Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. When you make a purchase through an affiliate link, I earn a commission at no cost to you. See my entire disclosure policy for all the boring details.
Our zero-degree-freeze-the-snot-inside-your-nose midwestern winters are in full swing, and we are officiallyhibernating. I bought 3 months worth of food and we’re not leaving the house until April.
The freezing months of winter here cause us to get a little bit creative with our indoor activities.
And by creative, I mean, my kids play with our trash.
Jk… but seriously.
Maybe it’s just our kids, but sometimes they’d rather play with trash than toys. I mean, our first child literally used to empty the recycling bag in our tiny apartment kitchen and PLAY WITH THE TRASH.
And if we let our 1st kid play with trash, you can only imagine what our 4th child gets himself into.
This post is full of inexpensive homemade toys ideas for babies and toddlers that you could put together with junk you probably have around your house.
Homemade Toddler Toys Storage & Setup
I keep a lot of these activities stored in ziplocks in a medium sized bin that is HIDDEN, so that when I pull one out, it’s special and fun.
SET UP TIP:Sometimes, when you pull something out for your child, the independent seeking toddler rejects it. But if you make them think it was their idea to play with it, who knows how long they’ll be occupied!! To that end, I recommend setting out one of these activities somewhere where your tot can “discover it” and explore it independently.
If you try any of these, post a picture & tag me on Instagram! I love connecting with readers there – @mrsreneecook
1. Pipe Cleaners & Objects with Small Holes
Our 2 year old likes to see if she can get the short pipe cleaners to fill all the holes in the parmesan cheese shaker without them falling all the way through. The package of pipe cleaners and the parmesan cheese shaker were $1 each at the dollar store.
- My children think it is an entirely separate activity to stick toothpicks in the shaker.
- Or pipe cleaners in the colander.
- Or toothpicks in an old spice container.
Putting a small object in a small hole is much fun and a great way for little hands to develop fine motor skills.
2. Scooping + ice cube trays + small objects
- Dry pasta
- Fruit loops
- Ice cubes
- Giant buttons (my kids love these)
- Beads
- Plastic Bottle caps
- Legos
- Coins
- WHATEVER!
Anything that makes noise, is small enough to scoop, but big enough to clean up.
I’ve found that less is more. 1 type of item + 1 scooper + 2 different types of containers is a good amount of things.
Too many items and containers and the kids seem to get overwhelmed or bored faster.
Toddler Behavior Tip
If this activity (or any other) gets out of control, time to clean up! I highly recommend calmly ending the activity at the first sign of craziness.
If your toddler dumps some pasta out, this is not a big deal. They’re exploring! Let it go. Or put the whole activity on an old towel or sheet and remind them: “Keep the pasta on the sheet.”
But, if your little angel starts throwing pasta around the room, time to be done.
Just calmly say something like, “I can see you’re done. Clean up time.” And start cleaning. No big fight or behavior issue necessary. Here are other ideas for proactive, positive 1 year old behavior training + discipline.
When they start getting crazy, it’s your clue that they’ve lost interest. Move on, don’t try to make it an obedience thing where they have to “play the right way.”
3. Muffin Tins + Buttons
You and I know this is the same as dry pasta and ice cube trays… but toddlers?
They think it’s totally a totally new toy! Capitalize on this my friends.
Remember to set it out somewhere where your child will discover it on her own – ideally somewhere unexpected, like the middle of the living room floor. You could use a small wooden spoon or kitchen scoopers with this activity too.
My kids have always preferred my own kitchen & household items to play kitchen toys.
4. Beads, Yarn, Plastic Needles
Beading became a favorite activity around age 2.5-4 years old for our kids.
I purchased plastic needles, tiny hoop, yarn, wooden beads at Hobby Lobby for less than $5.00 total.
The brown “netting” pictured was extra from some of that sticky cabinet liner that you put on the shelves in your cabinets. Or you can order it on Amazon.
The plastic needle makes it easier for a toddler to bead than with string by itself. If you have old shoelaces around, thosewill work too.
Pipe cleaners are fun to bead, then you don’t even need the plastic needle. Use your imagination!
Bonus: beading and threading help kids to develop the fine motor pincher grasp necessary for holding a pencil correctly.
Bam! Now your free trashy activity is educational too. You’re welcome.
All of our kids have gone through a paper ripping phase circa 10-15 months. I showed Emma how to rip from a stack of magazines. Once she figured it out, she went to town! She’d spend 15 minutes or more on this.
She thought this was fun for weeks. When she would get bored, I’d just toss all the ripped up pieces in a brown paper bag to recycle. She would help.
Should we call cleaning up the ripped paper bonus baby activity 5B?!
Yes I think we should.
6. Recycled Containers
Empty plastic bottle. Fun to crinkle. Fun in the bath. Fun to drink. Literally one of the world’s best baby toys for free.
Fun all around! I was not kidding when I said my kids play with trash.
I have a small box of washed out plastic containers that we use for all kinds of things… all the scooping and pouring activities, playing in the sink, bath, sandbox, or pool, etc…
Old spice containers and those plastic grated parmesan containers are the crowd fave because the kids love to flip up the lid and see the water pour out through the little holes.
Every so often, I actually recycle them and save “new” ones. The gift that keeps on giving!
7. Baby Wipes Container & Anything That Will Fit Inside
An old baby wipes container was a BIG hit for all of our kids around 15-24 months.
They loved pressing the button and seeing the top pop open. They put something in, click it back down and repeat. Once all their objects are inside, they sometimes need help opening the whole box to get them out.
Eventually, they figure out how to open the box, orhow to stick their hand in and pull stuff out.
