Introduction: DIY - Cute Jumping Toy for Kids

By GOODTECH Creativity And Science
About: Hello Guys, I am techgenie, an Electronics hobbyists, tech tinker and developer. I dedicate my free time in designing and making various creative and innovative projects, RC toys, Incredible Gadgets, Awesome L…

Recently, I saw many hopping toys in the market. All the toys mostly were animal characters like kangaroo, dinosaurs, rabbit etc. I liked looking at them hopping and jumping wonderfully.

So, i decided to make an Instructable that shows how to make a wonderful and simple Hopping Dino Car. This is a wonderful toy that keeps hopping its rear to move forward. It is very easy to make and just require some basic materials along with few minutes of free time.

If you have kids at home then this toy is a must. You can also teach your kids to make it easily. This is a simple DIY Best out of waste project that can even be used as a school project. The kids will definitely love it.

Step 1: Watch the Video

As I always say "A video is a wonderful tool that provides deep insight to the procedure and also makes it easy to follow". However, it is also recommended to visit next steps for additional important information and images.

Similarly, I also made a very simple DIY Electric Car. You can view the Instructable here - https://www.instructables.com/id/Worlds-Simplest-E...

Step 2: Materials Required

Ebay.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.in

From Home & Local Store - Wooden Stick, Hard metal Wire, Straw, Cardboard and connecting wires.

Step 3: Prepare Motor Mechanism

  1. Take a cardboard piece of about (14 x 5)cm.
  2. Cut a small slit at one of the sides of the cardboard as shown in the image.
  3. Take an On/Off switch and fix it in the slit.
  4. Using Hot glue, Paste the dual axis motor in the center of the other side of cardboard piece.
  5. Solder the '-ve terminal' i.e black wire of the battery connector to a motor terminal.
  6. Solder the '+ve terminal' i.e Red wire to of the switch terminal.
  7. Connect the remaining motor terminal with the remaining switch terminal.
Note: Connect a 9v battery and check the direction of rotation. If the motor doesn't rotate in clockwise direction then interchange the connections on the motor terminals.

Step 4: Make Dinosaur Body

  1. Download the attached template file.
  2. Print the design template on an A4 size paper.
  3. Cut the paper boundary and place it over a piece of thick cardboard.
  4. Draw the boundary of the dino on the cardboard.
  5. Cut the cardboard to make two similar pieces.

Note: Alternately, you can also draw a design directly over the cardboard

Attachments

Step 5: Attach Motor to Body

  1. Place the cardboard body facing the inner side and draw a line as shown in the image.
  2. Make sure to make the line on the inner sides of both the pieces.
  3. Place the motor mechanism over the marked line.
  4. Mark one point just above the base and another point at the place of the motor shaft.
  5. Make holes at both the marked points.
  6. Apply hot glue at the marked line and paste the motor mechanism over it.
  7. Similarly, paste the other cardboard dinosaur piece over to the other side of motor mechanism as shown in the image above.

Step 6: Make Front Wheels

  1. Take a small piece of straw of about 6 cm.
  2. Insert the straw in the front holes such that it passes through both the holes.
  3. Secure the straw with the hot glue.
  4. Cut two wheels of about 3.5 cm radius from a piece of cardboard.
  5. Make holes at the center of both the wheels.
  6. Take a wooden stick of about 7 cm and paste it to one of the wheels.
  7. Insert the stick inside the straw and fix another wheel at the other side.

Step 7: Make Hopping Mechanism

  1. Cut two wheels of about 2 cm diameter from a cardboard.
  2. Split the two wheels to half from the center.
  3. Take a hard metal wire.
  4. Make a 90° bend from a distance of about an inch on the wire.
  5. Bend the wire to make circular arc.
  6. Make two such pieces as shown in the image.
  7. Sandwich the wire between the cardboard wheels. (Note: It is advisable to watch the video for clarity on this step.)
  8. Fix the wheels on both the sides of the motor shaft.
  9. Make sure to fix them tightly using hot glue.
Note: Connect the 9v battery and test the Dino car. If the car falls down or doesn't move properly, then you may need to adjust the shape of circular arcs in the wire.

Step 8: Close the Body

  1. Take three pieces of flexible cardboard.
  2. Using superglue, paste the cardboard over the dinosaur body as shown in the image.
  3. Use one piece for the front.
  4. Use the other piece for the back tail.
  5. Use the third piece for the center trunk.
  6. Make sure to stick the center piece such that it can be lifted to connect a battery to the battery connector.
Note: You can make a flexible cardboard from a thick cardboard by separating the layers.

Step 9: Finishing and Testing

  1. Open the back trunk and connect a 9v battery.
  2. Paint the Hopping Dino Car with colorful spray paint to make it look interesting. (Note: It is recommended to paint the pieces before joining as it can save you a lot of hassle later on).
  3. Our Homemade DIY Hopping Dino Car is now ready.
  4. Just turn the switch to ON position and place the car on a surface(it works on mostly any surface).
  5. Have fun playing and watch the car hopping and jumping amazingly.

So Friends, this here concludes the instructable, stay tuned and SUBSCRIBE to receive regular updates. You can also contact me through social media, Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Instagram. In case you might have missed, watch the video and see how i made this wonderful hopping Dino Car.

If you like my tutorials, also do consider to visit my Youtube channel GOODTECH - Creativity And Science, where i frequently post new and interesting content.

If you like this toy, you might also like my Dancing Android Toy. Have a look at the instructable here or watch the video below.

Thanks for your Support..!!