Instructions for Lincoln Log Toys

Lincoln Logs allow you to build miniature log cabins, lodges and other structures.

Lincoln Logs were one of the original construction toys providing children with the ability to recreate miniature log cabins. The logs come in several lengths, with notches cut into each log so children can stack them to make walls as well as door and window frames. Green miniature planks and red roof supports come with most sets. Invented in 1916 by John Wright, the son of famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Lincoln Logs have endured for over a century as a favorite construction toy to generation after generation of industrious children.

Instructions

1. Place two three-notch logs on a flat surface, parallel to one another. Make sure the notches on the logs face up and down, as there are notches on opposing sides of the logs.

2. Connect the three-notch logs at each end with a pair of two-notch logs, laid perpendicular to the three-notch logs, with an end on each of the original logs. You will now have a square foundation made from logs, with the notches on each two-notch log interlocking with the logs below.

3. Place a single-notch log on the center notch of each three-notch log. Lay a two-notch log between the single-notch logs and the logs on the left side of your structure.

4. Place single-notch logs on the ends of the two-notch log on the right side of your structure and then another two-notch log onto the single-notch logs you just put down.

5. Repeat Step 3 and Step 4 until you've built the walls of your structure five logs high. Place a roof support on each end of the structure and then place green planks on the roof supports to complete the structure.

Tips & Warnings

• You can mix and match how you lay the foundation logs and the other logs to build different size and shape structures. Use the single-notch logs to introduce windows and doorways. The fun of Lincoln Logs comes from the realization that what you can build is only limited by your imagination and the amount of Lincoln Logs you have.

• Modern Lincoln Log play-sets come with various accessories, such as people, gates, fences and a variety of other toys to complete the play set's theme.

References

• Knex: Lincoln Logs
• Idea Finder: Lincoln Logs

Resources

• K'Nex: Lincoln Log play sets