ANYTHING is fun to put in and dump out of an old wipes box:
- recycled milk tops
- q tips
- fabric scraps
- pennies
- play cards
- small action figures
- blocks
- bouncy balls
- LITERALLY ANYTHING
This is another toddler favorite for the bathroom floor while mom showers. (Don’t use anything they can choke on while you’re in the shower, obviously.)
I think I snagged these giant straws off an end cap at Walmart for $1.00.
They have served us well. Besides using them for smoothies, they are fun to drop in our empty block bucket. Our block container has a shape sorting lid like this.
The trashier method would be just cutting holes in the top of an old oatmeal container.
9. Cutting Straws
Let your toddler cut straws with toddler scissors. (These are AMAZING scissors for first learning to cut… pictured on the tray below.)
Then, use the small pieces they just cut as “beads” on a pipe cleaner or shoelace.
10. Hide the straws
Hide 5 brightly colored straws in a room and let your toddler try to find them.
You could do this with anything your child loves, but a “novel” item like a pack of brightly colored plastic straws or a pack of colorful erasers from the dollar spot at target makes it even more fun and new!
11. Throw the Straws & Clean Them Up Race
We did this with those plastic straws! Basically, throw a bunch of a lightweight object all over and then see how fast you can race to get them back to a certain spot.
Do it with like 5-10 large, light weight objects… stuffed animals, straws, measuring spoons, etc…
DON’T do this with something like beads. Duh!
12. Money Activities
At 2, our kids liked doing the following with money…
- sorting change by color (silver & copper)
- sorting by size (using only quarters & dimes)
- pouring it from container to container
- putting it in a piggy bank 1 by 1.
Our 1-2 year olds have reeeeeeally liked a piggy bank. Something about the coins disappearing into the slot, and then dumping them all out again.
Of course, they make fancy toys that mimic this:
Since we’re trying to stick to trash, I’d recommend using a recycled oatmeal or coffee container to make your piggy bank.
Fun every time!
13. Clothespins
Sometime in between 2 and 3 years old ish, a toddler can figure out clothespins. I found small/medium sized crafting ones at Walmart, which are easier than big ones. Let the kid(s) clip the clothespins to anything they’ll fit on:
- cardboard
- old cereal box
- hair
- fingers
- string
- necklaces
- the edge of their shirt…
These plastic clips would accomplish the same activity and fine motor skills! And they’d probably last longer. Wooden clothespins fall apart easily.
I totally created this paint chip color gradient activity for our first child. She loved it and learned the concept of light and dark shades really young.
Alas, it didn’t last. The 3rd and 4th children had to figure out color gradient more organically.
14. KNIVES!
Kidding.
Kinda.
Around 2 1/2, my toddlers reeeeally want to help cook. Every single meal. And it’s not enough to just stand next to me with an empty bowl and spoon and pretend anymore.
So, we have a dip-spreader with a serrated side that I made a big deal out of – how it’s a grown up knife, only for big kids, etc..
We’ve also talked extensively about how it’s the only knife she’s allowed to do… yada yada yada. (Come on, people, don’t actually let your kids play with knives.)
But give them cooked noodles, melon, bread, or bananas to cut with a butter knife, and you will have one focused, quiet & still toddler on your hands. Worth it.
15. Pillows
Kids love to jump into a sea of pillows.
By 2, they’re old enough to run and get all the pillows by themselves 1 at a time, and put them all back when they’re done. So this is a minimum 30-minutes-of-fun activity.
It’s one of their faves while I’m making dinner because they can occasionally peek out the window and see if Dad is home yet.
When we moved into a house with more space, we bought this 5 foot square foam jumping pillow specifically for the purpose of jumping off of furniture onto this! It’s awesome – best Christmas gift ever.
16. Dry Erase Markers
Here, I put construction paper inside page protectors. Then I used painters tape to tape them all to the table so they wouldn’t slip around.
I gave her a dry erase marker and small piece of paper towel.
Scribble, erase… like magic!
My current 3 year old LOVES a mini dry erase board and marker.
Yes, it gets on walls and furniture and skin. No I don’t care because I use this magical, chemical free stuff from Norwex that wipes ANYTHING RIGHT OFF ANYTHING! Sharpie, dry erase, disgusting grime in tile grout, spaghetti sauce, whatever… it wipes right off. Voodoo magic I tell you. This container will last you YEARS.
17. Sticker Line Up
Susie at Busy Toddler has a billion fun ideas for dot stickers! This one is simple as can be for toddlers.
If you peel the background off, 2 year olds can get the dots off by themselves. #protip
18. Fill The Letter with Dot Stickers
Totally different from dot stickers on a line… to a toddler anyway 😉
These neon dot stickers are $1.00 at Walmart next time you’re there. Otherwise, you can order these primary colored dot stickers on Amazon for less than $5.00 for a pack of 1000! That’s so cheap! They will last a while!
19. Water at the Sink
An all time favorite for all 4 toddlers we’ve had at our house. I love to set them up with this while I’m making a meal.
Put a beach towel under the chair they’re standing on and embrace the fact that it’ll be wet! Who cares!? It’s just water. My toddler will do this for 30 minutes!
20. Water in a Bin (aka: Pouring station)
21. Forts
Finally, if all else fails, put some all-time favorite toys in a fort and call it a day. Because forts make everything more fun.
Feeling overwhelmed by life with littles lately!?
Try my free 5 day email course. It’s all about helping you identify the biggest frustrations in your daily mom life & transforming them into routines that WORK for you!!
Who needs a toy box or fancy playroom when you have a recycling bin full of trashy toys 🙂
RELATED POSTS:
Ultimate Guide to 2 Year Old Sleep Issues
3 Phrases to Help You With Toddler Discipline
(Tons of other good toddler activities in this post!)
(Can Be Modified for Any Season)
