Toys Children Can Make

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HealthWiki > Disabled Village Children > Chapter 49: A Children’s Workshop for Making Toys > Toys Children Can Make

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In this chapter:

 

In this chapter:

In a community rehabilitation program it is essential to have lots of toys—different playthings for children at different levels of development who have different strengths, weaknesses, and interests.

There is an old saying ... "THEY WHO CHOP THEIR OWN FIREWOOD WARM THEMSELVES TWICE!"	We have a new saying... "THE FAMILY THAT MAKES ITS OWN TOYS HAS TWICE AS MUCH FUN!"
	stuffing a homemade doll with wild kapok
Helping to make toys for other children can be just as educational—and fun—as playing with them.

Many of the most fun, most educational toys can be made from scrap materials by members of the family or community. Children with disabilities who can use their hands can learn skills and take pride in making toys for others. So it makes sense to make toys rather than to buy them.

Below are a number of toys that children can make in a children’s workshop. Or children with disabilities or their families can make them at home. We start with very simple toys for babies or children at an early developmental level. Gradually, the toys become more advanced. More skills will be needed by the children who make them, and by those who play with them.

IMPORTANT! We encourage you to be creative in your toy ideas. And encourage the children making the toys to be creative. Help them use the examples shown on these pages as triggers to the imagination. Have fun!

TOYS TO ENCOURAGE LOOKING AND LISTENING

small mirrors or pieces of tin foil or shiny paper	colorful objects that move in the air
small bells from UPKARAN manual.

Toys that help develop use of hands and sense of touch

You can make beads and chains out of wild fruits and nuts.

prickly	rough and smooth	fuzzy	wrinkled or lumpy	smooth	wriggly

CAUTION! Be sure not to use things that are poisonous, harmful, or that might get stuck in the child's throat, nose, or ears.

For a baby, hang a ring of beads where she can reach and handle it.	A child can play putting the nuts and pods in and out of a container.		As the child develops more hand control, she can begin to make chains and necklaces by stringing beads on a cord.
	Later he can learn to sort them — first by seeing them, and then blindfolded.

“Snakes” can be made by stringing nuts, “caps” of acorns, bottle caps, or any combination of things.

small green mango (or whatever you can think of) bottle caps beans for “rattle” of rattlesnake

Hedgehogs

acorn

knobby sticks
from papache bush

“papache” (woody fruits
from wild bush)

cloves

guasima fruit

If you use your imagination, there are all kinds of toy animals you and your children can have fun making.

Rattles and other “noise toys”

Gourd rattle Find a small gourd (wild gourds or tree gourds may work).

Cut a round hole at the stem and clean out the seeds and flesh. Let it dry out well.

Put 2 or 3 small rocks, nuts or other objects inside.

Find a stick the size of the hole. If the hole is large, thin down this part of the stick.

Glue the stick to the gourd. Glue here. To make it stronger and better looking, mix white glue and sawdust, fill in here, and after the glue dries, sand it smooth.

Paint it colorfully.

Plastic bottle rattle		Bamboo rattle	Tin can rattle
a see-through plastic bottle stick of wood strips cut from plastic bottles of different colors, colorful stones, nuts, etc. ring cut from a plastic bottle, bamboo or whatever you have ring can be wrapped with strips of cloth or tire tubing for easier grip		SIMPLE FORM cork or plug WITH HANDLE

Cowhorn rattle

Trim rough edges.

Put in a cardboard or wood plug.

small rocks

Then seal with a mix of sawdust and white glue, or plaster of Paris.

glue sawdust Smooth the surface and let it dry.

If the child drops or throws his toys, try attaching strings and help him learn to get them back by himself.

