Activities by
Jennifer Burk, M.A. CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
We have often heard the phrase, “The best things in life are free.” Those of us who
play with children all know that the best toys ever are often those found at home (e.g.
Tupperware, wooden spoons as drumsticks for pots and pans, measuring cups, etc.).
With this in mind, I have compiled ideas gathered from many places to make homemade
toys for our little ones and even provide ideas for toys made from trash. Remember,
homemade toys are handmade with the love and care of the olden days. These ideas are
intended for therapists and families to share with their children.
Here are a few basic concepts before we get started:
1. Playing with toys is important in a child’s growth and development
2. Toys should be safe for children. Ask yourself these questions:
• Is it washable and durable?
• Does it have any sharp edges or loose parts?
• Is it made of fabric and not foam that shreds?
• Is it painted with non-toxic, lead-free paint?
3. Areas of development that toys can stimulate:
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Visual motor toys encourage eye-hand coordination and uses both body and
mind to accomplish a task (e.g. scribbling on paper)
Language-based toys include toys that encourage talking and listening (e.g.
reading books, playing games)
Gross motor activities requires a child to use his arms, legs, and trunk to
complete a task (e.g. running, climbing, throwing a ball)
Fine motor activities require a child to use his hands and fingers (e.g.
cutting with scissors, coloring).
Tactile toys stimulate touch and involve the child’s use of body and mind
together (e.g. playing with stuffed animals or feeling fabrics). These are
great for the sensory system.
Save These Throwaways
Aluminum cans
Coffee cans
Cardboard cans with metal caps
(Concentrated fruit juice cans)
Milk cartons of all sizes
Egg cartons
Aluminum dishes
Plastic bottles and containers
Wallpaper samples
Cardboard tubes (TP, wrapping paper)
Styrofoam trays
String and cord
Magazine pictures
Fabric scraps
Old magazines and calendars
Wrapping paper
Empty thread and ribbon spools
Cardboard
Greeting cards
Shoe boxes
Boxes of all shapes and sizes
Carpet scraps
Shoe boxes
Yarn bits
Ribbon
Junk mail
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Items to have on hand
Clothes hangers and clothespins
Cloth or material scraps
Thread
Paper bags
Cans of varied sizes
Masking and duct tape
Foam squares
Clorox bottles
Buttons
Rubber bands
Cereal boxes
Feathers
Ice cream sticks
Shells
Rice
Straws
Paper cups and plates
Stamps
Glue or paste
Needles (large eyed)
Spools (empty)
Old socks
Contact paper
Yarn
Beans
Corks
Flannel
Bottle caps
Lids of all kinds
Toothbrushes
Paper clips
Cotton balls
Envelopes
Large dry beans
Dried pasta
Candles
Ideas Using Common Household Items
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Pots, pans and fitted lids – Use for sequencing, matching, what’s missing, big and
little, prepositions, sounds
Measuring spoons and cups for matching, nesting and stacking
Cans of various sizes for nesting, building and sorting, rolling and pushing
Aluminum pie tins for sorting and matching
Metal percolator parts for complex patterns
Mirror for self-image, self-concept and hide-and-seek
Muffin tins, egg cartons, small plastic containers for sorting textures
Beans of all kinds for sorting after age 2 or when child is not mouthing
Silverware for sorting, matching, patterning
Clothing of all sorts for matching to body parts, color matching, folding and for
fine motor coordination (buttoning, zippers, snaps)
Cookie cutters for tracing, outlines, puzzles
Large newspaper on wall to outline child’s silhouette with black felt marker (your
child can fill in the features and identify)
Magazine pictures of situations for discussion about attitudes and feelings
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Age-appropriate toys
3 months
Unbreakable mirror
Geometric shapes, black and white
Cloth or vinyl books
Safe chewing toys
Encourage reaching, tracking, and eye contact
3-6 months (rolling over)
Crib gym – remove when baby pulls up
Shaking – plastic containers with colorful safe-sized things inside
Cloth or vinyl books
Washable stuffed animals – no small parts
Safe chewing toys
Pictures of baby, mom, dad
6-12 months (sitting up/pulling to stand/walking)
Nesting toys
Blocks
Shaking jar
Board books
Bubbles with parent
Pull/push toys
12 months +
Board books
Lacing cards
Stringing large buttons
Baby food jar lids – put in cans
Puzzles from cards, cereal box fronts.
Photo books
Picture cards
Memory game
Blocks
Sock puppets
Shaking jar
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Areas of Development that Toys can Stimulate
(0-3 months)
• Mobiles strengthen a very young child’s eyes, gross motor skills, and sensory
feeling of touch. You will need: clothes hangers, pictures, small items or gadgets,
string or yarn. Cut 3 or 4 pieces of string. Tie string to hangers. At the other
end of the string, tie pictures or other small items. Hang over crib. Note:
Mobiles are visual stimulation for small infants only. When a child begins to
grasp, mobiles should be removed from reach.
• Rattles strengthen a very young child’s eyes, fine and gross motor skills, and
sensory feeling of touch. You will need: unbreakable cylinder such as toilet paper
core, button or poker chip, heavy tape, sock. Place button or poker chip inside
cylinder. Using heavy tape and a cap made of durable material, fasten the ends
securely. Stretch an old sock over the core and sew it tightly at the ends.
Before the child is 3 months old, the parent can use the rattle to play with the
child for eye gaze and to draw attention to the sound and shape of the rattle.
(3-6 months)
• A crib play gym strengthens a young child’s eye coordination and large and small
muscle development. You will need a piece of elastic, small objects of various
shapes, colors and textures. Use a piece of elastic the width of the crib. Attach
small objects such as rattles tied in knots to the elastic. Tie the elastic to the
crib and allow the child to grasp or pull.
