
Toys from Trash - the-mitr
http://arvindguptatoys.com/
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as1mov
This takes me back quite a few years. Arvind Gupta[1] is the same guy who used
to host a kids program in the early 90's called Tarang which was broadcast on
national television (Doordarshan), teaching how to make toys from easily found
household items. Watching this show was the highlight of my day as my family
couldn't afford cable (we could barely afford electricity haha).

I remember quite a few of my summer vacations involved watching this show in
the morning and spending the rest of the day trying to find the materials for
building what he had built. He had quite an impression on me when I was young,
I largely attribute the maker enthusiasm I had to him.

Just googled him, seems like he has an YouTube[2] channel now.

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvind_Gupta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvind_Gupta)

[2]:
[https://www.youtube.com/user/arvindguptatoys](https://www.youtube.com/user/arvindguptatoys)

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boogies
“His popular TED Talk: Turning Trash into Toys for learning gives an insight
into his work and philosophy. This talk was among the 10 best TED talks
compiled by Sir Ken Robinson and Sugata Mitra's 5 favorite education talks.”
(Wikipedia)

It’s worth directly linking to.
[http://www.ted.com/talks/arvind_gupta_turning_trash_into_toy...](http://www.ted.com/talks/arvind_gupta_turning_trash_into_toys_for_learning.html)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnCqR2yUXoU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnCqR2yUXoU)

He shows some amazing toy demos like (small spoilers) a drawing tool for blind
children and a ¢5 electric motor.

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a-ve
Related (somewhat) :

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Garden_of_Chandigarh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Garden_of_Chandigarh)

Nek Chand Saini, a government official who started the garden secretly in his
spare time in 1957. Today it is spread over an area of 40 acres (16 ha). It is
completely built from industrial and home waste and discarded items.

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kuu
Really cool. Super interesting projects and really fun for kids.

If I can add something, I would maybe rebrand the "toys from trash" to "low
tech toys" or something similar, that does not have the negative context of
"trash". That's just my opinion.

Nice job anyway

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mennis16
I dunno, I like the title, it has a nice ring to it. But that also might be
because the "trash" part reminds me more of Toy Story 4 than anything
negative.

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arkitaip
VERY cool! Kids love when you create fun toys from seemingly nothing. The
accompanying Android app seems to be free with tons of instructional videos.

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extremeMath
I'm looking to make kids toys from United States recycling products since they
are being moved to landfills. Almost no progress so far, my 400 level polymer
chemistry book only has 2 paragraphs on recycling.

So far I'm trying to figure out mechanical solutions. Thinking lots of boxes
so kids can make forts.

Hard website to use, unfortunate.

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majjam
Have you had a look at the scientific literature? Something like this?
[https://dacemirror.sci-hub.tw/journal-
article/fdab0294ddc3bd...](https://dacemirror.sci-hub.tw/journal-
article/fdab0294ddc3bdafaccddf645e8d4ceb/singh2016.pdf)

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asimovfan
Contains the "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" book, which is an excellent book by
Soto Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki. I remebered his name from where I had found
the book online.

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pmoriarty
And then there's stuff that you can make out of trashy toys:

circuit bending...

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHDL9iGxDPM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHDL9iGxDPM)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Q9Ij7oUHM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Q9Ij7oUHM)

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failrate
Lately, I've been recycling gummy tins into magnetic portable board games.

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thimkerbell
Show these, please.

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failrate
Still on the early prototype phase. Step 1: sand off the painted labelling
Step 2: repaint with game board (since prototype, draw on with sharpie) Step
3: make game pieces out of magnetic tape and "resource cubes"

The irony of this project is that I am in the US, and I'm taking covid
lockdown seriously, ergo, I don't need portable anything.

Due to the small size of the tins, small board games are preferable: Bobail,
small board capture Go, Alquerque, Fanorona, etc. Fortunately, many of these
games have common boards and pieces.

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spicybright
Wow, that's a really good idea. Please post back here like GP said with
pictures if you could!