Ideas for homemade music

(from How to Raise a Blind Child)

		can lids		can lids
gourds with seeds in them	2 wood sticks	tambourine	jingle bells	jingle bells
marimba loose hardwood plates			castanets (wooden clappers)

Soft rattle

Use a small can or bottle with a small stone inside...	...or use 2 small bells.	Cut a colorful soft cloth (flannel) into this shape.	Sew it into a square and turn inside out.	Place can or bells in cloth square and pack wild kapok, cotton or bits of sponge around it. Sew it shut.
				wild kapok

Doll rattle

Draw a doll on 2 pieces of cloth, and cut them out.		Sew the 2 dolls together.	Leave a small opening.
Turn the doll inside out.	Put small bells or a rattle inside and stuff with kapok, cotton or sponge and sew shut.	Sew or draw on a face.

Animal rattles		Ball rattle
can be made in the same way.		Cut 3 pieces of one color...	...and 3 pieces of another color.	Sew them together except for a small hole. Turn inside out and stuff.

Push-along noise toy		Bamboo push-along
Make hole in lid and bottom of tin. Put bottle tops, small stones, etc. inside. Put loop of stiff wire through holes with knot inside tin.		Cut here

Plastic bottle pig

1 plastic bottle		4 corn cobs	cardboard or leather for ears (Make 2 cuts in the bottle to hold ears.)
Make 4 large holes and one small hole.
beans, rocks, nuts or bottle caps to put inside if you want it to rattle		hard curved acacia bean(or anything else for tail)

Papier-mâché piggybank
Cover a balloon with papier-mâché.	strips of newspaper or packing paper paste of flour and water 4 to 6 layers thick	Cut 6 lumps off a cardboard egg carton. 4 like this 2 like this

Fasten down lumps with papier-mâché.

Corks can be used instead of egg cartons.

With a few coins inside, the pig can be used as a rattle. Decorate with paint.

Papier-mâché frog
balloon	4 pieces of thick cardboard	cardboard tube (perhaps from old toilet roll) cut tube	Cover with papier-mâché and attach “feet” and “hands.”	When dry, cut out mouth and paint.

The frog can be used as a handy storage container or cookie jar.

Children who need to develop hand control can play “feed the frog”— taking objects in and out.

Note: For the pig and frog, you can use a large gourd instead of a balloon.

Games fitting pegs or blocks into holes

These games help develop better hand control and hand-eye coordination. They also help the child learn to compare sizes, shapes, and color.

Drill holes in a piece of wood and cut pegs from tree branches.

Or make a “size box” by pouring cement, plaster of Paris, or clay into a mold. Or, make a plaster box out of cow-dung or mud mixed
with sand (and lime if you
have it). Press pegs into
the wet plaster, and
remove when
almost dry.

Or you can cut holes in a cardboard box. Glue an extra layer of tough cardboard on the top.

For pegs, use bottles, scraps of pipe, pieces of broom handles, bolts — or whatever you have.

Also, make games that help the child develop a twisting motion in her hands and wrists.

Other ideas

Blocks for building a tower on pegs	Animal stackers
Make it more fun by putting a face on the top block. Blocks can be cut from a thin log. Paint them bright colors.	tail made of broom, stick or rope Cut rings from a thin log or bamboo. leather or cloth ears pegs stick to fit rings over hole to fit tail into

Slide-on wire toys

To help develop fine control of hand movement, blocks, beads or animal figures can be moved along a wire. Children who have difficulty with control need only move the figure from one side to the other. Children with good control try to move the figure without touching the wire. The more bends you put in the wire, the harder it is.

To make it more interesting, match the animal figures with wooden bases in the form and colors of the place the animal lives: fish in water, squirrels in trees, birds in flowers.

Gourd Racing Car

beans as decoration pull string

Gourd baby
The gourd baby is fun because it can be given drinks and then “go to the latrine.” Thus it can be a good tool for toilet training children. See other ideas and dolls for toilet training.	plug plug	Now go poo poo in the potty. Good boy!

Shapes on pegs*	Figures with posts for easy gripping*
With these, children learn about matching colors, shapes, and sizes.