• A spool string can be created by securely tying empty wooden spools for thread
onto a shoe string and attach them to the sides of the crib.
• A clothes line play gym can be strung
across a room. Place baby on a blanket
for tummy time and let him reach for the
clothes line play gym. You will need:
Clothes line, a variety of colorful tactile
objects such as bead string, wooden
spoon, bells, wire whisk, etc. This is
wonderful for gross and fine motor
movement, eye-hand coordination, tactile
stimulation and exploration.
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(4-6 months and up)
• When used by a parent to talk or play with a baby, puppets strengthen a child’s
curiosity and language skills. Later, when used by the child as a toy to talk to
puppets strengthen a child’s language skills.
(4-12 months)
• Nesting cans serve to strengthen many areas of development. They assist in eyehand coordination, as well as fine and gross motor skills. Nesting cans are made
from various sized cans or plastic containers. Check the cans to make sure they
do not have rough edges. After removing the lids, check again for unsafe edges.
Fasten masking or duct tape securely around any unfinished edges. Cover the
sides of the cans with contact paper. Very young children will roll the cans or
attempt taking one out of another. Older children will enjoy nesting the cans one
inside of the other and comparing the various sizes.
• A touch cloth stimulates a young child’s senses of feeling and touch. Using a
scrap of square material, samples of various textures are sewn onto the cloth.
Materials that feel rough, smooth, hard, soft, bumpy, slick and ripply should be
attached.
• Baby books take many forms and are particularly essential for language, talking,
and listening skills. The basic format for a baby book consists of cardboard or
cloth squares bound together with tape or thread. Pictures of familiar, single
objects, either drawn, sewn or photographed, work great to create baby’s special
book.
• Sound cylinders serve to stimulate hearing, fine motor, and language skills. Using
small containers with lids, paint, or cover the containers with contact paper. Fill
each one with sand, rice, beans and marbles so that each cylinder makes a
different sound. Secure the lids tightly with duct tape or super glue.
• A bead box or can is a great way to promote auditory
stimulation, cause and effect, and hand over hand
coordination. The best containers are the tall ricotta cheese
tubs as the lids are very tight fitting. Slit an “X” in the top
large enough for beads to go through. Place bead string
inside, feed through the top, and assist the child in pulling it
out.
• Yarn balls have many uses. Generally, they are used to strengthen fine and gross
motor skills, the sense of touch and sight, and eye-hand coordination. Wrap yard
around the width of a 4” wide piece of cardboard about 20 times. Cut the yarn
from the skein and slip it off the cardboard. Wrap the center with twine, tying it
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securely. After making several bundles, tie them together in the center. Shape
the yarn into a ball and clip uneven ends.
(12-18 months)
• A picture box can be made from a square cardboard box. First, paint the box.
After it dries, glue a colorful magazine picture of a familiar item on one side.
Leave the other side blank. This is a memory game. The caregiver sits on the
floor with the box and shows the picture to the child. After the child has
noticed the picture, talk with him about it. Then hide the picture by turning the
box around. The child then tries to find the picture. He may crawl around the
box or turn it around.
(1-4 years)
• Puzzles are good tools for fine motor development and eye-hand coordination.
Using a sheet of shirt box cardboard, let the child draw a simple colorful design
onto the cardboard. Cut the cardboard up into several pieces. 2-3 years – two or
three pieces; 2-3 years – three to four pieces; 4 years and up – five or more
pieces.
(2-5 years)
• Blocks, besides being excellent toys for large and small muscle development, are
good for eye-hand coordination and encourage curiosity and imagination. Using
foam rubber, cut cubes into a variety of shapes 4” square, 2” square, etc. Blocks
can also be made from 2x 4’s cut into various sizes and sanded well.
• Because bean bags are used in the same way as a ball (to throw, toss, etc.), they
serve to strengthen the gross and final motor skills as well as eye-hand
coordination. Using squares of heavy material sew three sides together. Place
dried beans or peas into bag and sew up fourth side. Be sure all sewing is secure.
• Tracing lids strengthen fine motor development and eye-hand coordination.
Using plastic lids from juice or coffee cans, carve simple shapes in the lids with a
sharp knife. Remove the shape and use as a stencil. Check for rough or sharp
edges. Children can trace shapes, letters and numbers with crayons or pencils
onto paper.
(3-5 years)
• Matching cards can be made to reinforce language, mathematics, or visual-motor
skills. They are to be used by the child individually and should assist in the
development of eye-hand coordination and the development of reasoning skills.
• Sewing cards involve the fine motor skills of the body and encourages eye-hand
coordination. Using half a shirt box, draw a simple design like a tree, happy face,
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animal, etc. Punch holes around the design about 1” apart. Use yarn and blunt
needle to sew around design.
Bottle throw – Throwing toys are necessary to encourage gross and fine motor
development, eye-hand coordination, and group social and language skills. Using
two bleach bottles, hollow out half of each bottle leaving the handle in tact. Find
a ball or some small object to throw. Use bottle to throw and catch (note: make
sure bleach bottle is thoroughly washed and dried).
Plain paper tear art – Tear construction paper or wrapping paper or postal board
into a variety of shapes and have child glue onto large construction paper as a
collage.
Race car – A race car can be created using a rectangular box. Aluminum pans or
stove-top liners can be used for the wheels and headlights, a Frisbee can be the
steering wheel. Add your personal touches, and place a chair inside, and your
toddler can be a race car driver right in your living room.
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