[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 (11–20)
tambourine maracas
Let’s make an original instrument! Here are ideas for a tambourine-maracas combo.
You’ll need deep paper plates, double-sided tape or craft glue, jingle bells, ribbons, masking tape, felt, sequins, and other decorative materials.
How about creating your very own instrument with a free imagination? It looks like a tambourine, can be shaken like maracas, and even played like a drum.
This kind of engaging craft nurtures children’s imagination.
Give it a try!
Tambourine of Box and Bell
Let me introduce an idea for a tambourine made with a box and bells.
You’ll need a round box, masking tape, wire, an awl, decorative origami paper, double-sided tape, and scissors.
Using sparkly origami or decorating with cutouts of your favorite motifs will really lift the mood! Divide up the tasks with the kids and make the tambourine together.
It’s safest for a parent or teacher to handle the step of punching holes in the container with the awl.
Enjoy making music with your very own original tambourine!
Magnet and pipe cleaner toy
Let me introduce a toy using magnets and pipe cleaners.
Prepare an empty 6-piece cheese box, bottle caps, pipe cleaners, a plastic sheet, drawing paper, string, clear tape, vinyl tape, and glue, and let’s make it.
Line the inside of the empty cheese box with drawing paper to create the base.
Cut the plastic sheet into a circle to make a window.
Choose the colors of the pipe cleaners, cut them to length, and place them inside the cheese box to get ready.
Put a magnet inside a bottle cap, and tape two caps together with vinyl tape so the magnet won’t fall out.
Make a hole in the cap, thread the string through, and create the magnetic part that will move the pipe cleaners.
By holding the magnet against the outside of the cheese box, the pipe cleaners inside gather and move, making it a fun toy to play with!
A toy train with magnets
Let’s create a tiny world inside a plastic bottle! Here’s an idea for a toy train that moves with magnets.
Even without touching the train, it moves like magic—sure to capture children’s interest! You’ll need a 1.5-liter plastic bottle, magnets, string, two bottle caps, colored paper, scissors, a utility knife, cellophane tape, vinyl tape, double-sided tape, and an awl.
If you make it together with kids, the little world inside the bottle will grow even more imaginative!
Magnetic matching game
Let’s promote fine motor development by sticking magnets on and pulling them off! Here are some ideas for magnet matching games.
These are handmade toys that even infants can enjoy, so take this opportunity to give them a try.
You’ll need a whiteboard, clear tape, magnetic sheets, colored pens, construction paper, and scissors.
For the designs, you can draw motifs that interest the children, or adapt them to focus on colors or numbers.
A nice bonus is that you can get the materials at a 100-yen shop!
A train that transforms
Let me introduce a train that transforms from a Shinkansen.
Prepare two milk cartons, scissors, construction paper, and a felt-tip pen, and let’s get making.
Lay a milk carton on its side and use the felt-tip pen to draw the outline of a Shinkansen, making sure the left and right sides are symmetrical.
Cut along the pen lines with scissors, then fold the tip of the roof section inward to form the shape.
Open up the second milk carton, shape it, and connect it to the back to couple them together.
The coupling is a key point, so be careful to fasten it securely so it doesn’t come apart.
By closing the milk carton to wrap around the front, or opening and closing it, you can change the train’s shape and have fun transforming it.
Decorating with construction paper and more is also recommended!
[Childcare] Recommended for toddlers! Toy ideas you can make and play with (21–30)
straw airplane
Here’s how to make a straw airplane using a straw and construction paper.
Many families likely have these at home and can make one right away! The steps are very simple: prepare two long strips of construction paper of different lengths, form each into a loop, and attach them to the front and back of the straw.
Any kind of straw will work, but if it’s a bendy straw, cut off the flexible part before using it.
The way it flies will change depending on the straw’s length and thickness, so try making several and see which one flies best—or which one flies in a fun, unusual way!
