The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The Moving Toys Workshop was a Los Angeles educational project founded by installation artist Noga Elhassid. It used playful paper toy-making to help children explore physical phenomena and mechanical principles, with a focus on special education students. The available account is historical, not evidence that the workshop still operates. If you want to make a moving cardboard toy now, the Exploratorium’s separate Cranky Contraptions activity offers a documented crank-and-linkage approach.
What was The Moving Toys Workshop?
Make: introduced the workshop on May 9, 2013, describing Elhassid’s effort to teach scientific principles through simple, playful construction. Its approach emphasized making and learning through uncertainty, including the value of failure. Make: also reported that the workshop would no longer exhibit at Maker Faire Bay Area 2013 in an update published May 18, 2013. The reporting does not establish that the workshop continued afterward or remains active today.
Make: described the project’s materials approach as accessible papercraft and said Elhassid shared basic and advanced moving-toy tutorials. The reviewed article does not establish whether those tutorial files are currently available, so it is not possible to give verified instructions from them.
How can I make a moving cardboard toy?
A useful, separately developed activity is the Exploratorium Tinkering Studio’s Cranky Contraptions. It is not a tutorial from The Moving Toys Workshop. The activity uses a hand-turned crank-slider to animate a character or scene; optional linkages can add further motions.
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Choose a construction path
| Approach | Materials and access | Mechanism | Tools and motion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple papercraft, as described by Make: | Accessible paper and cardboard construction; the article does not provide a complete materials list. | The source mentions basic and advanced moving-toy tutorials but does not expose their steps. | Specific tools and motion count are not stated in the article. |
| Exploratorium Cranky Contraptions | Wooden block, 18-gauge stainless-steel wire, thick craft foam, tiny brads, and optional decorative supplies. Cardboard rectangles or corrugated plastic can substitute for the block. | A crank-slider moves a character or scene; popsicle-stick linkages can add movement. | The handout lists a drill with a 1/8-inch bit, scissors, heavy-duty hole punch, clamp or vise, hot-glue gun, pliers, and wire cutters. It describes a mechanism that can produce one crank-driven motion, with optional linked motions. |
This is a practical comparison based on the two sources’ descriptions, not a tested ranking. The paper-toy approach is the more accessible starting point if you want a simple build. Choose the Cranky Contraptions route when you want to experiment with how a crank converts turning into movement, or to connect multiple moving parts.
Build and explore the crank-slider
In the Exploratorium activity, turning the handle drives the moving piece. Changing the size of the wire’s U-bend lets learners observe how the range of motion changes. Linkages made from popsicle sticks can extend the mechanism so that one movement animates another part of a scene.
Rank #2
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The handout names a Crop-A-Dile punch with 1/8-inch and 1/4-inch settings as an example tool for making linkage holes. It is an example for that linkage construction, not a requirement for basic paper toys. Use the listed drill, wire cutters, pliers, and hot-glue gun with appropriate adult supervision and care.
How should educators guide the activity?
The Exploratorium recommends that educators try the activity themselves before facilitating it. Keep examples of mechanisms available so learners can observe how motion works, but avoid prescribing what the finished sculpture should look like.
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- Begin with observation: ask which parts stay fixed and which parts move.
- Ask what the learner wants to build, such as a moving animal or a scene that tells a story.
- Offer tools or suggestions in response to the learner’s design goal rather than directing every step.
- Use open questions about how many parts should move and what motion would suit the character or scene.
The point is to make the mechanism understandable without taking over the design. Learners can decide what they want to animate, then adjust their construction as they see how the parts move.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is known about the workshop’s history?
Make:’s 2013 account concerns Elhassid’s Los Angeles workshop and its educational aims. Separately, the Imagination Foundation reported on November 12, 2012, that a Moving Toys Workshop Cardboard Challenge at Adanim Boarding School for At Risk Kids in Haifa, Israel, was a runner-up in its contest. That event record is not evidence that the Haifa event was the same ongoing organization as the Los Angeles workshop or that either operates today.
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The Foundation also reported 270 Cardboard Challenge events across the contest. That is a contest-wide figure, not a measure of the workshop’s participation or educational outcomes. The cited accounts provide no named statistic measuring learning results or the workshop’s effectiveness.
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Sources
- Make: — “The Moving Toys Workshop,” Laura Cochrane, May 9, 2013; updated May 18, 2013.
- Exploratorium Tinkering Studio — “Cranky Contraptions,” copyright notice 2019.
- Imagination Foundation — “2012 Cardboard Challenge Video Winners!,” Alice Lin, November 12, 2012.
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