Homemade Toy: Pushing Puff Balls

I’m pretty sure I got this idea from Children’s Learning Activities (though I can’t find the exact post). 

ETA: Manda just referred to this activity that I couldn’t find earlier on her blog.  Here’s the link for the original idea.

It was really easy to make, just cut small holes in the lid of an old butter container.  J’s goal is to stuff the puff balls inside the container via the holes.  The holes are just smaller than puff balls, requiring J to work a little harder to get all the balls inside.  It’s a fine motor activity that I pull out once every couple weeks and J is always very intrigued. 

Age attempted:  I think I first made this when he was 18 or 19 months old.  He’s now 24 months and still enjoys this (although it’s much easier for him now; I should probably add a color matching step to it too)

24 months

Homemade Toy: Playing Mailman

I made a simple mailman activity for my niece to include in her 1 Year old Busy Box (check out #3 on the link).   At her level, it basically included the foam envelopes and a small metal mailbox.  She could open and close the mailbox, lift up the flag, and play the “In and Out” game that ALL 1 year olds seem to love!  I kept wanting to make something similar for J.

 I got the first mailbox at Michael’s Craft Store but haven’t been able to find them since so I decided to make one with a shoebox…  until I came across this mailbox in the Valentine’s clearance section at Target. 

It’s made of cardboard and opens and closes like normal on the side.  It also has a small slit at the top (originally to place valentine’s card inside).  Regular size foam fits perfectly in the slit on top.  I cut the foam envelopes according the the length of the slit and then labeled each with both a mailing and a return “address” and drew a stamp in the upper right. If you wanted, you could use real stickers and have your toddler place the stamp on each envelope. 

I’ve had this activity made for ever, but just brought it out this week.  I’m glad I waited.  Since the foam envelopes barely fit in the mailbox slit, it makes it an appropriately challenging activity for J’s current level.  He has to be very careful to get the foam inside the slit and then he has to work slowly to push the foam envelope down.  Since foam bends if he pushes too hard or moves to fast the long envelopes will just bend over the top of the mailbox instead of falling inside.  It was a GREAT fine motor skill activity for him. 

Lots of concentration going on!!

He got really frustrated at first.  Dad stepped in and showed him how to hold the envelope on the sides with both hands and SLOWLY push it into the mailbox.  From then on he loved it.  He stuck with it for awhile.  The fact that he had to focus so much and was, in the end, able to complete the task tells me he’s at the right developmental level for this.  I’m actually glad the slit was so small.  If I had made one myslef, I wouldn’t have made the slit that small which would’ve made it to easy for him. 

It can also act as a name recognition game… he can “deliver” the envelopes to the correct person (in this case, Mommy, Daddy, and J) or he can just stack them according to name.  When he’s older, I could add more recipients and J could sort them next to the recipients picture.   

He can of course also sort them by color, count the numbe of envelopes each person recieved (or according to color).

Age attempted: 25 months; a younger toddler can insert the mail through a larger slit or through the door on the mailbox.

Here’s the picture of my niece’s Mailman game

Homemade Toy: Pipe Cleaners in a Bottle

This activity is a huge winner.   I once read about giving toddlers spaghetti pasta to fit inside empty spice containers in the “Toddler Busy Book”.  I tried this first (with an empty water bottle since he was too young to fit the spaghetti in the tiny spice holes) but the spaghetti kept breaking and then I was worried he’d try to eat the pieces.  It just didn’t work with J so young.  So I changed the activity and gave him pipe cleaners with the empty bottle instead.  I twisted the pipe cleaners in half so they were more sturdy and bent the ends around so they were safe.  J loved loved loved this.  It is definitely in the top 10 toys he owns.  I now include it when making a  Busy Box for 1 year olds.

It’s a great activity to help little ones practice motor skills.  The length of the pipe cleaners makes it more difficult to fit inside the bottle than a puff ball or anything small enough to fit into their hands.  J often tried to hold the bottle in one hand and the pipe cleaner in his other hand so it required steady hands (something he did not have at first!)  As he’s gotten older and in better control of his muscles I’ve decreased the size of the mouth on the bottle.  He now uses an empty parmesan container with the holes in the lid or a plastic lid that I punched holes into.  I’ve also seen an activity online that colored around each hole to encourage their toddler to match the colors during the activity (though I can’t remember where!).  I liked that idea, but haven’t used it yet.  It would definitely increase the difficulty. 

It’s funny how we don’t realize all the skills we had to master in order to do things like pouring, sorting, threading, etc. It’s fun watching J learn these things.  This is one of J’s favorite activities between ages 11 months and maybe 18 months.  

      

It’s a perfect plane activity since it keeps him occupied for so long and is so light to carry while traveling.  In fact, he just enjoyed this toy on our plane ride this morning at 22 months.  Again it’s light, keeps them busy for an extended time and the pipe cleaners can be used for other things (make jewelry, letters, shapes, chains, threading,…).

Age attempted: I can’t remember exactly when I first introduced this; I know my neice is able to do it at 12 months right now.

