4 DIY Items For Toddlers’ Home Activities

Toys are used in Z’s occupational therapy. In an hour’s time, he gets to use about 3-4 different kinds of toys for different activities. So with that, I have been consciously buying toys similar to what he uses in therapy to ensure continuity in his home activities.

But toys are really expensive. Especially the ones that promote motor skills development. And I also have to keep in mind that I have limited space at home so I really don’t want to hoard a lot of toys. However, there are a lot of things within our homes that can be used to develop fine motor skills. All it takes is a little creativity on our end.

Here’s a few of the things that Z uses for his home activities to support his therapy sessions. A lot of these I got from Pinterest (it is such a great resource for these kinds of activities) and also from other blog sites and websites about motor skills development. These wouldn’t really cost so much as either you can buy them cheap or you can DIY them (as I have on some) if you have a few minutes to spare.

1) Containers out of Tissue Cores

Tissue core turned into containers for home activities
Tissue core turned into containers for home activities

Here’s what you need:

  • Tissue cores (I used the ones I got from work as these were the big rolls that goes into the dispenser and has a wider diameter than the regular bathroom tissue. If you don’t have access to this kind, regular tissue core will do as well. Another alternative is using cereal or milk boxes)
  • colored art paper
  • thick board paper for the bottom part (you can use cereal boxes, milk boxes or illustration board if you have. But if you’re going to use boxes from the get go, you can drop this from the list)
  • glue
  • glue gun

Trace the circumference of the tissue core on to the thick board paper. What I used was the trimmings of an illustration board that I’ve used for a previous project. You can use an old folder or a cereal box, too. Cut out the circles depending on the number of containers you need.

Use the cut out board to cover one end of the tissue core using a glue gun. Using hot glue makes the board stick better to the tissue core compared to regular glue. Make sure that the hot glue is spread evenly and the cut outs cover the exact bottom of the tissue core.

Cut your colored art paper based on the height and wrap it around the core using glue. If you have excess art paper, you can also cover the inside of the makeshift container or you can leave it as it is.

If you find that tissue cores are small for the type of container you need, you can use any boxes available – milk box, cereal box, etc. You can just cover those with colored art paper.

These makeshift containers have a lot of uses: it can be used for sorting activities, color matching, scooping pebbles from one container to another, etc.

2) Coin Banks

Z's moo bank :D
Z’s moo bank 😀

What you need:

  • coin bank
  • different sizes of coins

I got this coin bank (I call it “moo bank” since it is a cow LOL) from Toy Kingdom for Php 99.75. If you don’t have any coin banks lying around, you can DIY one using a plastic container (could be an empty cocoa powder container or pet bottle) or even a box.

Coin shooting is a good activity to develop the pincer grasp. Z has a similar activity in his therapy sessions using big tokens to shoot. Coins are a lot smaller than those tokens which makes it harder as well for Z to pick up and shoot since the coin bank’s opening is slimmer compared to the toy version.

I would recommend starting with the bigger coins – 5-peso and 10-peso coins – as these will be relatively easier to pick up and shoot. Once they got the hang of the bigger coins, then you can incorporate the 1-peso coin until such time that you get to the smallest ones – the 10-centavo and 5-centavo coins. Z is currently doing 1-, 5-, and 10-peso coins.

This is also a good activity to start teaching about savings and investments to young kids. Hey, there’s no better time to teach kids to save than now, right?

3) Clothespins

Wooden clothespins
Wooden clothespins

What you need:

  • clothespins
  • string

Another activity to help develop the pincer grasp is using clothespins. Playing with clothespins also help with control. I bought these from a Japan store for Php 88.00. The string in the photo is excess ribbon I had from gift wrapping. I just braided it to make it a bit thicker and easier to use.

This one you don’t actually need to buy especially if you already have clothespins at home. Just choose the ones that are easier to open. I bought a set for Z because I no longer have clothespins lying around as everything has been used for different purposes as well. For the string, you can use straw strings used to tie your boxes of groceries or even the paper strings that some malls prefer to use nowadays. A word of caution though: do not leave young kids to play with strings on their own as these may pose a danger to them. If strings are not preferred, you can use the edge of boards or just clip it on your kids’s clothing. 🙂

4) Puzzle Boards Made of Boxes

DIY puzzle board
DIY puzzle board

What you need:

  • diaper box (you can also use any other thick boards like illustration boards)
  • colored art paper
  • shapes pattern
  • glue

Cut the diaper box into the size of the puzzle board that you need. You will be needing 2 pieces of the same size. The first piece will be your base. Trace the shapes patterns on to the second board. Carefully cut the shapes out of the board using a paper cutter knife. If in case the shape gets destroyed in the process, you can just trace the pattern on to another board and use that cut out instead as the puzzle piece.

Cover the board cut outs with different colored art paper. Also cover the base board with art paper based on the color of the cut out shape just like what I did in the photo.

