Isn't it amazing that no matter how many fancy toys you buy or are given for your little baby, they always prefer the box it came in, the paper it was wrapped in or something they find lying around the house?
I soon learned that I did not necessarily
need expensive toys to encourage my daughter's creativity and interest. Babies love to play and they do not care if they have the latest fashionable toys. Many common household items make excellent toys when used imaginatively. It doesn't have to be expensive when it comes to encouraging your baby's creativity and interest. If you use a little of your creativity, so too will your baby.
The following are tried and tested ideas that I have used for my little girl. She enjoys them very much and I am certain you will too. Have fun watching your baby learn and grow while avoiding the high costs of fashionable toys.
Keep in mind that any item you choose to give your baby must be safe. Make sure there are no loose parts or sharp edges. Ensure you supervise your baby as well.
So if you like to save money and enjoy making crafty things with your little one, have a look at these ideas:
Laundry baskets Ride
Laundry baskets are great fun and always a hit. Tall laundry baskets work well. Your baby must be old enough to sit up on his own for this activity. Seat your baby inside the laundry basket, pick it up carefully by the top, and gently swing it back and forth. This is guaranteed to make your baby laugh.
Drums
Pots and pans make wonderful drums, while wooden or plastic spoons make excellent drumsticks.
Boxes
Cardboard boxes are another great way to keep your baby occupied. Boxes make great play houses and hiding things is a breeze with an array of boxes. You can even use non toxic crayons or markers to decorate them. Avoid paint because if your baby tries to chew on the box, bits of paint might flake off and your baby might ingest them.
Sock puppet
Make a sock puppet and embroider the eyes and nose on (buttons are a choking hazard for babies so avoid using them)
Rip away
Let your baby flip through a magazine (with supervision, as babies like to put things in their mouth) the colors in magazines are very interesting to babies. And ripping the pages is great for pincer dexterity development.
Empty the cupboards
Cups, bowls and generally anything form the plastic container cupboard make great playthings too. They make excellent tethers’.
Phone Home
An old telephone is fun as some babies like to imitate their parents when they are talking on the phone. Be sure to remove all cords to prevent the baby from injury.
Typing away
If you happen to have an old computer keyboard, you can let your baby play on it (with supervision) Keyboards make wonderful clicking noises when they are banged on. Remove all wires before allowing your baby to play with it. Be sure there are no loose keys on it.
Fancy Baby Bottles
Using an empty clear soft drink bottle, fill with any of the following items: chopped up pieces of kitchen sponge, marbles or clean pebbles, glitter, and tiny pieces of cut up tinfoil. Fill the bottle with clean water and either glue or cello-tape the lid on tightly.
Rice Rattles
A handful of rice or pebbles inside a small plastic bottle or a container will make a nice gentle rattle. Secure the lid on tightly and remove from baby once they become capable of taking lids off.
Hand and Foot Rattles
A quick way to make a hand or foot rattle for a baby is to stitch a small existing rattle onto a bootie or mitten. Then place onto the baby to produce a rattling sound when they move.
Baby Ball
If you have some left over scraps of material, particularly in different textures, sew together to make a little ball and stuff with more scraps, and if you like insert a small bell inside before stitching up well.
Baby Books
Very first books for a newborn baby can be made in a concertina formation. Firstly use a sheet of cardboard, cut to a size that is easy to handle. Fold into three or four equal sections and decorate each section with either bright painted colors or use cut out pictures from a magazine and stick onto the cardboard before covering with clear plastic such as contact.
Zip Lock Books
Take heavy sandwich bags. Cut out thick card or construction paper in different colors to put in bag.
Glue photos, picture, and different themes on both sides of the construction paper. Ideas include photos of relatives to teach children names and faces, pictures of babies cut out of magazine, animals, colors, shapes, and alphabet as children grow.
Each bag becomes a double sided book of the page so past pictures on both sides. Line the bags up with the seal all on the same side.
Taking a large needle thread through the edging of the sealed part to create a book seam. If you don't have a needle try punching three holes in the seam and threading wool or ribbon through as binding.
