This practical guide explains the full process of designing and making your own automata with paper. Packed with advice and encouragement, it features an irresistible selection of finished examples to give you inspiration and shows you how to breathe life into mechanical characters. Its clear instruction and delightful ideas will be enjoyed by anyone armed with a pair of scissors and a creative imagination.

Make a set of traps and triggers powered by rubber bands and inspired by real-life devices. All you need are everyday items and some adult help. Choose your target and area of operation, hide your traps and triggers, and wait. Bite-sized facts explain how these traps and triggers have been used through history too!

Landlubbers can make a splash with these easy-to-make watercraft using simple, everyday items! You'll be surprised how you can use two soft drink cans and a rubber band to make a catamaran, a plastic bottle and baking soda to make a jet boat, and more! Get your materials together and see how these boats float and race. There's something for all wannabe sailors.

Make a battery of mini-launchers designed to fling small objects safely. All you need are everyday items and some adult help. Then take aim and launch! Make several and use them on your own medieval battlefield. Bite-sized facts explain how these small launchers have been used through history too!

Create handmade origami gifts for your friends and family, such as a pencil case, a gift box, or a paper flower bouquet. Step-by-step instructions and photographs guide readers through projects of varied difficulty. Crafters will increase visual-spatial reasoning skills while having fun.

Make models of castle buildings and little knights, and plan a medieval battle scene that uses the mini-launchers from other books in this series. All you need are everyday items and some adult help. Deploy your launchers on both sides of the castle, jump to your stations, and attack. Bite-sized facts explain how these parts of a castle worked in history too!

Make and test drive origami machines, including a car, a van, and even a rocket. Readers are guided through projects of varied difficulty with step-by-step instructions and photographs. The crafts build visual-spatial reasoning skills while providing an outlet for creativity.

Be your own robotics engineer and watch these clever machines come to life. But remember, you're in charge! Learn how to create robots like the Intrepid Eggsplorer, the Tightrope Trickster, and Perfect Penbot with materials like paper clips, rubber bands, cork, and other everyday objects. Put all the pieces together, add some googly eyes, and prepare for some super-mechanized fun and games.

Bring your favorite dinosaurs to life with these exciting origami projects. Create a scary T. Rex, a mighty Diplodocus, and a spiky Stegosaurus. Step-by-step instructions guide readers through projects of varied difficulty, building visual-spatial reasoning skills and increasing the fun!

Make a giant fountain from a soda pop bottle, write messages in invisible ink, and blow monster bubbles! Use readily available items and simple step-by-step instructions to create these amazing science projects. Discover the science behind each experiment, and have fun sharing with your friends and family. It squeezes, it stretches, it flows, it makes crystals—it's matter!

Create an origami menagerie including a cute guinea pig, floppy-eared rabbit, delicate butterfly, leaping frog, and more. Projects increase in difficulty so readers can learn new visual spatial skills and build on them.

Make a camera from cardboard, create stereographic images, and start a campfire with ice! These amazing science projects use readily available items and have simple step-by-step instructions. Discover the science behind each experiment. They're quick to make and fun to show your friends and family. It lets you see in color, in 3D, close up, and far away—it's light!