How to Make Wire Toys

Use fuse wire, electrical wire, copper wire or florist wire, as these kinds of wires are durable and easy to manipulate. Use a wire stripper to remove the insulation from the wire to make the wire more flexible during handling.

Cut wire with wire cutters, rather than scissors, for clean edges. Cut one or two long pieces of wire (12 inches for a toy the size of a baseball, depending on complexity of the piece) to use for the toy, rather than cutting multiple pieces to assemble. This way, the toy will not a lot of have sharp edges from all the cut ends of wire.

Fashion the wire into a two- or three-dimensional model. Ideally, use an existing toy as a guide, mimicking the proportions and shapes of the toy. Alternatively, use a sketch or drawing of a toy that you designed.

Use your fingers as well as other objects to manipulate the wire into desired shapes and curves. For instance, wrap the wire around a pencil to curve the wire and re-direct in a different direction. Wrap the wire around a block to create a symmetrical, box-like structure. Continuously wrap around a cylinder shape (such as can) to create a spiral structure.

Re-use the parts of wires that you incorrectly bended. Place the wire on a table or flat surface and smooth the bumps out of the wire with a ruler.

Tuck the ends of the wire into the model, once finished manipulating, so that these sharp edges are not exposed. Alternatively, place a dab of hot glue on the ends of wire to soften these edges.