Disposable chopsticks transformed! Fun toy-making using chopsticks!
Don’t you ever end up with disposable chopsticks left over because you get them with bentos from convenience stores or supermarkets and forget to use them?
Today, we’ll introduce a simple and fun toy you can make using those spare chopsticks!
Please give it a try with any extra chopsticks you have.
It might be a bit tricky depending on your child’s age, so please lend a hand where needed.
Also, waving or pointing chopsticks at people can cause injuries, so please follow the safety rules and enjoy making chopstick toys safely!
- Fun DIY Toy Ideas You Can Make with 100-Yen Store Materials
- Recommended for 5-year-olds! Simple DIY toy ideas
- Introducing easy-to-make newspaper toys! Once they're finished, you can play with them.
- Let’s make it with 3-year-olds! Fun handmade toy ideas
- Make it with everyday materials! A collection of DIY toy ideas recommended for 1-year-olds
- Fun to play! A collection of handmade toy ideas made with construction paper
- Let's make toys with pine cones! Easy and fun handmade toys
- [Age 2] Summer Fun! Simple Origami Toys Perfect for Indoor Play
- For older kindergarteners: Let’s make it! A collection of recommended origami ideas for February
- Make it with wood! A collection of easy DIY toy ideas!
- [Childcare] Playing with scrap materials: Toys you can make from recycled items
- An empty box becomes a toy! A collection of ideas for handmade toys
- Fun! A collection of handmade toy ideas made from Styrofoam
Disposable chopsticks transform! Fun toy-making with disposable chopsticks! (1–10)
disposable chopstick hourglass
@silk_haru3mama Summer vacation craft 🌻 It's fun—when you flip it over like an hourglass, the straws flow down! ⌛️#Summer VacationSummer Vacation Craft#AtHomePlay#HandmadeToysworkEducational toy#craft
♬ Another Day of Sun from La La Land [ORIGINAL COVER] – SoundWorks
This is a craft that works like an hourglass, where finely cut pieces of straw fall along a spring-shaped wire.
The main components are a wire shaped like a spring—made by wrapping it around a rod and then stretching it—and the finely cut straw pieces.
The wire in the center is stabilized by paper cups at the top and bottom and chopsticks on the left and right.
The idea is to use the chopsticks as sturdy guides and to place lids made of paper cups at the top and bottom so the straw pieces don’t spill.
Let’s also pay attention to the colors of the straws and the decorations on the paper cups and chopsticks to create a more vibrant hourglass.
A marionette puppet show with disposable chopsticks
Strings attached to a paper-cup puppet are connected to chopsticks, and by moving the chopsticks, the puppet moves in sync.
The strings connected to each hand and to the center are key points for making it move, so let’s allow freedom in the design.
The chopsticks are assembled in a cross shape, and this small touch makes the movement appear more complex.
It’s also recommended to increase the number of puppet parts, attach strings to each, and create an even more intricate range of motions.
Rubber-band gun made from disposable chopsticks
Here’s how to make a rubber band gun using two disposable chopsticks.
Wrap two chopsticks together with rubber bands.
Be careful about how you wrap them and the orientation of the chopsticks.
Once it’s assembled, hook a rubber band on and move the chopsticks—the rubber band will shoot.
It’s a simple and easy chopstick rubber band gun.
When playing, don’t aim it at people, as there’s a risk of injury.
It’s also fun to compete to see whose rubber band flies the farthest.
Give it a try and have fun!
Disposable chopsticks transform! Fun toy-making with chopsticks! (11–20)
disposable chopstick battledore
Let’s make a hagoita—familiar as a New Year’s plaything—using a combination of disposable chopsticks and a milk carton as the base.
Attach a chopstick to the center of an opened milk carton, fold the carton around it into the shape of a hagoita using the chopstick as the axis, and then add decorations.
If you’re making a paddle for hanetsuki, keep it simple; if you’re making a decorative hagoita, embellish it brightly.
The chopstick adds sturdiness, while the simple look that makes use of the milk carton’s white surface is another big appeal, giving you the freedom to design it however you like.
A Pteranodon flapping its wings with disposable chopsticks
Let’s make a pterosaur—ever-popular among dinosaurs—the Pteranodon.
You will need three materials: a paper plate, construction paper, and two wooden chopsticks.
Cut the paper plate in half, then fold it in two.
As if making a paper cutout, draw the wings and hind legs on the plate with a pen and cut them out with scissors.
Unfold the plate, then add creases to the left and right of the center fold; make the center line a valley fold and the two sides mountain folds.
Now that the wings can move, attach one chopstick to the back of each wing as handles.
Make a slit in the middle of the straight edge of the plate, insert the Pteranodon head you made from construction paper, and you’re done.
Try coloring it and have fun making it fly!
A Frisbee gun made of disposable chopsticks
Here’s a DIY Frisbee gun you can enjoy over and over.
You’ll need chopsticks, a clothespin, a rubber band, and thick paper (cardstock).
First, attach the clothespin to the end of the chopstick.
Position it so the gripping side faces inward and secure it with cellophane tape.
Attach a rubber band to the opposite end.
With the launcher done, let’s make the disc from the cardstock.
Cut a circle with a diameter of 2 cm and make a V-shaped slit.
Hook the launcher’s rubber band into the slit, and clamp the disc in the clothespin.
Press the clothespin, and the disc will shoot off with force!
Disposable chopstick target-throwing game
With this idea, you can enjoy a target-shooting game by launching ping-pong balls.
First, let’s make the launcher.
Glue a pair of chopsticks to the outside of a clothespin so they form a V shape.
Cut two slits in a plastic bottle cap, hook a rubber band into the slits, and attach it to the end of the upper chopstick.
Decorate it cutely with masking tape, and your launcher is complete.
Next, make targets out of a milk carton to finish your target-shooting game set.
Place a ping-pong ball on the cap, press the chopsticks downward, aim, and release.
If you hit the target, you win!