DIY Toys for Toddlers

As anyone’s recent trip to a toy store can attest, toys, nowadays, can be quite expensive. As any parent of toddlers can also attest, infants and toddlers easily lose interest in “regular toys” and are more in awe and curious with everyday household items. Thus, J and I are very selective of toys we buy for our little Queen B.

For us to spend money on a toy, it must be made of good quality materials. It must also be educational like open-ended toys which are those that can be used in a variety of ways. These toys help kids to be creative and imaginative. The last toy which we bought a month ago- four small tubs of Play Dough- certainly fall under this category.

A lot of times, though, new toys are out of our budget. This is when my imagination and creativity kick in. I have always enjoyed DIYing toys even as a child, myself. The toys that I truly enjoyed in my childhood were the ones I created like paper dolls or make-believe money for our banko-bankohan (pretend bank play). Now as a parent, I find delight in making toys for my baby.

Today, I am sharing with you some of the simple toys I have made for our little Queen B.

1. Magnetic Fishing Toy

It was just a half an hour project. I drew a fish in a cardboard and used it as my pattern to draw other fishes of various colors in art papers. I taped a paper clip on each fish paper then I made a fishing rod by tying yarn on a pencil. On the other end of the yarn was our wooden magnetic block which was the only magnet we have then that was strong enough to attract the paper clips. Our little Queen B played with it for half an hour too!

2. Dyed Pasta

It is mostly a sensory toy which is a toy that provides various sensory inputs. It can also be used to practice color sorting skills. The rigatoni noodles can be stringed as beads. It can also be used to decorate play dough creations. In our home, it has been the ingredients of our little Queen B’s cooking. I have pretended to eat them for a lot of times now. I truly wonder what other uses they will have in George’s free and pretend plays in the future.

These dyed pasta noodles were made from rubbing alcohol, food coloring, and various pasta noodles namely rigatoni, bow tie, and fusilli. Here is the procedure:

• In plastic bags or, much better, zip lock bags, place enough rubbing alcohol to coat and cover your desired amount of pasta noodles to be dyed.
• Add a few drops of your food coloring of choice and then mix. Remember: The more food coloring, the darker the shade will be.
• Place the pasta noodles and let it soak for a few minutes.
• Remove the pasta noodles from the dye and spread out on a cookie sheet lined with paper. In our case, I just spread it out on Manila paper.
• Let the pasta noodles dry overnight.
• Tada! A new open-ended toy for your kids!

3. Dyed Rice

I made this dyed rice during our Rainbow Week and was used again for our Easter Week. I’m sure it will continue to play a big role in our future activities. For this project, I used a different method of dyeing. Here is the procedure:

• In plastic bowls or containers, place enough white vinegar to coat your desired amount of rice.
• Add a few drops of your food coloring of choice. I actually don’t have an orange food coloring but by mixing a few drops of red with yellow I was easily able to have an orange vinegar-dye mixture.
• Place the rice and let it soak for a few minutes.
• Remove the excess vinegar-dye mixture from the rice and let it dry. Under our summer sun, it just took an hour for our rice to be completely dry and ready to be played with. 

P.S.: The sour smell lessened as the days passed.

4. Popsicle Sticks Color Sorting Game

One of the first activities my little Queen B and I did during our first week of Totschool was color sorting. I asked her to sort the apple paper cut-outs I made into green and red apples. It was a disaster! She was just guessing.

But several weeks ago, I asked her to sort these popsicles sticks based on their color. I was completely surprised when she was able to and there were 6 different colors to sort these sticks into. This DIY toy made me realize that when a child is ready to learn something she’ll learn it almost effortlessly.

This toy is also very easy to make. Actually, you just have to buy colored popsicle sticks at a school supplies store and you already have your toy. Since I wanted an additional challenge, I sewed these pockets for the popsicle sticks from the felt fabric I bought last year at Divisoria. It also serves as a nice storage place for the popsicle sticks.

5. Felt Button Chain

I saw this DIY toy in Pinterest and instantly knew it is something I can do for my little Queen B. There are just so many things one can learn playing with this. Buttoning is a good fine motor skill activity. It is also a practical life skill activity. The felt button chain can also be used to sort colors and follow patterns. And knowing kids, they can imagine more uses for this toy.

I also learned something new by making this toy. I learned how to make a buttonhole. My sewing skills definitely improved because of this toy.

Play is an important aspect of childhood. It allows children use their creativity and imagination. It also develops their cognitive, motor, emotional, and even social skills. It is vital for a healthy brain development. So let us give (or make) our children playthings or toys that will help them reach their full potential. It does not even need to be expensive. With a child’s imagination, a simple cardboard box can be transformed into a boat or even a castle. But more important than the toys we can give them, our children need us, their parents, to sit down on the floor and play with them. 

#xoxo