Building blocks
made of wood, clay, or layers of cardboard.	cubes and sticks

These are from the UPKARAN Manual.

Biting donkey

This wooden donkey or horse with a clothes-pin head is fun to make and to play with.

It can also be used as a note or reminder holder. Perhaps children with disabilities at the rehabilitation center can make this to sell for pocket money.

Trace the donkey onto a piece of wood about as thick as the clothes-pin (1 cm). Cut it out with a jig saw. Also make a base, as shown. Sand pieces smooth and glue together.

Donkey carts

wheels bamboo		old plastic bottle
Tie or glue cart together.

Climbing bear

Cut a pattern of the bear out of a wood board about 2 cm (¾ inch) thick.

Drill holes through the arms at the size and angle shown here.

Notch the ends of the feet so the cord can slide through the notch.

Hang a stick from the roof or a tree limb.

Tie cords or leather thongs tightly to the ends of the stick and pass them through the arm holes of the bear.

Notch the stick so that knots will not slip.

Be sure the cord passes through the notches in the feet.

By pulling one cord and then the other, the bear will climb the ropes! Children love it!

Good for developing use of both hands together.

RUBBER BAND WIND-UP TOYS

Steamroller		HOW WIND-UP POWER DRIVE WORKS
bamboo (or cardboard tube or corncob)		Cut loop diagonally for more length.
To help roller pull better (not slip), cover it with rubber tire tube or sandpaper.		old bicycle tire tube	Instead of a rubber band, you can cut a narrow loop of inner tube.

Paddle wheel boat

Paddles from tongue depressors or pieces from an old plastic bucket, etc. Notch the paddles and put them together like this.

rubber band Use it to help the child enjoy bathing, develop hand control and even speech.

Corncob creeper

Use an old spool or corncob.
Notch rim of spool to help it pull without slipping.	two small nails to hold rubber band hole	piece of soap rubber band Wind up the completed toy and watch it crawl!

For more fun, place a paper cone over the creeper, and decorate it to look like a person or animal.

Whirlygig screech plane

This simple noise toy can be made completely of waste material. The pin mounted at the front scrapes against the inside of the bottlecap—and the cups amplify the noise like the loud-speakers of a record player.

thin cardboard, folded and twisted, glued to stick thin stick 2 plastic cups glued together plastic cup melted with hot wire to hold pin tight pin bottlecap cardboard or thin foam plastic scraps glued to the cups

It whirls! It squeals! It flutters!

PUZZLES

Puzzles can help a child learn how shapes, forms, and colors fit together. Puzzles can be made by glueing a picture on cardboard, wood, plywood, or other material. Cut out the pieces with a coping saw. Puzzles can be made in various styles:

Flower puzzles	Figure puzzles
Children can first learn to form one flower. Later, they can play “sorting games” with flowers of different colors. Several children can play to see who can complete a flower first—using dice with different colored sides.

Puzzles with cut-out pieces that follow the forms and lines of the drawing

First have the child build the main object (here, the owl) with a few pieces. Later, she can learn to fill in the background.
An outer frame helps hold the pieces together.	A child with cognitive delay in Indonesia learns to fit together a fish puzzle. (Photo: Christian Children’s Fund, Carolyn Watson)

Puzzles with interlocking pieces	Block puzzles
Suggestion: If you have a large photo of the child or a family member, glue it on cardboard and cut out the puzzle. Or use a picture from a magazine or calendar.	Glue 6 different pictures to the sides of a thick board or sheet of foam plastic, and cut it into blocks. You can also make blocks from cubes of clay or small match boxes.

Ideas for the toys shown in this chapter are from many sources, including books. For books on toys and games, see Other Resources. Other toys are in sections:

Helping the Blind Child to Use His Hands and to Learn Skills
Early Play Activities and Toys
Ways to Make Toilet Training Easier
Bathing
Range-of-Motion and Strengthening Exercises for the Hand and Wrist.

This page was updated:25 Nov 2024