I’ve always liked the simplicity of things that fit together with slots. Yesterday I made this little wooden toy. I think I should make more animals with interchangeable pieces so people could make their own creations. My son had fun playing with this one though. He especially liked peeping through the eye hole.

27 Responses
  1. Aubrey

    Joel, I think you are amazing… it is the first time I have made a comment although I almost always read your blog. The things you do are so simple and yet fantastic and your children are so lucky to have a dad as talented as you. Thankyou for sharing thes ideas with all of us.

  2. modernmaam

    Ooh yes. I think the mixing and matching idea is great! Little frankenanimals! My husband had a great idea about sanding the leg corners so they may left and right a bit. Hmm. Maybe I need to get him a tablesaw…;)

  3. Lori Henriques

    totally agree with n. davis rosback! the true beauty of this is that you made it so simple that one can turn it into something else entirely!

    (nice poem by NDR, and nearly a haiku. lovely.)

    LOVE the toy, LOVE the photos!

  4. Joel Henriques

    Thanks for the really nice comments. Very kind!

    modernmaam – yeah, it's amazing what ideas start coming to you when you have a little saw. you should get your husband one. this wood is so thin though, that even a hand coping saw would easily cut it. An electric scroll saw is what I use though, and it took a couple of minutes to cut this out.

    Thanks again everyone.

  5. Make mine Mid-Century

    Genius! Genius! Genius! I could just imagine a set of these being pulled out of a Santa's sack. How lovely.

  6. PaaPii

    Greetings from Finland :)

    I just found your blog and I'm loving it! All those nice things you have made for your children!

  7. modernmaam

    oops! "rock!" I meant to say, so they may ROCK left and right. Thanks for the tips on the saws! I'm going to check some out!

  8. Joel Henriques

    Thanks everybody!

    amberlee – I use an awesome food grade bees wax polish by Three BEEautiful Bees. I use it on almost all of my wood toys for kids. You can buy it here.

    modernmaam – Ahh, I like that idea! I'm going to have to make a pair of rocking legs too! Cool.

  9. Susan

    Yes, just genius. I want to try all your projects at once, I can't decide what to make first!!

  10. Joel Henriques

    I've seen lots of other cardboard or fabric versions of slot animal toys, but I hadn't seen these Enzo Mari inspired ones. Very cool! Thanks for the link!

  11. Joel Henriques

    ♥ meninheira ♥ – I love your giraffe! Very nice! Yes, cardboard works very well for slotted toys too. Good one!