Chavo's Toys

“El Chavo del 8” (the boy in apartment 8) is a popular character created for television by Roberto Gomez Bolaños “Chespirito”. He represents the kindness of a poor child, an orphan who lacks a home and food… but not toys. Chavo lives in a neighborhood of the city, his shelter is a barrel and he is always trying to find a way to earn “one peso” for a ham sandwich. Despite his condition, he plays with traditional Mexican toys made by himself. The urban folklore is mixed with handicrafts and popular arts.

El Chavo del 8 has been kind enough to teach us how to make Mexican toys from garbage, so we have created a space where any child in any part of the world can learn how to make his own toys : a balero, a small car or a mask. Thanks Chavo!

(Stay here so you can start making your toys. If you want to know more about Chavo and his creator, you can visit www.lacasadechespirito.com).


SMALL CAR

You need a cardboard box, it can be a shoe box or a smaller one, 4 bottle caps, 4 flexible green twigs and one rope, over 1 meter long.

The box is placed on the floor with the open part up and five holes have to be made: two on the left side, two on the right one and one at the front. The four side holes must be about half a centimeter from the floor and apart from each other, near the corners. The front hole must be in the center. Then a hole is made on the center of each one of the bottle caps. The twigs must be inserted in those holes and also in the side holes putting the bottle caps on the outside, which will be the tires. The cord is inserted in the front hole and held by a knot in the inside.

You can decorate it with drawings.


BALERO

You need a 50-centimeter-long rope, a small stick 15 or 20 centimeters long and an empty soup can.

A hole is made on the central part of the bottom of the can and the rope has to go through it. A knot has to be made on the end that is in the inside. The other end is tied to the stick with a double knot. That’s it, now you have to score as many points as you can. What is your score?


MASKS

Two persons are needed to make a mask. The material consists of newspaper sheets cut in squares of 2x2 centimeters. Some pieces can also be cut in a rectangular way. Flour and water are also needed to make a paste.

One person must smear cream or lubricant on his face and he must lie on the floor and the other one puts on one layer of paper squares moistened with water. All his face must be covered, bordering the hair and jaw but not touching the eyes, nostrils and mouth. A second layer of paper must be put on but now with the paste. Let dry for 5 minutes and glue on other three layers.

Wait another 10 minutes or until the mask is hard enough to be removed from the model’s face without breaking.

After taking the mask off, you must wait for 30 minutes and then put other 5 layers of glued paper. The borders are outlined with smaller pieces and some shapes can be done with small newspaper balls on eyebrows or cheekbones. Three layers of paper must be put on those balls and allowed to dry until the next day. Some would rather make the two last layers with white paper.

The mask must be stuffed with newspaper in order to keep its shape. When it is completely dry, two holes must be made on the sides for the cord that will hold it to the head. It can be decorated with paints which have a small amount of water, hair, cotton, grass or any other material.