Here in the Midwest it sometimes seems like Spring will never, well…spring. We get that “April showers bring May flowers”, but nearly all of the last month has been cold and rainy around these parts. While things are improving, we think it’s always good practice to have a few fun projects at the ready, just in case your plans with the kids get rained out.

We think that Hackaday reader [Dombeef’s] papercraft strandbeest is a perfect idea for a rainy afternoon. The supply list is pretty short, requiring little more than some scissors, pliers, paperclips, and glue in addition to the thick paper that makes up the body of the strandbeest. The paper is cut into pieces according to the PDF template he includes in his Instructable, secured to one another via small pieces of paperclip.

Once the legs are all constructed, a main axis is built from one of the remaining paperclips, and everything is joined together under the main portion of the strandbeest’s body.

As you can see in the video, the legs work quite well, though the strandbeest can probably benefit from a hand crank in the short term. [Dombeef] plans on adding a small motor to his creation, which should get the strandbeest moving about quite rapidly once completed.

If you are looking for more fun projects to do with the kids, look no further than this papercraft gyroscope or these squishy circuits.

Although spring keeps trying to break through the winter doldrums you might be looking for just one more weekend activity before the outdoor season begins. Grab the kids and give this paper gyroscope a try.

It’s not an electronic sensor made of paper, but the modern equivalent of a spinning top. The frame remains stationary while the center assembly spins at high speed, keeping the whole thing balanced on one narrow point. [Dombeef] put together a printable template which you can use to make your own parts. He got a hold of the heavy paper that’s used to hold X-ray film, but you can just trace out multiple copies of the parts and make a beefy section by laminating them together with glue. Combine the inner and outer parts using a paper clip as the axis and you’re ready to go. Pull hard on a bit of floss wound around the axis to get the center frame spinning, then sit back and see how long it will remain standing.