Tie tightly and viola, your very own baby book!
Stocking Scrunchie
To make one of these, insert some shiny crinkly wrapping paper into an old stocking or pantyhose, and tie at each end. You can make short ones, or long ones that can be tied to a pram or mobile gym for entertainment.
Lid Chains
First you'll need to start saving plastic lids from milk bottle tops, and soft drink bottles. Punching a little hole into the top of each with a knife or skewer, thread onto a piece of cord, ribbon or a shoe lace to create a chain of lids that rattle.
Rattle Cans
Using an empty formula or large coffee can, put in a handful of marbles, acorns, pebbles, or small stones, and then secure the lid on tightly. Cover with paper and decorate. A baby learning to crawl can rattle and roll these around the floor.
Ball Poster
To make a simple poster toy for your baby, cut a tennis ball size hole in the lid of a cardboard box or a plastic two-liter ice cream container. Hinge the lid on by securing with masking tape at one side, and then provide some safe objects that aren't too small to be swallowed to post inside the box.
Drums
A formula or coffee can be covered with wallpaper decorated to become a drum. Provide a stick (i.e. chopstick or similar) to lightly beat on the drum. For an older child, you can attach a cord to be hung around the neck by drilling a hole in each end.
Sock Balls
To make a quick ball for a baby to practice gripping and throwing, simply roll a clean pair of socks into itself.
Covered Boxes
A cereal box can be covered with plain paper to begin with, and then add pictures of people's faces, flowers, and animals. Cover with plastic or cover-seal. Baby will enjoy turning the box over and over in their hands to see the pictures.
Toddler Fun Bucket.
Toddlers love to put things into containers and then dump them out. They also like to carry toys around with them as they move from place to place. They practice hand-eye coordination, balancing, problem-solving, reasoning, and finding objects they can't see. Naming objects aids language development. Showing what they have done encourages socialization. Holes in the lid of the colorful plastic bucket are cut to the shape of various simple but intriguing objects. Encourage your child to fit the objects through the holes. Help her only when she is stumped on solving the problem and about to give up.
Stacking Toys
Save any empty lids you come across like shaving foam and hair spray lids, and then give to baby from sitting up age to practice stacking, nesting inside each other, and clapping together to make sounds.
Good Old Play-dough
Cordial Flavored Play-dough
1 CUP FLOUR
1 CUP WATER
1 TABLESPOON OIL
1 PACKAGE UNSWEETENED CORDIAL
¼ CUP SALT
Mix all ingredients into a saucepan and stir constantly on medium heat. Be sure not to cook! Mixture will thicken slowly.
Take off heat and allow it to cool. Store in sealed container in refrigerator when not in use. Warm play-dough in microwave for soothing activity. Remember to always check the temp before giving to your toddler.
Because of the ingredients this play-dough, though not recommended or encouraged, is safe if eaten (though salty).
SAFETY TIPS
- Clean toys. Carefully clean all materials and containers by washing and rinsing. Disinfect after washing with a solution of one tablespoon of bleach to one quart of water, then air dry the item.
- Smooth any sharp edges. Make sure there are no sharp points or splinters on the item. Use tape to blunt corners and rough edges, such as tin can rims or juice can lids. Thoroughly sand and oil wooden surfaces.
- Avoid choking and suffocation. If the item can fit inside a toilet paper tube (about 1 ½ inches in diameter), it is small enough to cause choking and should not be used. Make sure there are no parts of a toy that could be pulled or sucked off, such as buttons, googly or bulging eyes, ribbons, or other decorations. Do not use staples. Instead, sew or tape items together.
- Use nontoxic materials. Carefully check all labels on markers, paints, glue, finishes on cloth or other surfaces for nontoxic components before using materials.
Above everything else, remember to take plenty of time to play with your baby…anything else especially housework can wait.
You are your child's best plaything…the most wonderful gift you can give. Take time to walk, talk, sing, roll, cuddle, and read with your baby. Right from the beginning of life, loving people have more impact on a child's learning than any other influence.
(October 2006) (
