[Childcare] Playing with scrap materials: Toys you can make from recycled items
Cardboard toilet paper rolls, milk cartons, plastic bottles—there are many kinds of scrap materials that can be repurposed.
Many of you have probably used them as materials for crafts.
In this article, we’ll introduce play ideas for early childhood settings that use scrap materials, as well as toys you can make and play with using them.
At first glance, scrap materials can be hard to figure out how to play with, but that’s exactly why children can use their free imagination to play with them in all sorts of ways.
If you’re thinking of trying some play with children using scrap materials, please use this as a reference and give it a try!
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[Childcare] Playing with recycled materials. Toys you can make from scrap materials (1–10)
Whirling top made from a milk carton
You can make a whirling top (bunbun-goma) using a milk carton.
Your very own original bunbun-goma will surely become something you’ll enjoy playing with and take good care of.
First, cut off the bottom of the milk carton and draw on it with a pen.
Using lots of colors will look beautiful when the top spins.
Next, use an awl to make two holes in the center.
Please have the teacher do this when there are no children around.
Pre-punching the holes makes things go smoothly.
Finally, thread about 60 centimeters of kite string through and tie the ends, and you’re done!
Milk carton stacking
Even something as simple as a cut-up milk carton can become a great toy! Preparation is simple: just cut the carton into strips about 1 centimeter wide.
Then stack the ring-shaped pieces like building blocks.
Because the rings are square, the balance changes depending on how you stack them.
If the children and teacher take turns stacking, it turns into a thrilling game of seeing when it will topple! It’s a wonderful way to play that also develops thinking skills.
Playing with empty boxes
Games you can play using empty boxes in various ways.
I recommend them because you can make fun toys just by adding a little something to an empty box.
For an empty-box maze, attach dividers inside the box and roll a ball-like object from the start to the goal; you can also poke holes to hang it with string and attach a paper cup as a mock lens to make a camera.
It’s also fun to compete to see which team can stack plain empty boxes higher.
It’s handy to keep a certain number of empty boxes on hand at all times.
[Childcare] Playing with scrap materials. Toys you can make from recycled materials (11–20)
[Ages 0–5] Play with Recycled Materials
![[Ages 0–5] Play with Recycled Materials](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WTgwNgcCwrg/sddefault.jpg)
Play using scrap materials is great because supplies are easy to get and it doesn’t cost money.
First, there’s newspaper, which you can find anywhere.
Just crumpling it up and throwing it, or tearing it and letting the pieces fall, delights children.
Folding a samurai helmet and putting it on them is fun, too.
Also, leftover yarn or gift ribbons can be used as pretend food—place them on a plate for make-believe play.
With cardboard, you can make big things, so connect a few pieces and play pill bug (rolly-polly) games.
Races are fun as well.
Art Exhibition / Fashion Show
Play using scrap materials is also effective for nurturing a mindset of recycling.
Hosting an art exhibit or a fashion show using discarded items is fun, too.
Cut plastic bags into the shape of a body, attach various scraps onto them, and create your own unique costume.
If ideas don’t come to mind, you can set a theme—for example, colors, animals, flowers, or vegetables.
You can then display the finished costumes, or put them on and walk the runway, striking a pose in a fashion show—highly recommended!
Snap Frog
A common piece of scrap material you’ll find in most households is a milk carton.
A snap frog made from a milk carton is really fun.
Remove the bottom of the milk carton, cut it into a ring 7 cm wide, make a 5 mm slit, and hook a rubber band into the slit—that’s all you need for the basic mechanism.
Draw and stick on the frog’s eyes, and it’s done.
You can enjoy lots of variations by keeping the basic mechanism the same and just changing what you stick on top, so try getting creative.
It might be fun to try other animals, too.
Balance game
Toilet paper cores are one type of household scrap that everyone ends up with, and they’re great for various games.
You can use them as is, but if you cut them into two or three rings horizontally and stack them, they make a fun balance game.
Prepare lots and compete to see which team can build the tallest stack, or, like Jenga, take turns carefully removing one at a time from a stacked tower while keeping the balance—come up with different rules and enjoy.
Also, drawing pictures on the cut ends makes them colorful, and if you connect them with string, they can become a garland.