Finally, stick the two boards together and leave it to properly dry. You can also seal the edges using packaging tape. Or if you want to be more crafty, you can cover the whole board with sticker paper instead. Just like this:

DIY board covered in sticker paper
DIY board covered in sticker paper

Yeah, I had a bit of time. LOL! The whole puzzle board took me a little over two hours to finish. And yes, I know, there are a lot of puzzle boards available in toy stores as well so if you don’t have time to DIY, you can just buy. But with all of the options out there, make sure to find one that will fit your kid’s activity requirements, too.

This is actually the reason why I decided to DIY. Majority of the puzzle boards I’ve seen has too many colors and designs going on and what I need is just a basic board with solid colors and simple shapes. Z is still learning the concept of turning a piece in one direction or the other to fit the puzzle and at the same time, I am trying out different activities that will help him understand the concept of colors and shapes. Hence the board I made consists of 3 basic shapes and 3 different ones.

 

So there. I do hope that these will help somehow give a few ideas on what we can do to support our child’s development. There’s really no need to spend so much on toys. All we need is just a little bit of creativity and patience.

Being able to attend Z’s therapy sessions, I not only see him make progress in terms of development. I also get to learn a lot of things that perks up my creativity. It actually feels nice to be able to DIY a few things for the little boy to use. And I know that this is just the beginning. There will be a lot more DIY projects for this momma along the way. And I am excited!

 

 

 

You may also like

75 Comments

  1. I remember meeting you and Z at a Mommy Mundo event and you guys are so admirable and adorable. Thanks for sharing these. I’ll try to do it for my own son 🙂

  2. Wow Mommy! I don’t even have time to comb my hair! Haha! Ang galing and ang tiyaga mo for DIY-ing those toys. I’m sure Zaine’s enjoying everything you made. It’s so resourceful of you to re-purpose the used tissue rolls. Our Mother Nature’s extra happier for sure. 😀

  3. Love all the DIY toys you did! I’m also a ‘pinterest mom’ if there’s really such (lol) as I love browsing there and try to do it myself! I’ve done some of it and most of it -not yet.
    I agree with you with prices of toys now-a-days though, mahal talaga 🙁 so it’s great din to get hand-me-down toys from relatives 🙂

    1. Thanks, Coi! My son gets hand-me-down clothes but not toys haha so I tried a hand at DIY. I’m starting to enjoy it 😊

  4. I also did a lot of DIY stuff for my son who attended OT session before too. Our fave is the home made clay to develop his fine motor skills.

    1. I think I may have to look into making homemade clay since my little boy doesn’t really like play doh. It looks like he’s got a bit of a sensory issue that we need to address. I hope the homemade clay will work though. 🙂

  5. These are really great recommedations and quite ingenious if I may add. I especially liked the clothes pin and string. Thanks for sharing and inspiring creativity in your readers.

  6. I love everything that you did especially the puzzle board! I never thought that we can make the use of coinbank fun. Thanks for sharing, Liz!

    1. Thanks, Meg! 🙂 I never thought about it too until I saw a similar activity using a toy in my son’s occupational therapy sessions. It’s a fun activity, if I may say so myself 🙂

  7. Great idea! Can’t wait for my baby to become a toddler! Daming pwede gawin sa bahay instead of enrolling her to an art class. Better to do it at home. Naka save na, naka bond pa! 🙂

    1. True! Gastos mo nalang would be art materials and Pinterest is such a great source of ideas for toddler activities, I swear! 🙂

  8. Those are all very creative ideas. Thank god for Pinterest, huh? I get so many ideas there, too!

  9. I truly love your diy ideas. Sometimes we tend to.buy expensive toys for our kids when we can do them ourselves. We just need to be extra creative and yes, Pinterest is a such a helpful venue to look for ideas.

  10. These are some great ideas!! My mom worked in the elementary schools and I’m sure that she’d have loved to use some of these ideas!

    1. Thank you! Please feel free to share. I’m hoping to share more in the future as I try to create activities for my son at home or when he’s not at therapy 🙂

  11. Thanks for the tips! I’m going to try making a few of these as I have an almost 3 year old running around, and this looks like it would keep her busy and promote some motor skill building as well!

  12. Aw I love the puzzle pieces made out of card I think that is a really good idea. The money bank is another cute activity as well x

  13. This is nice, I’m sure your child will benefit from it. Therapy sessions are expensive, so these DIY activities will be very helpful to other moms.

    1. Yes, therapies are indeed expensive. So thankful for all the resources to DIY toys that can be used for home therapies 🙂

  14. Those are really nice ideas! It’s always great to start them early with the activities. It’s a fun learning experience for them.

  15. I really like your ideas! Bunny has her own coin bank in the form of Doraemon. She enjoys playing with it and putting in coins as well. 🙂

  16. Great DIY toy ideas mum! This will be fun to do especially now that school is out. They do not only look cute but the kiddos will definitely learn a lot while playing them. I used to DIY my little one’s toys when he was little, now he makes his own by drawing his favorite superheroes and cutting them. He calls them his “origami.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.