An empty box becomes a toy! A collection of ideas for handmade toys
Don’t you find yourself surrounded by empty boxes—like tissue boxes or candy boxes—before you know it?
It feels like such a waste to just crush them and throw them away!
This time, we’re introducing easy, handmade toys you can make using those empty boxes.
Boxes come in all kinds of shapes, so we’ve gathered a wide range of DIY toy ideas—from unique toys that make the most of each box’s shape to games you can really get absorbed in.
Take a look and see which ones you can make with the empty boxes you have at home!
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Empty boxes become toys! A collection of handmade toy ideas (11–20)
Dropping-in game
Here’s how to make a chocolate drop-in toy that’s super popular with kids.
Prepare cardboard, empty candy boxes, colored pens, scissors, a craft knife, and magnetic tape.
First, paint the cardboard in a chocolate color.
Create a slit on the top of the empty box, trim off any excess, then attach magnetic tape to the lid so it can open and close.
Cut the chocolate-colored cardboard into chocolate-shaped pieces, and you’re done! Drop them into the box and have fun playing.
point-taking game
Let’s make a fun toy using an empty snack box! Prepare a box whose lid stands at a 90-degree angle when opened.
You’ll attach wooden sticks to wooden clothespins: on one clothespin, glue the stick to the tip; on the other, glue the stick to the back end.
Hot-glue a plastic bottle cap to one of them, and glue the other to the bottom of the box.
Inside the open box, randomly attach small paper cups, and you’re done! To play, place a craft pom-pom on the bottle cap and flick it to try to land it inside the paper cups.
You can write point values on the cups and have a competition, too!
garbage truck
Let’s make a garbage truck that kids love using empty boxes! Prepare three empty boxes of different sizes, cellophane tape, scissors, cardboard, colored construction paper, crayons, and colored markers.
On the first (largest) box, draw a rectangular opening, make starter cuts, and cut it out with scissors.
Cut a piece of colored construction paper to cover the hole you just made, and tape only the top edge with cellophane tape.
Place the large box you made on top of the second box and secure it with tape.
Finally, cover the third empty box with paper and draw the garbage truck details.
Combine all the parts, tape them together, add the wheels, and you’re done!
Barbecue set
Let’s make a barbecue set! Prepare a cardboard box, yarn, scissors, glue, a ruler, and tape.
For the charcoal, glue together red and black origami paper, then tear it in half by hand.
Roll it up with the red side facing inward and secure it with tape.
Gently flatten it, and your charcoal is done! For the grill, cut off the lid section of the cardboard box.
Make slits in the cardboard at 2 cm intervals.
String yarn vertically and horizontally through the slits to create a mesh.
Your grill is complete! Next, for the tongs, prepare two straight straws, two bendable straws, cellophane tape, and scissors.
Align the two bendable straws and firmly tape both sides of each bend with cellophane tape.
From the mouth end, cut the opposite end to match the length up to the bend.
Finally, attach forks to the outside of the bendable straws with two pieces of tape, and you’re done! Make your favorite ingredients and have fun playing!
Moving pendulum clock
Let me introduce a pendulum clock you can make using an empty tissue box.
Prepare an empty tissue box, an awl, scissors, a utility knife, bamboo skewers, double-sided tape, glue, thick paper (cardstock), and colored construction paper.
Cut out the clear plastic from the opening of the box, then cover the entire box with brown construction paper.
Next, use the utility knife to make a 0.5 cm by 4 cm slit on one side of the box.
Cut a strip of cardstock to 2 cm by 20 cm, then attach two large buttons underneath it with double-sided tape so that the cardstock is sandwiched between them.
Insert the cardstock through the slit from the bottom, make a hole 2 cm down from the top using the awl, pass a bamboo skewer through the hole, and secure it with cellophane tape.
Draw a clock face and a bird, stick them onto the pendulum clock, and you’re done!