How to Make Homemade Toys and Activities for your Baby or Toddler

 I have 2 small children at home and one of the first things I've discovered as a mom is, you can spend 50 dollars on a new toy your baby seemed to like in the store, but as soon as you get it home, he doesn't even want to play with it . He may be more interested in the container it came in than the actual toy. Babies love to play with boxes, ribbons, bows, paper and other things you would never think could be a toy.

My children have tons of toys seeing as I'm a frugal shopper. Still they tend to get bored and that's when I start getting creative. Here's a list of some toys and activities you can make out of things around the house. I've added them by appropriate age. Some activities are alike, but get more sophisticated by age.

For Babies 5 months and older
1. Fill an empty tissue box with strips of paper. Your baby will love pulling then out. Do not use colored newsprint or magazines. They are toxic. Never use plastic bags or wrap.
2. Fill a small plastic bottle (water bottle with lid glued on or medicine bottle with child-proof cap) with beans, salt, bolts or rice. Be careful to secure the lids tightly. Let your baby shake it to make noise.
3. Make another shaker using bells. Encourage your baby to hold one in each hand and shake them both. Watch to see if your baby likes one sound better than another.

For Babies 8 months and older
1. Make a simple puzzle for your baby by putting blocks or ping-pong balls inside a muffin pan or egg carton.
2. Let's face it, babies love banging objects to make noise. Give your baby big plastic spoons or spatchulas and pots or a big plastic bowl from the kitchen and teach him how to bang objects together.
3. Find a big box that your baby can crawl in and out of.
4. Cut a round hole in the plastic lid of a coffee can or baby formula can. Give your baby wooden clothes pins or ping-pong balls to drop inside.
5. Let your baby play with plastic measuring cups, cups with handles, sieves and strainers, sponges, and balls that float in the bathtub.
6. Make shakers by stringing canning rims together on a string. Make sure it's not long enough to get over the babies head. An 8 inch string is about right.

For Babies 12 months and older
1. Make puppets out of a sock or paper bag. One for you and one for baby. Have your puppet talk to your baby or your baby's puppet. Encourage your baby to "talk" back.
2. Make an obstacle course with boxes or furniture so that your baby can climb in, on, over, under, and through.
3. Loosely wrap a small toy in wraping paper, paper towel or facial tissue without tape. Your baby can unwrap it and find a surprise.

For Older Babies and Toddlers
1. Give baby an old purse or bag for collecting things. Your toddler can practice putting things in and out of it. Kids love to pretend to be mommy or daddy at the store shopping.
2. Get 2 containers (coffee cups or cereal bowls) that look the same and a small toy. Hide the toy under one container while your toddler watches. Ask him, "Where did it go?" Eventually you can play the old shell game (moving the containers after you hide the toy).
3. Save milk cartons or gelatin or pudding boxes. Your toddler can stack them to make towers. You can also have him a basket and stack the items on a low shelf and play grocery shopping.
4. Use boxes or buckets for your toddler to throw bean bags or balls into. Practice overhand release of the ball or bean bag.
5. Fill a plastic tub with cornmeal or oatmeal. Put in kitchen spoons, strainers, measuring cups, funnels, or plastic containers. Toddlers can fill, dump, pour, and learn about textures and use of objects as tools. I preferr this over sandbox play because tasting won't be harmful. Much better than a mouthful of sand!
6. Toddlers enjoy looking at old pictures of themselves and loved ones. Made him his own photo album that he can keep and look at. Talk to him about who's in the pictures and where they were taken.
7. Cut a rectangular hole in the top of a shoebox. Let your toddler insert an old deck of playing cards or used envelopes. The box in easy for your toddler's "mail."
8. Set up your own bowling game using plastic tumblers, tennis ball cans, or empty plastic bottles for bowling pins. Show your toddler how to roll the ball to knock down the pins. Then let your toddler try.
9. Make your own playdough by mixing 2 cups flour and 3/4 cup salt. Add 1/2 cup water and 2 tablespoons salad oil. Knead well until it's smooth; add food coloring (optional), and knead until color is fully blended. Toddlers will love squishing, squeezing, and pounding the dough.
10. Make a book by pasting different textures on each page. Materials such as  sandpaper, feathers, cotton balls, nylon, silk, and buttons lend themselves to words such as rough, smooth, hard, and soft.
11. Another way to make a book with your child is to cut out shapes using colored construction paper. Cut out hearts, circles, triangles, squares, ABCs, numbers, etc. Let your little one chose which ones to glue on the paper. This is a good approuch to teaching shapes, numbers and the alphabet.
12. Wrap tape around one end of a piece of yarn to make it stiff like a needle and put a large knot at the other end. Have your child string large elbow macaroni, bottons, or beads. Make an edible necklace out of Cheerios. You can even use twisslers pull and pill as string and Fruit Loops cereal.
13. Children can find endless uses for boxes. A box big enough for your child to fit in can become a car, boat, airplane, etc... An appliance box with holdes cut for windows and a door can become your child's playhouse. Decorating the box with crayons, markers, or paints can be a fun activity to do together.
14. Cut a stiff paper plate to make a hand paddle and show your child how to ise it to hit a balloon. See how long your child can keep the balloon in the air or how many times he can hit it back to you. This activity helps develop hand-eye coordination. Always carefully supervise when playing with a balloon.
15. Trace on paper around simple objects with your child. Use cups of different sizes, blocks, or your child's and your hands. Talk about size difference, "My hand is big, your hand is small." Using felt-tip markers or crayons of different colors makes it even more fun.
16. Get a piece of butcher paper large enough for your child to lie on. Draw around your child's body to make an outline. Don't forget fingers and toes. Talk about body parts and print the words on the paper. Let your child color the poster. Hang the poster on a wall in your child's room.I hope this article is useful and fun for your little ones. Please feel free to comment and share any creative ideas you have.