Lovely handmade crafts

Easy DIY! Introducing educational toys that can be easily made with 100-yen shop items and things around the house.

Easy DIY! Introducing educational toys that can be easily made with 100-yen shop items and things around the house.

Last updated:2025/8/18

9 years of experience as a nursery school teacherShibata Risa
I am an active nursery school teacher with 9 years of experience. After graduating from university, I worked at a daycare center. The time I spent happily with children—playing piano, singing songs, and doing finger-play—are priceless memories to me. Currently, while raising three children of my own, I work at an after-school day service, engaging with children and providing individualized developmental support. Drawing on my diverse experiences as a childcare worker and as a mother, I hope to express and convey my thoughts through writing.

You want to provide toys that match your child’s development and changing interests, but buying new ones every time can get expensive, right?

If that sounds familiar, this is for you.

Here are some easy, handmade toy ideas you can try.

They use items from 100-yen shops and materials you likely already have at home, so they’re low-cost and beginner-friendly—another great bonus!

We’re focusing on how to make educational toys that build concentration, imagination, and fine motor skills.

Try incorporating them into playtime at home, as well as in daycare or kindergarten!

Easy DIY! Introducing educational toys you can make easily with 100-yen store items and things around you (1–10)

drop-in box toy

[DIY Educational Toy] All from the 100-yen shop! Make a drop-in sorter using name badges/name tags♪

drop-in box toy

Let’s make a perfect drop-in toy for focusing attention on fingertip control using name tags that you attach to keys! Just remove the ring and the paper insert from the name tag, and you’re ready in no time.

Pinch the tag and drop it into a coin bank you can buy at a 100-yen shop.

If you decorate the tags with stickers or washi tape together with the kids, it will make them even more engaging.

You can use anything that can pass through the coin slot—like ice cream sticks or flower tags used for planters—so give it a try!

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You can enjoy matching pictures too! A plastic bottle toy

Finger Skill Development: Handmade Toy with a Plastic Bottle for Toddlers

You can enjoy matching pictures too! A plastic bottle toy

Here’s an idea for a PET bottle toy that’s perfect for educational play.

First, prepare several plastic bottles.

Next, cut each bottle at about one-third from the top.

Then, insert a piece of thick paper with a character drawn on it into the open section.

Finally, stick a sticker of the same character on the bottle cap, and it’s complete.

Kids can enjoy opening and closing the caps and matching the character designs.

Using caps in different colors makes it look colorful and extra cute.

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Perfect for button practice! Onigiri

[Buttoning Practice] Handmade Felt Rice Balls (With Fillings, Bonus Included) [Easy DIY Toy]

Perfect for button practice! Onigiri

Here’s an idea for felt rice balls that help kids practice buttoning! First, cut a rectangle from white felt and fold it.

Keeping the middle of the folded edge intact, cut it into a rice ball shape.

Make fillings like pickled plum or salmon and sew on snap buttons.

Sew matching snap buttons to the center of the rice ball’s inside as well.

Sew a two-hole button to the upper inside part of the rice ball, and make a slit on the opposite side.

Finally, glue a strip of seaweed cut from black felt to the outside, and you’re done! Attach your favorite filling and close the rice ball with the buttons to enjoy making onigiri.

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Home planetarium

Turn your home into a planetarium! Here’s a toy that’s sure to get kids super excited.

First, cut black construction paper into a fan shape, then use a craft knife to cut out any shapes you like.

Using a craft punch makes it easier.

Next, stick colored cellophane over the cutout sections.

Once you’re done, roll the paper into a cone and tape it in place.

Finally, stack a paper cup with its bottom cut out and a paper plate with a hole cut to match the cup’s bottom onto a standing flashlight, then place the cone-shaped paper over the top—and you’re done! When you spin it, the many colorful shapes projected in the dark look like they’re moving, and it’s beautiful.

It’s a perfect toy for bedtime or indoor playtime!

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Tongs knob

[STEAM Early Childhood Education] Pool Noodles — Bringing More STEAM Learning to the Early Years

Tongs knob

If you prepare a pool noodle, pom-poms, and a toy pair of tongs, you can play a tong-picking game.

Using the tongs to pick up the pom-poms helps develop fine motor skills.

It also allows kids to focus, making it perfect for quiet indoor play.

If you put the pom-poms into the holes of the pool noodle and pretend it’s a cake, you can play bakery pretend play too.

You might also choose the colors of the pool noodle and pom-poms with pretend play in mind.

In addition, pushing the pom-poms out of the pool noodle to clean up is a great activity in itself.

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