DIY Wood Robot Toy

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DIY Wood Robot Toy

DIY Toys, Engineering Projects, Featured, Wooden Toys
Do you want to make a wood robot toy? Or maybe looking for the first
woodworking project for kids? Try this one!
Don’t take an example from me! It’s a very simple project to make,
whether you want to make a toy for a young kid or want an older kid to
have their first woodworking experience (and this articulated wooden
robots can be the next step). No special tools or materials are required.
Tools & Materials

an assortment of wooden blocks and scraps of wood (I used blocks
from this and this sets)
wood glue and polyurethane glue
drill
heavy-duty string
woodburning pen
Toy Robot: Woodworking Process

I love using wooden blocks for making new toys. For one thing, you don’t
need to have a lot of tools to work with wooden blocks: everything comes
already pre-cut. In addition to that, I often see wooden blocks in thrift
stores, so it’s easy to replenish our supply for new projects and give some
new life to old toys. As a result, we have a pretty good collection of
blocks of different sizes and grains.
For the robot, we took two cuboids and four cubes. If you don’t have
wooden blocks, but want to cut them from boards, the dimensions of the
cubes were 1.5×1.5×1.5″ (like in this set), and the cuboids were
2.5×2.5×1.5″ (they came from this Melissa & Doug set). The combination
of light and dark wood in one project always looks exciting, so I also used
a 1/4″ scrap of a cherry board for making a panel on the front of the
robot. That little front panel was actually the most complicated part of
the whole toy robot project.
Making of the Front Panel

To make the panel, cut a little 1.25×2″ rectangle. Using a ruler and a
pencil, mark six buttons on it. With the help of a miniature miter box,
make the straight cuts, then widen them with a needle file. Glue the panel
to the body block with wood glue and put a weight on it for a while.
For stamping “1, 2, 3” and “A, B, C” on the buttons, I got to finally use this
stamp set I got last Christmas. I seemed to have so many ideas when I
received it, but it’s the first project I used it for! I also considered writing
or woodburning the numbers.
Making of the Toy Robot Body

If you looked on my original sketch, you’d see that I marked the places
where I was going to drill holes. I planned to drill holes right through the
blocks, run strings through them,then tie knots at the ends, like in the
sketch. When I showed my sketch to my husband, he didn’t seem overly
fond of knots and suggested using glue for holding the strings in place
instead. I decided to trust him, but you can use either idea.
For assembling the robot, drill the holes, using the right size bit to make a
snug fit for your string. One hole in each limb block, one hole in a head
block, and two holes at each side of the body block to attach the limbs to.
We squeezed polyurethane glue in each hole, then pushed the string in
with a nail. Polyurethane glue is ideal for this job: not only because it is
strong, but because it expands as it dries, securing the string in the hole.
At first, the eyes were supposed to be just holes, drilled inside of each
other, like on the picture. Then we decided to plug the inner holes with
dowel cutouts, giving our robot dark brown eyes. He was very pleased!
The smile and the heart were woodburned. If you don’t have a
woodburner, you can always draw them with a marker. And the robot is
ready!
Wood Robot Toy: Final Look

The final result isn’t an elaborate toy, but it has a few things going on for
it!
1. It is very sturdy, so it won’t break easily. (Update: Ours is still just as

good as new after five years!)
2. It has a simple kind of articulation, but it works. The kids like to
pretend all kinds of things with this robot. Mostly he is a wiggly dancer.
3. It’s made of natural materials. First, it will be safe for babies and
toddlers to handle and teeth on (under reasonable parental supervision).
And one day, when this toy has been loved enough and you no longer
need it, it doesn’t have to go to waste-fields. You can use it for a
marshmallow roast or compost it like you would any wood.
4. And it can be a good first project to try with older kids, introducing the
joy of woodworking to them.
More Robots!
Build articulated wooden robots together with kids!

DIY Wood Robot Toy

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DIY Wood Robot Toy

Tools & Materials

Toy Robot: Woodworking Process

Making of the Front Panel

Making of the Toy Robot Body

Wood Robot Toy: Final Look

1. It is very sturdy, so it won’t break easily. (Update: Ours is still just as

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