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Science Writer Cy Tymony Reveals 12 "Sneaky
Re-uses" For Common Toys
After Christmas tons of damaged toys and packaging materials inevitably
find their way into our already overflowing waste dumps. It's tempting to
discard seemingly useless items but if you do, you'll miss out on some great
adaptation opportunities, as well as a chance to help the environment. How?
Convert them into other useful items in a "sneaky" way.
Science writer Cy Tymony, author of the new book Sneakier Uses for Everyday Things
(Andrews McMeel Publishing), explains how to recycle old toys and household
items into practical devices. "With a little knowledge, simple and high-tech
toys - even damaged ones - can be used for amazing and educational
purposes," Tymony says. "It costs next to nothing to do, so it's almost a
crime to send reusable items to landfills."
Tymony gives his 12 sneaky reuses for common toys and household items in
keeping with the "end-of-year list" season (project links at end):
- Boomerangs fashioned from gift boxes
- Turning a screw in an AM/FM radio to receive aircraft signals
- Making racing cars, a PA system and a sneaky listening device all from tape
recorders
- CDs or plastic plates and party balloons are turned into a hovercraft toy
- Radio Control car parts adapted to control other household devices.
- Micro-RC cars remade into wireless airplanes
- Verifying counterfeit currency and activating devices using toy magnets
- Motorized toy cars turned into robots and door openers
- Toy car motors become robots, door openers, a personal fan or a speaker
- A radio and calculator (or handheld video game) acts as a metal detector
- Walkie-talkies become secret listening devices or an intercom
- A radio and paperclips remade as a room-entry or flood alarm
Tymony's website, Sneakyuses.com has a free expanded "Sneaky Toy Reuses"
article with details on additional toy adaptations. He suggests readers not
overlook reusing other holiday staples around the house. "Milk can be turned
into plastic or glue, a penny can be turned into a radio, coins and fruits
can become batteries and walkie-talkies and other devices can be placed in
clothing to make a 'gadget jacket.' Even gift-wrapping paper can substitute
for air for 'inflating' a flat bicycle tire in a pinch," Tymony says.
A Minneapolis school has recently developed resourcefulness courses based
on Cy's first book "Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things." "There are lots of
items in a home that can be used to teach youngsters how things work and
resourcefulness, " the author explains.
Tymony continues to research real-life stories of resourcefulness which
he then posts at his website. There one can read about the boats made from
milk cartons, about the window washer who used his squeegee to save himself
and five other men from World Trade Center Tower One on September 11, 2001,
as well as the story of the Colditz glider, an 18-foot airplane built out of
materials from beds and sleeping bags by prisoners in a German war camp.
Additional information is available at the author’s web site:
www.sneakyuses.com
Project Links
Toy Magnet Counterfeit Bill Detector: (Links to Amazon.com book preview
page. Place your mouse over sample book pages to view this project):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0740738593/qid=1133599138/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-6626179-0832600?n=507846&s=books&v=glance
Make a Speaker:
http://www.exo.net/~pauld/activities/magnetism/speaker.html
http://my.execpc.com/~rhoadley/magelect.htm
Make a Hovercraft:
http://www.bizarrelabs.com/hover.htm
http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/hovercraft.html
Turn a Micro RC Car into an Airplane:
http://members.aol.com/rchelicam/microszr/microszr.htm
Boomerangs Made from Cardboard:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/trythis/try11.html
http://www.jdsport.com/index.html?dir=/dir/Boomerang/Design_and_Construction/index-2-155-1873-0-0-.html
http://www.jdsport.com/index.html?dir=/dir/Boomerang/Design_and_Construction/index-2-155-1880-0-0-.html
Turn Milk into Plastic:
http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/plasticmilk.html
Turn Milk into Glue:
http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/glue.html
Make a Fruit Battery
http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/lemonbattery.html
Make Invisible Ink:
http://www.bizarrelabs.com/ink.htm
Make a Motor:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/stripped_down_motor.html
Make an Electroscope with a Straw and Tape:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/electroscope.html
Make a Styrofoam Cup Motor:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/stripped_down_motor.html
Make a Simple Robot:
http://boyslife.org/main.jsp?blw
http://www.sciencetoymaker.org
Make a Radio with Everyday Things:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/radio9.htm
http://sci-toys.com/scitoys/scitoys/radio/homemade_radio.html
http://boyslife.org/main.jsp?blw
Going Further
Learn how to make more projects with everyday things from these links:
http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci
http://makezine.com
http://readymademag.com
http://howstuffworks.com
http://www.sciencetoymaker.org
http://www.scitoys.com
http://www.funology.com
http://www.robotics.com/robots.html
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how2
About the author: Cy Tymony has been creating useful
high-and low-tech inventions all his life. By reading comic books as a kid
and studying scientific techniques, he bridged science and fiction to amaze
his friends. He's authored four books and more than a dozen articles on
science and computer science. Cy has been interviewed on over 100 radio
shows and his technical wizardry has landed him on CNN Headline News, CBS's
Morning News Chicago, KTLA Morning News Los Angeles, FOX 5 Las Vegas and
featured in U.S. News & World Report. He lives in Los Angeles.
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