rather than having an object tell them how they must play with it.

Moved by his children's interaction with art, Joel began documenting these crafts on his blog, Made By Joel. Creating art for children, and for the child in everyone, is a powerful thing. Joel lives with his wife and three children in Portland, Oregon. See more of his crafts at www.madebyjoel.com, and see more of his art at www.joelhenriques.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Making toys which encourage creative thought and play October 11, 2011

By Shala Kerrigan TOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Made by Joel is one of my favorite style and d.i.y. blogs. So naturally, I had high expectations for his book of toys for kids. Made to Play met those expectations easily.

The projects are easy to make and are simple and elegant, giving lots of room for imagination to play. They are also inexpensive and many of them creatively re-use scraps of wood, fabric and buttons.

Most of the projects are meant for kids who are beyond the stage of putting everything in their mouths, but some can be used for babies. The embroidered soft instruments for example or the embroidery pillow doll done in one color sketch style on a contrasting background.

For kids that are a bit older, very simple doll houses invite creative thought. They are meant to be played with, not just to be pretty. Wire dolls, modern furniture, and decorations that can be a wonderful rock found while out adventuring or a twig turned into a pretty potted tree. Even at my age, I want to make myself at least a room box!

Lots of paper toys, many of them that can be packed flat to bring to restaurants and other places you may want something quiet for children to play with. My daughter loved the slotted discs building set. Those impressed me, but my favorite paper project in the book is the wall hanging sculptures. Using children's art along with wire to make displays. A fish dangles from a wire wave, a bird perches on a wire branch turning children's art into something very stylish and special.

Percussion instruments made from scrap wood encourage children to make noise and move. I love the bottle cap tambourine.

The wood toys require very simple tools for the most part. While power saws are handy, you could make a lot of them using coping saws. You will also need a wood burning kit for some of them.

Paper projects, you'll need glue, markers and scissors.

Sewing projects require hand needles, floss, and a sewing machine for strong seams. They don't need any specialized sewing skills. The style of them makes them perfect for crewel/wool type embroidery in my opinion.

For wire projects, you'll need pliers and wire cutters. He uses easy to manipulate wire from hardware stores.

This is play things at their best. Encouraging creative thought and interactivity.

The instructions are well written and the projects are inexpensive to make and just charming.

My reviews are always my personal and honest opinion. I recieved this book from the publisher to review for my craft site, Don't Eat the Paste.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Create Toys With Your Kids December 16, 2011

By Ginny Mapes VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This wonderful book is a must have for teachers, parents, grandparents, or anyone working with children. Joel Henriques, Northwest creator of the book, Made to Play; Handmade Toys & Crafts for Growing Imaginations, gives the reader many suggestions for 35 small, simple-to-make projects. These fabulous products will be a big hit with children. The book includes templates.

He also has a website: madebyjoel.com, where you can see him in action. Online, are also many projects which can be downloaded. Have fun, play!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource January 30, 2013

By Mrs. Kees

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Joel's book is fabulous. I teach 7 & 8 graders art and used ideas from this book and his website for a great unit this past fall. The kids had a blast. As a mom of four boys I wish I'd had this when they were little!