Let's make toys with acorns! Simple and fun handmade toys
When autumn comes, you often see children enjoying collecting acorns.
Acorns have always been a favorite nut among children, both now and in the past.
In this article, we’ll introduce handmade toys you can make with acorns.
We’ve gathered a variety of ideas—from classic toys like spinning tops and balancing toys (yajirobei) to items that let you enjoy making music or doing craft activities.
If you’re wondering what to do with the acorns you’ve collected, give these a try.
Be sure to treat acorns before using them by boiling or freezing to get rid of any insects inside.
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Let's Make Toys with Acorns! Simple and Fun Handmade Toys (1–10)
Acorn Pinball
Here’s a pinball-style toy you can make using a design board and wooden dowels.
You can buy both at a 100-yen shop.
Try finding acorns in a park or similar place.
Insert the wooden dowels into the design board at intervals and secure them with glue.
Finally, to keep the acorns from falling out, loop rubber bands across the left, right, and bottom edges of the design board—and you’re done.
Drop an acorn from the top, and it will clatter down as it falls.
It’s a very simple game, but kids are sure to be totally absorbed in it!
Acorn Cake
Have you heard of acorn cakes? They’re a fun autumn craft activity.
Try making them with your family using origami paper or paper clay.
Choosing the acorns is part of the fun, and you can create cakes in all sorts of colors and shapes.
If you decorate with acorns as toppings, you’ll have a lovely finished cake.
Just don’t forget to get rid of any bugs in the acorns before using them—boiling or freezing is recommended.
This fall, enjoy making acorn cakes with your child.
It’s sure to become a wonderful memory.
acorn maracas
Have you ever heard of an acorn maracas? Just pop some acorns into a plastic bottle or paper cup, and you’ve got a lovely instrument.
If you make it together with your child, you’re sure to have a great time.
Decorate it with cute washi tape, and you’ll have a one-of-a-kind maracas! You can change the volume, play with different rhythms—the ways to enjoy it are endless.
This handmade toy using nature’s gifts can also help strengthen the bond between parent and child.
Now, let’s head out and gather some acorns together!
Let’s make toys with acorns! Simple and fun handmade toys (11–20)
Acorn yo-yo
How about making a yo-yo using bowl-shaped cups? Draw any pictures or patterns you like on two bowls, then use an awl to make a hole in the bottom of one.
Link three rubber bands together, thread them through the hole, and pass a piece of chopstick about 3 cm long through the end of the rubber bands.
Tape it to the bowl.
Put acorns or other nuts inside the bowl, then attach the two bowls together, and your yo-yo is complete.
Slip your finger through the rubber bands and gently sway it to play.
The acorns inside rattle around and make a fun sound!
Acorn Coaster
Connect three toilet paper rolls vertically.
Cut one end of the stacked rolls into eight equal tabs and flare them outward.
Attach this flared end to a deep paper plate.
Next, cut out the centers of five more paper plates to match the diameter of the toilet paper roll, make a single slit in each ring, and join them together to form a spiral track.
Slide this spiral onto the toilet paper roll and secure it with tape to complete your “acorn coaster”! Drop an acorn from the top, and it will spin and descend along the spiral track for fun.
Acorn Slope
Why not try making an acorn slope using milk cartons? Prepare five milk cartons with the bottoms cut off and then cut lengthwise in half, and two cartons with the bottoms left on.
Connect a bottomless milk carton to each of the bottomed cartons to make two sets.
Place these two sets on the left and right as pillars, then alternately attach the remaining three milk carton halves across the pillars so they form downward slopes.
For each sloped carton, make a hole at the lower end large enough for an acorn to pass through.
Once it’s finished, drop lots of acorns in and have fun watching them roll!
Clattering Acorn
Tightly wrap a piece of wire around a bamboo skewer several times, then remove it and cut the wire, leaving about 8 centimeters at the end.
Make a hole in an acorn, attach it to the end of the wire with adhesive, and then stick the bamboo skewer onto the base.
It’s easier if you make a hole in the base beforehand.
With that, the toy is complete.
Thread the wire you prepared earlier through the bamboo skewer, and when you gently press the acorn, it will drop down with a rattle.
It’s a very simple toy, but it’s fun to see the acorn move without any power.
Since you’ll be using a hot glue gun for the adhesive, children in elementary school or younger should work together with an adult.