Recycled toys

A fun way to stimulate creativity in children is by involving them in the construction of their own toys, an aspect that you can reinforce with the recycling and reuse of materials. Here we show you some ideas that will inspire you to get down to work with your children. 

Today we propose several crafts that you can do with your children to make toys with recycled material, because, in addition to teaching responsible consumption , they have the possibility of sharing with the family while they make these toys.

At the same time, you can encourage the development of their motor skills in the little one, while helping them to carry out projects that stimulate creativity and teamwork. 

Cardboard Versatility

In easy-to-make recycled toys, cardboard boxes are the protagonists, especially shoe boxes, and with them we begin our list of 15 toys with recycled material.

• Marble maze: With the lid of the box and some colored straws make a fun maze. To start, lay out the maze on the lid and cut the straws to form the walls. Use two straws to give it more height. Then, paste the walls with vinyl glue and let it dry well before using. This can be a toy for 3 year olds to use under supervision as the marble is small and the little one should be taken care of from possible choking or accidental ingestion.

• Portable table football: To make the table football, start by drilling holes in the ends of the box that will be the goals. Next, using skewer sticks you are going to make 4 holes on the sides of the box and distribute them. The players will be clothespins and the children can paint them the color of their favorite team. Having the tweezers dry, they should only be positioned on the sticks, place the ball and start the game.

• Cardboard Frisbee: Frisbees are fun and can be used outdoors for kids to exercise. To make it you need two cardboard plates, glue and markers or paint. The first step is to cut the center of both plates. Then the child can paint them in a very creative and colorful design, using markers or paint. The next step is to glue the plates facing each other by placing glue around the edge so that they adhere well. Just let it dry and you are ready to use it.

• Dollhouses: With printer packaging cardboard you can make a dollhouse with different rooms and spaces. All you have to do is get to work, use paint, felt and scraps of fabric to decorate the rooms and recreate fun stories with small dolls.

• Formula 1 Cars: If you want to learn how to make an easy cardboard car you will need toilet paper or absorbent paper tubes cut in half, plastic bottle caps, cork, cardboard, skewer sticks, paint and glue. With a stapler you are going to close one of the ends of the cardboard tube. You cut a stick in half and you must insert the two halves at each end of the tube to be the axles of the wheels. There you place the lids and secure them with the cork. Finally, it’s time to decorate the cars and paint them, with the cardboard the children can add more details.

more crafts

• Sock Doll: Recycling for kids should be fun, showing them that there are many objects that can be reused. One of them is the lost socks, of which, surely, you have more than one without its pair. With them you can make puppets and rag dolls in a simple way. They just need to be filled in, either with scraps of fabric or other stray socks, and details like eyes, mouth, and hair added using felt and fabric glue. 

• Rocket Box: Use a large box that your child can get into and add lots of colorful details to turn it into a car or a space rocket so your little one can get in and imagine great adventures. You can make crafts with large plastic bottles to add some lanterns, windows to the vehicle and everything that the imagination allows you. 

• 3 in a row with shells: With some painted shells and an old gauze bag you can make a game of 3 in a row that children can take anywhere they want. You can also use small rocks.

• Sand Scoops: Fabric softener and liquid detergent bottles can be turned into a recycled toy by cutting off the side of the handle and sanding it to make sand scoops.

• Bowling game: Yogurt pots can be used to make original toys for children. To do this, use 6 containers and decorate them as you like, glue ping-pong or Styrofoam balls to the top of the bottles and you will have the pins to play bowling with the children. 

• Chinese slingshot: Use balloons and toilet paper tubes to make slingshots. Tie a knot at the top of the balloon and cut a little off the base. Stretch the balloon and place it on one end of the tube. Now it only remains to place a small ball of paper inside the tube and stretch the tip to propel it.

•  Musical instruments: Making a guitar, drums and maracas is possible with waste materials. The guitar is assembled with a box, string and absorbent paper tube. The drums with cans and balloons, while the maracas can be made with plastic eggs, the kind that children like filled with chocolate. Instead of throwing them in the trash, you can fill them with beans and glue them to two spoons, decorate them and you will have some tropical maracas.

•  Throw rings: Stick a cardboard tube on a base, it can also be made of cardboard to give it stability. Cut out the center of disposable plates and paint them to turn them into colorful hoops. Now all they have to do is prove their skill in throwing and hitting hoops. 

• Recycled robot: By combining plastic containers, cans and lids, children can form a fun robot full of joints and mobility for their games. They can decorate it using many materials that are available: buttons, pipe cleaners, scraps of fabric, etc.

• Monster Collection: Your children can form a small community of colorful monster characters using the bottles of shampoo, deodorant, gel, body lotion and much more. Just remove the labels and add details like big eyes, fanged mouths, fun hair and much more. 

Our intention is to show you that it is not necessary to buy toys for your child every time they go to the mall, because at home they have many materials and objects that they can use to entertain themselves, at the same time that they develop their creativity, imagination and spend quality time in family .