[Childcare] Recommended for toddlers! Toy ideas you can make and play with
Toys you can make and play with can be created from everyday materials if you match them to your child’s age and interests.
Through crafting, kids can have fun, grow attached to what they make, and even find opportunities to communicate with friends.
Here, we’ll introduce simple, easy-to-make toy ideas for toddlers.
There are plenty of options for indoor play and for enjoying outside!
Many can be made easily using familiar recyclable materials, so please use this as a reference and try making them together with your children!
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[Childcare] Recommended for toddlers! Toy ideas you can make and play with (121–130)
fishing
Let’s make a fishing game where you can catch all kinds of sea creatures—big fish, small fish, crabs, and jellyfish! We’ll use recycled materials to create the fish, such as small empty containers like plastic bags, yogurt cups, lactic acid drink bottles, and toilet paper rolls.
Embed a magnet from the inside where the fish’s head or dorsal fin will be.
For the fishing rod, attach string (like kitchen twine) to a pair of chopsticks and put a magnet at the end.
You can wrap the chopsticks with masking tape to make them cute.
Have fun making your children’s favorite sea creatures and playing with them!
Fruit Concentration
These are felt cards you can use to play Concentration (Memory)! You can choose any motifs you like—fruits, vehicles, animals, anything is fine.
However, since Concentration is a game where you match pairs of identical cards, be sure to make two cards of each design.
Cut felt into card shapes and either glue or sew the motifs onto them.
If you’re making everything out of felt, it’s efficient to layer the same fabric and cut two identical pieces at once to save time.
If you want to keep things simple, you could also use store-bought appliqués and just stick them on.
Paper Cup Bowling
How about an easy-to-make bowling game using paper cups? You could simply place the cups upside down, but they don’t knock over easily that way, so let’s make pins by connecting two paper cups at their rims.
It’s a good idea to put a few marbles or small stones inside as weights.
Then decorate them however you like—draw pictures, add stickers, or glue on origami paper! For the ball, crumple up newspaper or flyers into a ball and wrap it with tape or origami paper to finish.
picture book
How about making a cloth picture book for babies out of felt? You can find colorful felt at 100-yen shops and craft stores, so try cutting, pasting, and sewing it to match your vision.
You can recreate a picture book your child loves, or add interactive elements they can play with.
There are many kinds of mechanisms: for example, motifs that can be peeled off with hook-and-loop tape, parts that fasten with buttons, and classics like puzzles or matching games.
[Childcare] Recommended for toddlers! Toy ideas you can make and play with (131–140)
Goldfish scooping
You can even make a classic summer festival game—goldfish scooping—by hand! All you need are everyday items like a milk carton, vinyl tape, and PE tape.
First, make a “poi” scoop using a ring-shaped strip cut from a milk carton and a drain strainer net.
It’s safer for the teacher to handle the cutting and stapling.
Wrap the vinyl tape around the scoop you made.
For the goldfish, cut the milk carton into an egg shape, draw goldfish-like patterns, and attach PE tape as the tail with tape—that’s it! These goldfish actually float on water, so it feels more realistic.
Hope you catch lots of goldfish!
Bunbun top (whirligig)
Let’s make a traditional handmade toy called a bunbun spinning top! With a milk carton, cardboard, and kite string, you can make one right away.
Cut the material into circles, squares, or any shape you like, and stack several layers to add thickness.
It spins better if it’s at least 2 mm thick.
Make two holes in the center and thread the kite string through to form a loop, and it’s done.
Before threading the string, decorate the main body by drawing pictures or attaching colored paper—when it spins, it looks beautiful.
If you cut slits around the edge like rays and hook yarn into them, you’ll get a pretty spinning top.
string telephone
A classic handmade toy: a string telephone made with paper cups.
Many parents probably played with it when they were young, too.
If the string is taut, you hold one cup to your ear and speak into the other, and you can hear the voice even from a distance.
It’s very easy to make—poke a hole in the center of the bottom of each paper cup with an awl or similar tool, thread a piece of twine through, and secure it firmly so it doesn’t slip out.
You can also use a large bead to keep it in place.
These days, lots of cute paper cups are available.
You can even draw your own designs to give it a personal touch.
In conclusion
Toys you can make and play with using familiar materials—all of them were wonderful ideas that nurture young children’s imagination. You were probably surprised that such fun toys can be made from everyday items like paper cups, cardboard, and milk cartons. Cherish the time spent making them together with your children, and use play as a way to foster their creativity and ingenuity.