ShareDuration: 10-30 minutes for making the game, as long as you like for playing the game!
Recommended Ages: 5-12 with adult supervision, 13+ with minimal to no adult supervision
Description: Find out about an archaeological discovery and use it to make your own toy
Colonial Games
People of all ages played with games and toys in the 18th century. Often these amusements were homemade. Can you think of a hand made toy you’ve played with? Maybe a friend or family member made something special for you. Or perhaps you invented your own game. You might have used your imagination to turn a stick into a sword or a wooden spoon into a magician’s or fairy’s wand.
Paintings, letters, diaries, and other sources tell us about card games, board games, dolls, and other toys. We do not know much about what toys existed at Gunston Hall. Adults probably played with cards and enjoyed some board games. Children in the Mason family, including Nancy, John, and Betsy, may have read books, played with puzzles, and had other toys. Children who were enslaved, including Vicky, Bob, and Peter, may have found special treasures in the forest, and they may have invented games for themselves. They might have even made toys for themselves.
Courtesy of The Virtual Curation Lab
From our archaeological digging, we know that at least one person at Gunston Hall played with a whirligig. Our archaeology team discovered a half of a flat circle of metal. Two holes are in the middle. Maybe someone made the whirligig from a coin or from a scrap piece of metal.
A whirligig—or buzzsaw— is a disk threaded onto a loop of string and twirled around. Twirling the string creates a twist. Once it is twisted enough, the string tightens on your fingers and makes them come towards each other. Then you can pull them out again. The goal is to have a smooth back and forth motion. When whirligigs spin, they make a whirring sound that gives the toy its name.
Today you can make a whirligig with objects you have in your house.
Activity: Make a Whirligig
Method 1:
What you need
Large button with 2 or 4 holes (buttons with shanks will not work)
String or yarn
Scissors
1. Measure your string using the length of one arm. Pinch the end of the string in your fingers and pull the length up to your shoulder. If you’d like to use a ruler, measure 32 inches.
2. Thread your string through the holes in your button, creating a loop with your circle in the middle. (If you’re using a 4-hole button, use only 2 of the holes.) Tie the ends of your string in a knot.
3. Put the two end loops of the string over your index fingers and move the button to the middle of the string. Hold out your arms and flip the string, in a circle. You should be spinning your fingers away from yourself. Do this until the string is very tight.
4. Tug your hands apart gently. The string will begin to unwind, and the whirligig will start to buzz. As the tension slackens, slowly bring your hands back together, and the whirligig will spin itself back up.
After you practice for a while, you should be able to keep the whirligig going for a long time!
Method 2:
What you need
Heavy cardboard like the flap of a box
Coloring materials such as a pencil, colored pencils, crayons, markers, pens
Construction paper (optional)
Glue (optional)
String this can be yarn, kitchen twine, or whatever string you have in the house
Scissors
1. Use the bottom of a glass or soda can to trace a circle onto your cardboard, and cut it out with scissors.
2. Mark two holes in the center, about 1/2-inch apart (that’s about the width of your thumb or forefinger). Carefully punch them out with your scissors, a knife, or a pen.
3. Now it’s time to decorate! Color to your heart’s content or cut shapes from your construction paper and glue them to your circle.
4. Measure your string using the length of one arm. Pinch the end of the string in your fingers and pull the length up to your shoulder. If you’d like to use a ruler, measure 32 inches.
5. Thread your string through the holes in your button, creating a loop with your circle in the middle. Tie the ends of your string in a knot.
6. Put the two end loops of the string over your index fingers and move the button to the middle of the string. Hold out your arms and flip the string, in a circle. You should be spinning your fingers away from yourself. Do this until the string is very tight.
7. Tug your hands gently apart. The string will begin to unwind, and the whirligig to buzz. As the tension slackens, slowly bring your hands back together and the whirligig will spin itself back up.
After you practice for a while, you should be able to keep the whirligig going for a long time!
What else could you use to make a whirligig? Sometimes people take a slice of a tree branch and drill two holes in it. Other people punch holes in circles of metal. You might even try a thick disk of leather.
