Above - the the new top cart stocked with the items transferred from the old top cart. I couldn't believe the extra stuff that had accumulated over the years in the old cart. I pared the collection down to items that I actually show people, and got rid of all the duplicates and unused stuff in the original cart. I could not include the tall top that I have always ended the show with, because it won't fit in the new lower bin, but I added a great old top that has a short pencil for a tip, and traces a wonderful spiral as it precesses! It used to be part of the show. I don't remember how it got moved out of the cart, but it is back now!
Above - me showing the magnetic Swirlaround top.Below - spinning a German top that works with an external plunger.
Below - Maya wanted to feel what my magnetic peg top felt like spinning from the metal ring on the end of the string.
As usual, even with all the things I removed from the top cart collection, I had at least another half hour of tops to demo and tell stories about when the time came to cut if off and move on!After the show, the kids all made a couple of tops to take home. Interesting patterns made with markers or crayons.... many of the kids made one for themselves, and one for a sibling. This included Maya making one for CJ! Below, I glued the stems in place, and the kids used one of my old whirligig presses from The Toycrafter to push the stem in.
Many thanks to the teachers at Maya's pre-school. They run a great place! I'll be going back soon to do the afternoon class top program!I love my new top cart! Even with figuring out where things were, I think the show went quite a bit better than usual, and the lower level of the top spinning tray was perfect for little folks sitting in those short chairs! Low enough for them to see easily, and tall enough for the old man to not have to bend over too far!
2 comments:
It's great that your show includes the kids making their own tops to take home. I bet many of those kids will keep them for years and remember you in adulthood.
Making tops is NOT always part of the event... depends on a number of factors including number of kids, and whether my granddaughter is one of them? One rule - the kids must never be told about the top making in advance, because that is pretty much a definite FAIL. When they know about that, they ask about it every time I pull out a new top to show.... "Can we make one of those?"
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