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Last updated 19/9/2026

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Juegos de los Ninos, 1847
 
'Juegos de los Ninos', 'translated from the best manuals recently published in Paris' 'by RC', was publishedby R y Fonseca in Madrid in 1847. The book contains a section headed 'Pajaritas y otras figuras de papel doblado' (Pajaritas and other folded figures) and a section on designs that can be cut and folded from playing cards, 'Recortes de naipes', which explains how to make the Playing Card Monk, or Capuchin, various pieces of furniture, cubes and baskets using cardboard modelling / cartonnage techniques, and the Playing Card Cube. There are no illustrations.

The 'Pajaritas y otras figuras de papel doblado' section is based on a similar section found in 'Manuel Complet des Jeux de Société' by Elisabeth Celnart, which was published in Paris in 1827. The material about 'Recortes de naipes' also derives from this book.

A full copy of the work can be viewed online here.

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Analysis

The Playing Card Monk / Capuchin

The words describe how to make a Playing Card Monk / Capuchin from a folded playing card with a single diagonal cut, then say, roughly, 'The children stand the cards up, one after the other ... then, dropping the first, they push each other over and all of them fall in succession.'

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The Playing Card Cube

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The Pajarita (and other folded figures)

The final paragraph reads, roughly, 'Similarly, and with the difference of increasing folds, making them in another direction to get the tips from different sides, children make little boxes, mirrors, tables, wagons, boats, etc., whose description would be very long.'

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