My Zambian Toys by Brendan

Here are some of the toys that you can make and play with in Zambia. My friends and I made all of the toys that you will see here, except the slingshot.

Slingshot - called a catapult or “legen”

This is the most popular of Zambian toys that almost everyone has. If you are bored you usually go hunting for birds. You don’t usually hit them, but it is fun trying. They are pretty cheap when you buy them in the market, especially if you bargain it down to less.

Mposho – peashooters

To make this you get a length of bamboo and a smaller rod of bamboo to fit inside it. The bamboo is naturally hollowed out so the other rod slides inside. You collect seeds from one of the trees and jam it into the end of the mposho. You push the rod in very hard and it shoots the seed out. The boys here use it for hurting each other, shooting it at each other and it can really hurt if you have a nice quality one.

Box Truck

You have to find a nice box and cut six holes on the bottom of the sides. You put a stick through it and pop on lids, which are the wheels. You can either push it with a wire or pull it with a string from a mealie-meal bag. All of the materials are recycled!

The Viva – the dancing man

This is made from water reeds that are quite juicy but they dry out fast. The natural “Y” of the reed becomes the legs. You stick clay on the bottoms to make feet and you tie a string around the top. You cover the tie with clay for the head. If you vibrate the top very fast it looks like he is dancing.

The Fan

This is made from a juice box straw, a thick wire, a thin wire, and a plastic bag. The big wire is shaped like the head of an alien, or a lightbulb. Part of the straw is cut and attached to the alien head wire. The wire is attached to the main straw and plastic is wrapped around it and held together with the thin wire. Then when you blow through the main straw, it goes around like a fan and makes a buzzing sound.