Climbing Cardboard Gorilla

This is a cardboard version of a traditional wooden toy, with a small modification to give it swinging legs, "just because".

Step 1 Materials and tools.

You will need a number of easily-obtained materials.

• Corrugated card - enough to draw three copies of the template - maybe one and a half sheets of A4?
• plain paper for templates.
• Glue - I used PVA craft glue, but anything that sticks card will do the job.
• String - three or four metres of slightly-rough string. Not the hairy stuff, but slightly rough.
• A drinking straw.
• A cocktail stick or bamboo barbecue skewer.

Tools:

• Cutting tools - scissors, craft knife etc. If your card is thick, you will need a large sharp knife like a Stanley knife (I believe Americans call them box-cutters?)
• A drill - it is far easier to drill through several layers of corrugated card than it is to poke a hole.
• A piercing tool - something to make a small hole in the card, such as a sharp pencil, a nail etc.
• Printer or drawing tools.

Comments

[Kiteman]

Climbing gorilla merchandise is now available!

[PattrenKate]

Thanks Kiteman! I was inspired by your instructable to make a simplified 'Migrating Monarch' toy for a 250+-kids-in-3-hours craft activity. Printed the monarchs that kids colored on stiff cardstock, had them tape the short lengths of straw to the back, used household twine, and a 3-inch length of straw for the top cross bar. They tied knots at the ends of the string, and voilá! Not all of them worked, given the angles and lengths of some of the short straws, but some did and the kids (and grown-ups) loved them!

[Kiteman]

That's brilliant!

Have you got photos? Or an Instructable?

[Derin]

um...can you put the skewer somewhere else?it might be a lil disturbing...

[freeza36]

wow perverted a bit?

[Kiteman]

You, sir, have a mucky mind - that's his navel!

[famo99]

unrelated story time! i used to think that a navel was behind your nose, but now i am wiser and more like Gandalf, so i know better

[The Jamalam]

Kiteman typo'd!

Close-up of middle-layer. Notice the hole pierced ijn the legs.

[Kiteman]

I djon't kjnow wjhat yjou mjean!

[The Jamalam]

Wjait, njor djo Ij. Ij thjink thjat Ij cjan't rjead.

[balloon popper]

lol

[stargazer96]

the video was very funny I'm amused hehehehe

[ODDJOBS]

Excellent. My five year old is most amused. He's now on his second. Well Done.

[Kiteman]

That's great - how about posting a picture of his work?

[davethescubarock]

I used to have a wooden one of these things in the shape of Humpty Dumpty stuck to the side of my pantry in my kitchen.. Havent seen him since we had the room re-fitted, but i remember him so well from when I was a child! The top beam cant have hung more than 5' off the ground, but I remember thinking how high he got and having to crane my neck to watch him climb to the top! And then the fun little jerky slide back down to the bottom.. Aaaaahhh.. Childhood :D - and i'm only 16 now!

[Kiteman]

LOL - the simple toys seem to have the greatest impact, don't they?

[Karroo Oakey]

Well, this is just sickening. Look at all these people worshiping you Kiteman. I mean just look around ........... oops I seem to be standing on the wrong side of the line. Oh dear, I guess it's official - I am also one of the worshipers! Maybe we can form a groupie club and hound you whenever you are online! Drive you crazy by jumping out from behind websites and taking unauthorised screen shots.
Absolutely brilliant Instructable BTW. KarrooWife is seriously ticked off with you 'cause I laughed so hard at myself while practising your self mutilation instructablehttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-entertain-small-children-via-the-medium-of-/# in the mirror that I woke the baby!

[Kiteman]

LOL, thank you for the positivity.

_{After I posted that video on YouTube, I discovered that there are hundreds just like it...}

[swimmer95]

what did you use to cut the cardboard

[Kiteman]

A strong craft knife, because scissors squished the corrugations. If I had one, I may have used a coping saw or scroll saw.

[Bartboy]

Someone should make a machine to pull the strings for you! Then you could leave it running non-stop!

[Kiteman]

I don't need a machine, I have sons - this is currently hanging in the hall of my home, and the boys have been using it non-stop for two days.

[spock155]

To tell you the truth it creeps me out! But, then again, most things do that to me :|

[Bam95]

Very good !!! nice job best wishes for the contest

[BraisedDuck]

how does it work?

[Gr82Bake]

the string that goes through the hands is at a 45 degree angle where it passes through. when you pull the string you force the string straight, and then the gorilla is forced into a 45 degree angle, which lifts the other side of the gorilla a bit higher. when you pull the second string the same thing happens and the first side goes up, etc. by the way, great 'ible

[jet h]

Hi thanks for sharring I love it. Awesome and will make one!

[Rubber Duck]

(removed by author or community request)

[Kiteman]

Zoom? I don't know that - it's a traditional toy, pre-Victorian in origin.

[netsi1964]

I followed your instructions - thanks, now my daughter has another funny thing to play with. I have added an image of her looking at my Gorilla.

[Kiteman]

That is excellent!

[Creativeman]

This is cool Kiteman, good instructable. Cman

[mike153]

love the music to the video :)

[LuminousObject]

This is cool. I've never seen these before.

[Kiteman]

Really? They've been around for ages.

[LuminousObject]

Well, I haven't been around for ages. Only 14 years actually. But I'm definitely going to make one.

[cupojoe999]

I saw some thing like this in the tv show "zoom" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZOOM

but they made different animals not just gorillas, and the episode aired in like 2000, i made one right after i saw it

[Bartboy]

Zoom is so.... bizarre. You can't help but wonder what age of audience they try to appeal to...

[cupojoe999]

they try to get younger kids but it looks like only pedophiles really watch it

[Yerboogieman]

That is some creepy music kiteman, this would keep my sntertained for hours.