Handmade piggy banks with fun mechanisms! A collection of summer vacation craft ideas that will amaze even adults

Sorting Piggy Bank

DIY handmade coin sorter piggy bank

How about making a piggy bank out of cardboard that automatically sorts coins? It looks complicated, but it’s actually easy to make! Here’s how the coins are sorted: since each coin has a different thickness, you create a piece of cardboard with a row of holes sized to match each coin’s thickness, and install it inside the piggy bank like a slide.

When you put money in, the coins slide along that section and drop into the hole that matches their thickness.

The important point is to place the holes for smaller coins toward the front and the holes for larger coins toward the back.

After that, you just need to make the outer box of the piggy bank and the coin slot, so it’s perfect for a summer vacation craft project!

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sasashina

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Piggy bank ghost

It gobbles up your allowance too! I made a piggy-bank ghost!

Here’s an idea for a piggy bank where a ghost “eats” your money.

The materials are cardboard, wooden sticks, rubber bands, and string.

Roughly speaking, you first make the outer body of the piggy bank, then create the moving parts and the rotating parts.

Once both are ready, place the moving parts inside the piggy bank, install the rotating parts on the outside and inside, and connect them with rubber bands and string.

When you turn the round piece attached to the outside, the ghost’s tongue will move in and out—once that mechanism works, you’re almost done.

After that, decorate it so it looks like a ghost.

There are some detailed steps, but the overall process is simple, so give it a try!

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Dangerous Piggy Bank

A piggy bank that becomes dangerous when you put money into it

Let’s make a dangerous piggy bank that snaps shut when you insert money! It looks like a piggy bank, but be careful—you can’t actually save money with it.

Build it purely as a toy that resembles a piggy bank.

Materials: cardboard, square wooden sticks, rubber bands, and twine.

If you want to decorate it to look like a creature, prepare eye parts and felt as well.

The mechanism works so that when you insert a coin, an internal stopper drops and the left and right side panels open.

Rubber bands are hooked onto the side panels, so the force from the panels snapping open makes the piggy bank move.

It requires some fine work, but there aren’t any difficult steps—give it a try if you like.

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A piggy bank where a cat takes the money

How to make Cat steeling Coin bank Cardboard DIY

A cat puts money into a piggy bank! It’s an idea that makes inserting coins fun.

Combine cardboard to create a mechanism where, when you turn an external lever, the cat’s paw pulls the coin into the box.

Then make the outer part of the coin box, the cat’s paw, and its face, and add a coin placement spot where the paw can reach—then it’s complete.

You can make it with cardboard, bamboo skewers, glue, and other common materials, but since the cat’s paw will be moved constantly during use, be sure to glue it firmly and build it sturdy so it moves smoothly.

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yuri

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Piranha Plant Piggy Bank

Koji Kanba’s Fun Craft: Chompy Coin Bank

Here’s an idea for a frog-shaped chomping piggy bank.

You pull the tongue inside its mouth forward and place a coin in the dip.

Then, when you press the switch on top of its head, it “eats” the money.

Kids might be tempted to put lots of coins into a piggy bank that feels like a toy, don’t you think? This one is made as a frog, but as long as you replicate the internal mechanism, I think it could be made as other creatures too.

Try making it as whatever animal you’d like to feed coins to!

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Slope Piggy Bank

Recommended for summer vacation crafts 🌻 I made a piggy bank out of a milk carton.

How about making a fun piggy bank where coins roll down a slope? You’ll use a milk carton, wooden chopsticks, and a clear file.

Make three rectangular pieces from milk cartons.

Turn them sideways, stack two, and glue them together.

Then glue the remaining one at the very bottom, shifted slightly forward.

Cut a coin slot at the upper right edge of the bottom milk carton, and decorate with origami paper or masking tape.

Glue chopsticks to both ends of the gap created by the offset, and add a slope so coins fall into the slot.

Close the top with a piece cut from a clear file.

Your piggy bank is complete! If you want to be able to use the money whenever you like, add a retrieval opening as well.

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sasashina

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ATM-style piggy bank

[Free Craft] A milk carton transforms!? A piggy bank that looks just like a real ATM! [Milk Carton Craft]

Just like a real ATM! Here’s a piggy bank idea made using a milk carton and a toilet paper roll.

First, create the main body of the piggy bank with a milk carton.

Then make the money tray using another milk carton and a toilet paper roll, and secure it inside.

Decorate the outside of the carton with construction paper or plastic sheets so it looks like an ATM, and you’re done.

When you insert a card, it triggers a mechanism that drops the saved coins down, so you can even experience “withdrawing” money!

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