How to Make Toy Paper Laptops
Children love to imitate their parents -- a fact not lost on toy companies, who annually make their fortunes producing child-sized imitation vacuum cleaners, cars, stoves, chainsaws and countless other tiny non-functioning replicas of adult tools. In this computer age, our children learn early to peck at the keypad. If this is disrupting your work and you are not inclined to shell out the big bucks to get your budding Shakespeare his own computer, keep him happy with a toy version you can make yourself.
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Things You'll Need
- Letterhead-sized cardboard stationary box with lid, 11-1/4" by 8-3/4" by 2"-- or similar-sized two-piece gift box
- Craft knife
- Ruler
- Pencil
- ¼"-thick foamboard, any color
- 1"-thick Styrofoam sheet
- 1 clear or transparent gray plastic report cover
- White glue
- Markers or colored pencils
Instructions
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1
Remove the lid from the box and carefully slit two adjacent corners on one long side from top to bottom with a sharp craft knife -- leaving the other three sides of the box intact. When finished, the resulting loose side serves as a hinge for the laptop lid.
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2
Measure the inside of the lower part of the box and draw three rectangles of that size on a piece of foamboard.
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3
Draw the same-size rectangle on a sheet of Styrofoam and another on a sheet of a clear- or transparent-gray report cover or similar thin plastic sheeting.
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4
Use your ruler as a guide to cut out the three foamboard rectangles, the Styrofoam rectangle and the plastic report cover rectangle.
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5
Draw a smaller rectangle inside one foamboard rectangle -- leaving a 1-inch band all around three sides and a 3-inch band along the remaining long edge. Do NOT mark the other two foamboard rectangles, the Styrofoam or the plastic sheet.
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6
Cut out the small rectangle carefully so as not to mar the surrounding foamboard. This serves as the frame for the keys of the keyboard.
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7
Glue one uncut foamboard rectangle inside the lid of the box.
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8
Glue the other uncut foamboard rectangle on top the Styrofoam rectangle, then glue both -- foamboard up -- to the inside of the lower portion of the box.
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9
Glue the cut foamboard frame on top the solid foamboard sheet inside the box.
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10
Measure and cut 50 to 70 squares, 3/8-inch in size, from foamboard scraps, marking them with letters of the alphabet, numbers and punctuation symbols as on a typical keyboard.
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11
Turn the bottom of the box so that the 3-inch foamboard strip faces you. Use a real keyboard as a guide to glue the squares inside the framework of the top foamboard sheet -- leaving a 1/16-inch space around each "key".
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12
Glue the inside of the loose flap of the lid to the opposite outer side of the keyboard to hinge the "monitor" to the back of the laptop.
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13
Glue the top edge of the plastic sheet over the foamboard on the inside of the lid to create a reflective "monitor" screen, behind which you can place images for a changing screen.
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14
Draw a mousepad on the 3-inch strip in front of the keys. Add speaker areas, lights or accessory buttons to top and sides using markers or colored pencils.
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Resources
- Photo Credit works kid image by Andrey Kiselev from Fotolia.com
