Her Beasts Volume Four

Toys For The Cubs Part Three

With lunch sorted and the sand obtained, Hazel immediately got to work on smoothing out both the balls for the cubs and the frisbee. The bubbles container was left as it was, only using the natural smoothing that Hazel's beaver form was capable of, as there was less concern about a cub getting splintered wood in their mouth since they shouldn't be playing with the bubbles container in their mouths.

While Hazel was busy with that, Iris had Fern help her out with some of the other projects she wanted to work on. These ones would be unlikely to be enjoyed by any cubs and would be more interesting for the females in their tribe who had opposable thumbs.

"I've got two ideas that will require minimal carpentry skills that we can start on. The first is something called a "kite" while the second is a salt dough that is similar to a toy we would have called "play-dough" in my old world.

I'm not super familiar with how old kites were made, other than reading a few passages here and there about it, so we will have to experiment some. What little I know says that natural materials like leaves and reeds were used for the kites. The basics of what I know are mostly regarding how modern-day kites look. 

They would involve the main body made from a thin material in various themed shapes with colorful designs "drawn" on them. They would then have a hard plastic material to add extra support, but it likely had to be very lightweight in order to support the weight of the kite. Then, a string would have to be attached to the base of the kite and a reel where the excess string would be held.

The basic process of using the kite would involve running with the kite as it gains wind before letting go of it and continuing to run forward as it lifts higher in the air. In order for the kite to soar higher, you would unwind more of the string, while you would reel in the string whenever you wanted the kite to go lower to the ground. That would especially useful when you went to retrieve your kite when you finished for the day. Admittedly, oftentimes, a windy day with very little other weather would be the best time to fly a kite since it would help the kite get enough air more easily.

As for the salt dough, it is, pretty much, just like it sounds. It involves mixing two parts flour with on part water and one part salt. My parents used to make it for me a lot when I was growing up as it was far cheaper than always buying new play-dough and it was even safe if a small child accidentally ate it. We often separated it into multiple smaller batches and dyed it different colors with food coloring, but we don't have such a convenient item here in the beastworld, so we will have to get creative."

Fern nodded, thinking about the issue before offering up

"I could likely buy some dried berries and herbs at market and then grind them into a powder with a mortar and pestle. We could probably get green from mint leaves, yellow from dandelions, and red and bluish-purple from the berries. With the more white color, the dough would likely naturally have, that would give us five colors. That would likely mean we would need five small containers for them, though. What should I do about that?"

Hazel looked up from what he was working on as he said

"I'll be done with this soon enough. I can make the containers and anything else you need then. Just focus on making the salt dough for now."

Iris was a little surprised her mates didn't complain about how expensive flour and salt could be. While the flour wasn't nearly as expensive as honey or maple syrup could be to produce, the salt wasn't even something they could obtain in their own city. They had to purchase it from the Golden Tradesmen on a semi-regular basis. This was one thing that Iris hoped to change once she made a trade agreement with the mermaid tribe. It would be easier to get larger amounts when they were trading directly with one of the tribes responsible for producing the salt.