With this plan you can make an old Russian folk toy invented by the fishermen on the shores of the White Sea.
The toy can serve as a puzzle, rattle and even as a musical instrument if you place some small stones, plant seeds or the like in the empty spaces between the parts when assembling them. The last assembled part (cover) used to be traditionally crafted in the shape of a horse or bird, thus symbolizing various natural phenomena (sun, wind, storm...) which in old times had a big impact on people's lives. The pictures in the plan will show you step by step how to assemble the sharkunok.
This is not a typical puzzle because some of its parts can fall into place only after using force that will deform adjacent portions. Therefore, the parts need to be made of wood that is flexible across the grain. Once you are familiar with creating this toy, you may apply the same principle in the making of a sharkunok with a larger number of parts. All of them should be made carefully so as to facilitate assemblage and prevent the upper parts from falling off while playing.
