Six Fun Toys You Can Make at Home

By Aly Van Dyke
Published on December 8, 2008
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Here are some other tracking tools using animal cut outs. You can also choose to laminate these toys so they last longer.
Here are some other tracking tools using animal cut outs. You can also choose to laminate these toys so they last longer.
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Tie this toy between two chairs and let your 5 1/2-to-8-month old learn to use his or her feet by kicking this can decorated personally by you!
Tie this toy between two chairs and let your 5 1/2-to-8-month old learn to use his or her feet by kicking this can decorated personally by you!
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This tracking tool uses a poker chip and a tongue depressor. Tracking tools are perfect for newborns because they teach babies to use both eyes simultaneously.
This tracking tool uses a poker chip and a tongue depressor. Tracking tools are perfect for newborns because they teach babies to use both eyes simultaneously.
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Help your child learn to walk —  forward and backward — more smoothly by creating this musical pull toy out of a Pringles can. This can easily be transformed from the Kick the Can activity mentioned previously.
Help your child learn to walk —  forward and backward — more smoothly by creating this musical pull toy out of a Pringles can. This can easily be transformed from the Kick the Can activity mentioned previously.
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Here's yet another way to use Ziploc bags. Create a word book out of words your child already knows to help him or her learn to put sentences together.
Here's yet another way to use Ziploc bags. Create a word book out of words your child already knows to help him or her learn to put sentences together.
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Go on exciting scavenger hunt through nature by creating this fun treasure-hunting game.
Go on exciting scavenger hunt through nature by creating this fun treasure-hunting game.
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Play peek-a-boo with your baby behind this fun animal face to help your child understand object permanence.
Play peek-a-boo with your baby behind this fun animal face to help your child understand object permanence.

Many of us have witnessed the magical moment when a 1-year-old gets that very first “big” toy — and promptly throws it aside to play with the box it came in.

Parents, relatives and friends can spend a good deal of money on flashy and high-tech toys, but the truth is, that’s pretty unnecessary. Kids are fairly easily entertained, and many fun — and educational — toys can be made at home with recycled materials.

Babies learn more during the first three years of their life than at any other time. At specific times in a child’s development, the brain focuses on developing certain behaviors — such as motor and language skills. Neurologists refer to these times as “windows of opportunity.” With proper stimulation during these windows, babies can learn different behaviors quicker and more efficiently, which will help them succeed throughout their lives.

Because children like to play and explore, toys are a perfect way to stimulate the brain at specific times of development. And these toys don’t have to come from toy tycoons or department stores — you can make them right at home.

The toys listed below were created by Topeka Public Schools Parents As Teachers (PAT) program as part of an interactive and developmental learning program. PAT started in the 1970s as a way to integrate parents and family into early childhood education as a way to improve entrance-level abilities among kindergarteners. PAT works with parents and children from the time the baby is in the womb to when the child is 5 years old; specific programs vary among school districts.

Each toy is specific to a particular age and has scientific rationale behind the various activities it encourages. Most of these toys involve interaction between the parent and the child, to develop the critical relationship between children and their parents.

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