The catapult itself can also be made with two pegs. These should be cut off cleanly at the forks. Two holes, about 3 in. apart, should then be bored in the base board (for this, a piece of plank about 3 ft. or 4 ft. long will do quite well), and the pegs screwed on (see Fig. 39 on page 34).
For ammunition all you need is an unlimited number of little pieces of cardboard, folded in two. These carry well, are quite heavy enough to upset the skittles, and, above all, are not likely to hurt, even if they do strike a player.
If you wish to vary the game slightly, you can rig up a "cokernut shy" in place of the skittles. This you will find very popular at Christmas time, particularly if you play for the nuts.
For this you want some wire hoops on which to stand the nuts. To make these, take a piece of stiff wire about 5 in. long and bend one end in the shape of a small circle, about 1/2 in. across. Now bend this loop so that it is at right angles to the wire; then when the wire is upright the circle will be horizontal (Fig. 35). Sharpen the other end with a file. Make three or four like this, and then some more an inch shorter, and a third lot two inches shorter. These must then be driven into the other end of the catapult board so that they are not too close together; otherwise the game is too easy.
Now all you need is a cardboard shelter. This can be oblong at the ends and triangular at the sides; but the shape is quite immaterial so long as the "shy" is properly shut in. Fig. 36 shows a suitable arrangement.
Another tip-top game, for the making of which you can use broken clothes pegs, is the "_ring-board_" or "_indoor quoits_." This consists simply of a board with a number of pegs projecting from it. The object of the game is to throw a number of rings in such a fashion that they will lodge on the pegs, scoring points according to the numbers marked at each peg. The board may be hung on the wall, or else placed flat on the floor. In the former case, the pegs must have a slightly upward slant, so that the rings will not tumble off easily; in the latter the rings must be upright.
To make either game, obtain a piece of wood about 18 in. square. You will probably need to join up boards for this. If you get three pieces of 6-in. board, each 18 in. long, and secure these side by side by means of a couple of battens, nailed right across the back, the result will be a square of the right size (Fig. 37).