Lovely handmade crafts

[Let’s Make and Play!] Handmade Toy Ideas You Can Create Yourself

lighterutatane
A person from the melodic hardcore boom generation who loves music, photography, and eating. I’ve been going to live houses for over 20 years. I’m at the age where summer festivals are starting to feel tough physically. I sometimes try shooting live photos and videos for MVs. I’m not great at English, so I often listen to straightforward Japanese rock that hits directly, but if someone recommends something, I’ll listen to anything—Western or Japanese—broadly and casually. I like cooking while listening to music; it’s a nice way to relieve stress.

Kids love new toys, don’t they?

They figure out how to play, add their own twists, and discover new ways to have fun.

Here are some ideas for making handmade toys that are easy to customize and adapt!

These ideas use materials you already have at home or can pick up at a 100-yen shop, so they’re all things you can start making right away.

It’s great for adults to make them, and there are plenty of ideas kids can make themselves, too.

Original, one-of-a-kind toys become extra special—and even more fun!

Let's Make and Play! DIY Toy Ideas (1–10)

Corinth game

How to make a Corinth game: cardboard, smart ball, pinball, Pokémon, independent research, DIY, easy

Corinth game

Let’s try making a handmade Corinth game—an old-school game also known as a smart ball or pinball! You don’t need any special tools; you can build it out of cardboard.

Draw and paste your favorite pictures, add point values to boost the gameplay, and with a few creative touches you’ll end up with a truly original piece! You can also easily make the marble-launching mechanism using cardboard, bamboo skewers, and rubber bands, which kids are sure to love.

Featuring characters from your favorite anime or games, or coming up with your own original design, would be wonderful too!

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playing store

[Wakuwaku-san’s Craft Class] Make accessories using toilet paper rolls! Have fun playing “accessory shop”!

playing store

How about playing “store” using cardboard and scrap materials? For example, you could slice toilet paper rolls into rings to make bracelets and recreate a jewelry shop, or roll up newspaper to look like takoyaki and recreate a takoyaki stand.

Of course, it’s fine to choose any kind of shop—like a clothing store or a cake shop.

Once everything is ready, try buying and selling the items and have fun.

You can probably find craft ideas for popular types of shops on YouTube and similar sites.

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gachapon

Let's make a handmade cardboard gacha machine capsule game!

gachapon

Believe it or not, there’s a way to make a capsule toy machine (gachagacha) out of cardboard.

In this idea, you equip the cardboard with a mechanism using plastic bottles to recreate the machine.

You can experience that heart-pounding excitement of turning the knob right at home.

Make the coins out of cardboard, and use real capsules.

You can load the capsules with toys, or use them for a lottery-style game.

There seem to be plenty of ways to play.

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[Let’s Make and Play!] DIY Toy Ideas (11–20)

wheat clay

[Indoor Play] Clay Fun with Homemade Dough! Enjoy it from the making stage♪ How to make safe and secure flour dough that’s perfect for little kids♪

wheat clay

Many children love playing with clay.

So here’s a suggestion: homemade playdough made from wheat flour.

The great thing about this idea is that you can enjoy the process of making the dough itself.

All you need are flour, salt, oil, and water.

Just mix and knead them together, and you’re ready to go.

Adding food coloring is also recommended—the bright colors help spark imagination.

By the way, you can do the same using rice flour instead of wheat flour.

Try whichever you prefer.

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air cannon

[Science Play 005] Let’s Make a PET Bottle Air Cannon!

air cannon

How about making a simple air cannon—familiar from science experiments—using a plastic bottle? After you make it, you can also build targets and play! First, prepare a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off, and a balloon with its neck tied and the opposite end cut off.

Next, stretch the balloon over the cut end of the bottle and secure it with vinyl tape—that’s it! To play, just pull the tied end of the balloon and release.

It’s also fun to make air cannons of different sizes and compare them! If you draw pictures on the targets or assign points, it adds a game-like element and makes it even more enjoyable.

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octopus

Let's make a simple 'peregrine falcon kite'

octopus

Have you ever flown a kite? Here, I’ll introduce an idea for a particularly cool-looking kite: the peregrine falcon kite.

A “peregrine falcon kite” is a kite that looks like a falcon with its wings spread.

You make it by cutting parts out of color boards.

Since you can make it using only items sold at 100-yen shops, it’s a very cost-effective idea.

Give it a try and enjoy the thrill of flying a peregrine falcon kite.

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Kendama

Cup kendama: Have fun by changing the difficulty!

Kendama

Let’s make a kendama, a toy loved since the Edo period.

For this idea, you’ll use two paper cups, a string, newspaper, and toilet paper.

First, glue the two paper cups together bottom to bottom.

Next, crumple newspaper into a ball and embed one end of the string inside it.

Once that’s done, attach the other end of the string to the seam where the paper cups meet, and finish by adding a handle made from toilet paper.

You can adjust the string length to change the difficulty.

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