I’ve just finished reading “The Woodcock“, the brilliant first novel by my good friend Richard Smyth, and in his honour, I’ve made a new bird-themed toy, which I hope he’ll enjoy making with his children.

I learned how to make this charming “wobbly woodpecker” (sorry it’s not actually a woodcock Richard) over at Slater Harrison’s wonderful website “Science Toymaker“. I was delighted when Slater, who seems to be something of a kindred spirt, said I could use his template and share it here with you. You can also get written instructions and learn a bit about how the woodpecker works over at Slater’s site.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that, as well as sharing a love for home-made toys, Slater and I have something else in common: Bangladesh. I was born there, and Slater worked there for a while in the 80s. You can read about what Slater learned while living in Bangladesh by clicking here.

EXTRAS: Scroll down this page from Made by Joel to find a gorgeous alternative template for this activity, as well as as a clever suggestion for keeping the bird attached to the rubber band. This is such a fun activity to do and could be easily made more challenging / interesting by trying to devise your own template – it doesn’t have to be a bird, it could be a monkey or something else that climbs up and down stuff.

MORE GOOD STUFF: Click here for more activities. I’ll be publishing more videos of activities like this as and when I make them. Check back here, follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my YouTube channel to make sure you don’t miss them.