Let's make toys with milk cartons! Easy and fun DIY crafts!
Did you know you can make all kinds of toys using milk cartons?
In this article, we’ll introduce milk carton toys that babies and toddlers will love!
Many households recycle milk cartons, but they’re also often reused for kids’ crafts.
You’ll frequently see toys made by teachers at daycare centers and kindergartens, too.
Milk carton toys are great for little ones who haven’t learned to control their strength yet, because if they break, you can quickly make a new one.
They’re really easy to make, so give it a try!
- Simple yet amazing crafts made with milk cartons! A collection of ideas that will captivate elementary school children and toddlers.
- [Milk Carton Crafts] Fun ideas for elementary school kids. Perfect for summer vacation homework!
- Made with toilet paper rolls! Exciting and fun easy handmade toys
- Let's make toys with paper cups! Simple and fun handmade toys
- Fun and easy toy ideas made from empty Yakult bottles
- Easy DIY! Introducing educational toys that can be easily made with 100-yen shop items and things around the house.
- [Let’s Make and Play!] Handmade Toy Ideas You Can Create Yourself
- A collection of DIY ideas for lanterns and lamps made from milk cartons
- [Childcare] Easy to make! Handmade toys that delight 0-year-olds
- [Educational] DIY Montessori-style toy ideas
- Paper cup crafts that elementary school kids will love! A collection of fun project ideas
- Let's play with paper cups! Crafts and indoor play
- Toys you can make from cardboard crafts! Authentic ideas you can build and play with
Let’s make toys with milk cartons! Easy and fun DIY crafts! (31–40)
[Upcycled] Jenga-style with milk cartons
![[Upcycled] Jenga-style with milk cartons](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Lv9yFbN6uf8/sddefault.jpg)
It’s a milk-carton Jenga that keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering when it will collapse! First, color the sides of the milk carton.
Try using paints, pens, or colored paper—whatever you like.
Next, cut off the bottom, flatten the carton, and slice it into rings.
Once you’re done, stack the ring pieces and start playing.
Kids are sure to be thrilled as the Jenga tower grows taller and taller! An adult should handle cutting off the bottom with a utility knife, and be very careful to keep the blade away from hands.
Chomp Chomp Castanets
Let’s handcraft castanets—star performers in any ensemble—using a milk carton.
Cut the milk carton into pieces sized for the top and bottom parts of the castanets, and glue construction paper on the outside.
From here, it’s the kids’ turn! Have them freely draw animals or their favorite characters on the construction paper.
Tearing paper for collage or decorating with stickers will also make it look great.
Next, use an awl to make holes, thread a chenille stem (pipe cleaner) cut to a length that fits a finger, and attach plastic bottle caps on the inside so they make a clicking sound.
Your original castanets are complete!
Paku-Paku Shark
Even making a kinetic piece is fun, and that excited “Will it really move?” feeling sparks your imagination, doesn’t it? This Chompy Shark is a quick craft you can play with, and you can make it using materials you already have at home.
Cut the bottom of a milk carton into an L-shape.
The piece you cut out will become the chomping mouth.
Poke holes and insert a bamboo skewer, place a wheel made from the bottom of a plastic bottle inside the carton, and assemble the mouth section—then when you move the milk carton back and forth, the mouth opens and closes.
Depending on how you decorate the milk carton, you could create all sorts of animals!
Floating Sea Otter
Introducing a cute otter toy you can make from a milk carton! Milk cartons are sturdy even when wet, so you can float it in the bath and play.
First, cut the milk carton in half, leaving about 2–3 cm above the bottom.
Open the cut section and use a permanent marker to draw the otter’s face and limbs on the sides.
Cut along the outlines, then attach a plastic bottle cap—like a seashell—to the otter’s hands and the inside of the carton, and you’re done! Tapping the bottle caps, which look like shells, makes a castanet-like sound, so it’s super fun and highly recommended!
Splash Ferris Wheel
Even kids who are reluctant to take a bath might get excited if there are toys! Here’s how to make a super fun “Splash Ferris Wheel.” First, cut a milk carton to create the supports for the Ferris wheel.
Next, make slits in a pool noodle with a utility knife, then insert six plastic ice cream spoons around it like a Ferris wheel.
Slide a chopstick through the pool noodle and insert both ends into the two slits in the milk carton, and you’re done! For a finishing touch, attaching toy capsules to the spoons will make it look even more like a real Ferris wheel, which is highly recommended.