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Cautionary Tales For Children
Wonderful witty poems great for reading to your children. The stories and rhymes will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
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Research has shown how important YOU are to your children and how as a dad the things you do, and keep on doing, really count, whether you live with them, or you are a single dad and are only able see them once a month, once a week or more, what you do really matters. This site is dedicated to all dads but will be of special relevance to the single dad. Remember, you are half the reason your children exist and they need you whether you live with them or not. As their dad, you have what it takes to make their lives successful and fulfilling no matter how often you see them. This site is about all the positive things that we as parents have to offer our children.
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Make an Alethiometer
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A Golden Compass that looks and feels just like the one in the book
On the night before Lyra and Pantalaimon leave Jordan College, The Master gives the little girl and her daemon a strange and mystical looking device called an Alethiometer, and bids her keep it a secret.
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The Alethiometer is a magical compass that points to the truth. Only six have ever been made. This one once belonged to Lyra’s Uncle, the great Lord Asriel, and now as Lyra’s epic journey to the Arctic Circle to find her uncle and uncover the truth about Dust begins, she wonders why she has been entrusted with it’s care.
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The Golden Compass film is currently in post production and will be ready for us to see in December later this year. Can you wait? Have you read the book (called “Northern Lights” in the UK) and can't wait to see the film? Well one way to pass the months ahead is to start making your collection of His Dark Materials Models. Top of the list must be an Alethiometer,
so I know that you will want to make and own a beautiful authentic looking Alethiometer of your own. So here it is, one of the coolest projects on dadcando, an Alethiometer, just like the one on the cover of the book.
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It’s not a quick project, but if have a spare weekend and you would like a really lovely version of the Alethiometer, then follow these instructions carefully, and what you make should look just like the one pictured here, that we made.
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We used an old model makers’ trick to get the gorgeous curves without using a lathe, using a profile for shaping filler, and the domed glass is nothing more than a small piece cut from the shoulder of a 2 litre fizzy drinks bottle.
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The best filler to use is a two part auto-body repair filler (car filling resin). It is very cheap and when mixed up properly, sets rock hard in a few minutes allowing you to build up layer after layer in an hour or so. However you can use quick drying decorators’ filler. You'll find all the templates, graphics and guides you need are right here, including an amazing downloadable printable of the icon ring and the engraved dial back-plate. All the images are as accurate as I could make them from the reference in existence. There is even a cut-out printable for the hands. So what are you waiting for? You can see that Dominic and Danielle
have already made their versions of the Alethiometer (that’s what inspired us to get making one).
The templates and instructions are available in both A4 and US Letter format and on separate downloads (because you might well need to print out the templates more times than the instructions. So remember that you will need at least one copy of each. Just click on the image that you want to download it. Remember to select the image for the correct paper size and make sure that your printer isn’t trying to resize the image for you. The Instruction file is quite large, so be patient while it downloads, but then you will appreciate the quality when you’re done.
Alethiometer instructions

Alethiometer templates and graphic printables

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Posted by Yay101202303 - I'm a bit younger than then recommended age, but i was able to make this and be pleased with it. Sorry the picture is blurry.
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Posted by Demodemo - Our Alethiometer is made from MDF cut on a CNC router, and the "glass" is a piece of acrylic which I put in an oven and placed over a ring and pressed gently with a cloth to make the bulge.
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Fabulous paper planes
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For most kids (boys and girls) paper folding (origami) starts with making a paper airplane. Folded out of any rectangular piece of paper (including paper money for those rich kids on the block) the paper plane is a fantastic thing.  It's so simple, a paper airplane will only take a minute to fold up, and yet it really does something when you've made it. Like riding a bike, you never really forget how to make a paper plane, but in case you have forgotten, or would like to try some new paper plane designs, you'll find the clearest instructions on dadcando, ready for you to teach a whole new generation of kids the pleasure of areo-engineering and flight dynamics from a simple sheet of paper.

Use the awesome dadcando downloadable printables to make the coolest paper airplanes on the planet, see which design can fly the furthest, and if you have an idea for another colour pattern or even an alternative folding scheme, why not send it in to us and if it's good enough we'll put it up with the others, for everyone to enjoy. Click here to send us your plane designs.
Have a look at these fantastic new templates . . .
the RAF Tornado GR4 , the Tornado F-3 and now for the first time, Concorde . All my kids could say was... "Cool, they look like real planes!" Build them and fly them in 5 minutes. Why wait for the kids to come home, unlock the big kid in you, it’s the best kind of paper craft you’ve ever seen.
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