Teachable Moments:  In and Out, show them how to hold the bottle still while moving the pipe cleaner, fine motor skills, color matching,

Try Again?  He is still intrigued at 23 months!  I made the activity more difficult as he got older.

 

Here’s the cuter version I made for my neice.  I just punched holes into the top of an Empty Puffs container.

The Visiting Zoo

This “game” has been on my list of activities since J was 7 or 8 months old.  It’s simple and I’m sure you’ve heard of it before.  It requires no prep work and kids love it!  The only thing you have to do is check your pride at the door. 

So what is the “Visiting Zoo”?  Just pretend to be any animal that pops into your head. Hop around like a rabbit and scrunch your nose (J always loves Mommy scrunching her nose!), slither like a snake, waddle like a duck,… you get it.  And you get why pride has to be checked at the door.  The more into it you are, the more your little one will like it (especially as a toddler!). 

Babyhood: J started out just in awe of Mommy (or maybe it was shock).  He would stare or smile or giggle or look at me like I was loony.  He quickly learned to make the animal sounds but couldn’t manage the movements.

Pretoddler: J started trying to imitate the animals with me, both in sound and movement.  This is great practice with gross motor skills (jumping, slithering, crawling on hands and feet).  Instead of me chosing the animal, I started having him pick the animal.  I was amazed at the animals he remembered.  Caution: They will chose animals that we have no clue how to imitate (like a giraffe, what does a giraffe sound like?)

Early Toddler: J is getting better with his imitations and can do more animals.  I sometimes have him chose animals or pick flashcards from a bowl.  He has gotten to where I can act out an animal and he can name it. 

Toddler and Beyond: Eventually you can add homemade costumes to look like the animal (have them get creative with household items to use); have them draw the written word out of a hat to read instead of using a picture or use animal categories/classifications and they have to name an animal in that classification before you’ll act it out. 

Age Attempted: maybe 7 months at first?

Teachable moments: obviously animal sounds, also physical traits of animals come up (like elephants have a trunk instead of nose, paws instead of feet, beaks, tails, …); gross motor skills, animal classification, animal recognition, lose some inhibitions (though toddlers have few, maybe that’s a teachable moment for mom/dad!)

Try Again? over and over

1 Year Old’s Busy Box

I thought I would share a recent gift I prepared for my one year old niece.  I called it her “Busy Box” and included some homemade activities that she can enjoy both now and over the next few months.  She is the third child so her house is already overflowing with store-bought toys and they really need little more.  So I thought a little creativity was in order.  Afterall, toddlers LOVE to play with anything that isn’t technically a toy anyway!  Many of these activities were J’s favorites at the same age (the ones with stars) and I threw in a few extra… 

The box itself was a simple photo box.  I wanted it to be small enough to hide away (some activities will need adult supervision) and cute enough to be displayed if wanted.  This also meant activities needed to fit inside the box itself.  I finally decided on…

1. Pipe Cleaners in a Bottle **

All toddlers love a good game of In and Out.  This is just one more way to get some practice!  I used an old container of Puffs from J’s baby days, decorated the outside and punched holes in the lid.  I filled the bottle with colorful pipe cleaners.  It’s also a good idea to fold and twist the pipe cleaners in half to make them sturdier.  As a pretoddler it will be easiest to simply remove the lid completely and let her take the pipe cleaners in and out but as she gets older, simply add the lid and the activity becomes more advanced.  If I could’ve found my colorful Sharpies/reinforcement stickers, I would’ve given each hole a specific color.  This allows one more difficulty by trying to match the colored pipe cleaners to the corresponding colored hole in the lid. 

Another option is to use colorful straws, but I chose pipe cleaners since they’re so versatile.  She could also use them to make shapes, letters, jewelry,…  Oh and this makes a GREAT plane activity. 

2.  Colorful Flowers

Again and In and Out game, or just a way to focus on colors.  I used colorful foam to make the flowers and added a tin flower pot.

3.  You’ve Got Mail

I cut out envelopes, stamped and addressed each one with recognizable family names.  I intended to create my old mailbox with a box, but decided to go with this cute store-bought mailbox instead.  She can learn to open and close the mailbox, of course play the In and Out game with the mail (do you see a trend?), and when she gets old enough for name recognition she can play mailman and pass out the mail to the intended recipient. 

4.  Clothespin Drop

I bought some of the old clothespins (without the spring) and gave each one a different colored tip.  She can play the In and Out game (yes, again!), try to drop the clothespins in the tin flower pot and hear the nice clangy sound they make, and when she’s much older can fit the clothespins around the tin edge since they fit perfectly.

5.  Half-Dozen Eggs **

I mentioned this activity in an earlier post.  It was such a winner when J was younger, that it had to win a spot in E’s Busy Box.  It takes literally no work, just an egg carton and some plastic eggs.  ** I also meant to add puff balls inside each egg, but of course forgot. 

