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 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!

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.

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!

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.

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!

Make brilliant land vehicles from simple everyday items and discover the engineering behind each model! You'll see how some wooden skewers and a soft drink can come together to create an electric car, and how plastic balls, wire, and rubber bands can make a dragster. Get the gear, get in gear, and do some serious road running!

Construct an arsenal of mini-models of large launchers, based on siege weapons used throughout history. All you need are everyday items and some adult help. Wheel them out as you conduct a siege and load your catapults with raisins or marshmallows. Bite-sized facts explain how these siege weapons were used in history too!

Make a robot from a toothbrush, send Morse code messages by telegraph, and create your own lightning! These amazing science projects use readily available items and have simple step-by-step instructions. Discover the science behind each quick experiment, and have fun showing your friends and family. It moves, it spins, it flashes, it glows—it's electricity!

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.

Build your very own planes and rockets! All you need are easy-to-find items and these incredible ideas. Find out how to make a glider, helicopter, a parachute, and more with objects like pencils, washers, and a plastic bag. Just put the pieces together to get up, up, and away—flying like the birds!