WHEN WE PLAY SOLDIERS

When I go over to Henry’s, sometimes we make forts, sometimes we make things up, sometimes we play soldiers —  not something I would ever do with anyone else.  I don’t  even have any soldiers!

We set everything up, and then the soliders either have a battle or get ready for one. Sometimes the soliders even say and do silly things at surprise moments.  The first time I made one of the soldiers say something that had nothing to do with the war, Henry looked very surprised — almost shocked —  but then he laughed and now he does it himself sometimes. 

But usually, the soldiers are serious. Last time we made flying saucers that really worked out of  a spool, button, balloon, and a 45-record. It was Henry’s idea – his father is a scientist.  

To make flying saucers

You will need:

a  round plastic button with at least two holes in it

a spool of thread

Krazy Glue (no substitues)

a balloon

a CD you won’t ever want to play again

1.  Glue a button to a spool -- just an ordinary thread spool – so that  the holes of the button are exactly over the hole in the spool. Use Krazy Glue --  other kinds of glue aren’t strong enough to hold everything together --  and follow the Krazy Glue directions exactly, including pressing things together. 

2.  Once the button and spool are firmly attached, carefully slip a balloon over the button and the top of the spool.

3.  Glue the bottom of the spool to an old CD – use Krazy Glue for this, too.  Keep all the holes in a straight line. 

4. When these two things are attached, hold the CD carefully with one hand and keep the lip of the balloon over the spool with your other hand and blow up the balloon.

5. As soon as the balloon is big enough, pinch it closed with your fingers and put the CD down on a slippery surface: a linoleum floor is perfect. Let go – the CD will zip along the floor!

Actually, it’s just above the floor (like a hovercraft) but it looks as though it’s on the floor.

Henry and I used old kiddy records, the kind with dumb songs for very young children: "What HAPpened at the zoo?/I'll tell you and it's true!"

We blew up the balloons, held them closed, and ran to the battlefield- when we put them down and let go, they zipped around by themselves. You couldn't tell where they would go or what they would hit - which, I thought, made it much more exciting. Henry always tried to get his to go where he wanted it to:

"I like to keep it on course."

Then, I had the idea of putting Rice Crispies on the attack saucers (we were in the kitchen, because the floor there is the slipperiest).

"They might work as ammo," Henry said. "We better fuel up first, though."

So we blew up our balloons and I held them closed while, carefully, Henry put Rice Crispies in a little ring around each spool. Then we looked at each other, counted down, and let go - the ammo flew off REALLY dramatically, spraying out all over everything.

"They're too light," Henry said, frowning.
We were experimenting with raisins (Henry wanted something that would damage the fortifications as well as knock soldiers down) when Henry's mother came into the kitchen

Go back to the story (Libby at school).