6.  Cupcake Magnetic Puzzle

This was made completely out of the colorful foam.  The muffin tins and cherries are glued down but the cupcakes themselves can be removed, rearranged and replaced (because of the magnetic backing).  Since she is so young, cupcakes work great.  Any color cupcake will fit on any muffin tin.  

This is an activity where a parent needs to be nearby since it includes magnets.

7.  Photo cards **

I printed and laminated family photos.  This is a great way for her to learn each family member (they’ve recently moved away from home) and I’ve never known a toddler that didn’t enjoy playing with pictures! 

7.  Colorful Dice

I threw this in last minute since J has a set and enjoys them.  I found these at Michaels.  For now, it’s just something to toss around (they are rubber so they bounce), but eventually it’s a way to practice counting. 

Sorting

I gave J a bowl of colored stones (for his two different colors, but as he gets older I can add more colors) and an empty ice cube tray.  The first step was to fill each section with one stone (I wasn’t concerned with colors at this point). It’s basically a simple pattern, each spot needs one stone.  Then he emptied the tray and I had him fill one side with red stones and the other side with blue stones.

I’ve done the same thing with the colored pom pom balls.  Really you could use anything small enough to fit.  Somtimes changing the sorting item is enough to make get J interested again, especially if it’s not really a toy!  Oooh, I get to play with rocks now!  Oooh  paperclips!!! Ooooh  erasers!!!

19 months

Age?  First done (with pompom balls) around 16 months; color sorting at 19 months

Try Again?  Yes, as long as the difficulty increases with age.  As he gets older and better at counting I can specify the number of stones in each section or have him add one more stone in each subsequent section (so he has one stone in box one, two stones in box two, …).  I can also incorporate motor skills by having him use a spoon or tongs to transfer the stones.

Connect Four

I started rummaging through each room in our house, on the search for potential activities for J.  I came across the game Connect Four and knew J would love it.  He loves any form of the “In and Out” game!  It also happened to coincide with our circle week, so the circle-shaped chips would be another opportunity to reinforce our shape of the week. 

At 16 months, he wasn’t ready to play the games per the rules, but learning to fit each tile into the slots was a good challenge.  He loved it and still does (at 21 months).  Once he was able to easily manipulate the tiles where he wanted them, we started working on placing all the black tiles on one side and the red tiles on the other, alternating black and red rows, counting tiles as he places them into the slots, etc. 

This game really is a great learning tool from a very early age.  I invision being able to reinforce patterns through this too and of course eventually learn to play the game as intended.

Btw, the tiles can be used alone as an easy option for matching colors.  Just have two bowls and let them separate the colors. 

J at 16 months

Age: J started at 16 months and still “plays” Connect Four at 21 months. 

Try Again?  Yes; I did learn that this is easier played on the floor where J can sit up on his knees to see the top of the tray.  Our first attempt was in the highchair (doable but not ideal setting)

J at 20 months

Homemade Toy: Egg Cartons

I started this activity with J at 13 months.  I gave him a bowl of plastic eggs and the empty egg carton and let him try to fill each space.  He loved it.  It was a great motor skills activity.  Eventually I added corks to the mix.  He would put the corks inside the eggs, take them out, put them in the empty spaces of the egg carton,…  You could use puffs or marbles instead of the corks.

Age:  J started aroun 12 or 13 months; If I made it more advanced, he would still play with this today.

Try Again?  I used this activity once a week (maybe every 2 weeks) until around 17 months.  I could now have him sort colors using the same materials to make it more challenging.

**ETA: Find more plastic egg activities here.

Tunnel Play

I guess I was slow in introducing tunnels.  My first attempt (around 10 months) was not well received, so I didn’t try again until J was 12 months.  I just set up the couch cushions to create a short tunnel and he loved it.  He liked to follow mommy through (though it was a tight fit for mommy!), play peek a boo with mom at one end and J at the other, push his cars through the tunnel, or pop his head up through the top of the tunnel.  It’s an easy activity to set up and free!

12 months

Age attempted? 10 months not successful (cautious little guy!); successful at 12 months and ever since

Try Again?  Yes; still a good activity

Tug of War for Babies

Obviously you won’t be playing this game with a huge mud pit in front of your little one!

Just about the age when J started sitting up on his own, I started playing this game with him.  It helps them develop better balance and stronger back and stomach muscles so that they don’t teeter over at every gust of wind (or when you just walk by them!).

J and I sat next to each other and I would get him to grasp onto a scarf, towel, shirt, blanket (anything I had nearby!).  I would grab the other end and pull every so slightly.  My resistance was really really light at first.  I didn’t want him to let go of the scarf, but wanted to show him how fun it was when he kept his grasp.  It didn’t take him too long to realize it was a game and to hold on!  If I pulled too much, of course he would  teeter over.  The goal in this tug of war is not really to make them fall over.  You have to find that sweet spot where they keep playing but are also getting a work out and improving their balance.  As time went on I could  increase my resistance because he was getting stronger. 

Baby games are simple, but I found it was nice to “spice up” our day with things like this! 

Age attempted:  around 5 months