Are you looking for inspiring and affordable ways to create your own learning toys for your baby?
If you’re keen to enhance your baby’s early learning journey with enriching toys but are mindful of budget constraints, or perhaps you simply love crafting, then DIY learning toys are the perfect solution! Unleash your creativity by repurposing natural and recyclable materials, upcycling household items, or using your crafting talents to design unique and stimulating resources for your little one’s exploration and development.
To spark your imagination and kickstart your DIY projects, we’ve curated a collection of fantastic, easy-to-make ideas from across the web and highlighted the ingenious DIY creations from members of the Empowered Ed Facebook Community Educators.
Simply click the links below each image to explore detailed instructions for each project and expand your list of DIY toy ideas. Remember, when it comes to Learning Toys For Babies, simplicity is key! Avoid overcomplicating your projects; babies are naturally drawn to simple yet engaging stimuli.
Place these learning toys on low shelves, attach them to the floor with tape, or arrange them on tabletops for older babies and toddlers. Ensure your DIY toys are easily accessible, rotate them regularly to maintain novelty, and observe how your baby incorporates these new resources into their play and exploration.
Babies and toddlers are fascinated by transporting, emptying, and carrying objects. Enhance their play by providing shoeboxes with lids, baskets, repurposed bags, wallets, and empty containers within their play areas. These additions, combined with your DIY learning toys and open-ended materials, will amplify the fun and learning opportunities for children aged 0-2 years.
Excited to discover some simple, inspiring, and budget-friendly learning toy ideas? Let’s explore the images below and ignite your creativity!
Upcycled Learning Toy Ideas from Our Community
Our Empowered Ed Facebook group member Christina cleverly upcycled a yard sale find into a fantastic learning tool! She transformed a $1 red table with a damaged top into a chalkboard table. After sanding and painting it, Christina refreshes it with a new coat of paint each summer. It’s been a durable and engaging learning resource for 3 years!
Vivienne from our Empowered Ed Facebook group shared her ingenious peekaboo boards. Made from a recycled cardboard box and sticky wet wipe lids, these boards are perfect for developing object permanence and fine motor skills. By placing different items inside, like paint swatches for color recognition as shown, you can easily adapt them to support various learning objectives.
Lisa, another member from our Facebook group, created a versatile dual-sided learning board, ideal for limited spaces or adapting to different developmental stages. One side features a felt board, perfect for tactile exploration and storytelling, while the other is a tinker board, encouraging fine motor skills and problem-solving.
Sophie, from our Empowered Ed community, repurposed an old milk bottle into a simple watering can. This DIY toy is not only fun for water play but also strengthens little hand and wrist muscles through the squeezing action, enhancing fine motor development.
Lisa also crafted I-Spy bottles using rice and various small, intriguing items. These sensory bottles stimulate visual tracking and focus. Customize them with different objects of interest, ensuring the lid is securely taped for safety.
Sensory and Discovery Learning Toys
Creating ‘discovery’ bottles with interesting items is another fantastic DIY approach to stimulate or calm a baby’s senses. These are wonderful additions to shelves or hidden baskets, encouraging babies to find and incorporate them into their play, fostering exploration and sensory development.
Dawn from our Empowered Ed Facebook group and her children transformed button observation into a creative learning experience. Noticing the patterns on buttons, they created DIY stampers from corks and spools. These stampers are perfect for making imprints, textures, and patterns in clay and playdough, encouraging creativity and fine motor skills.
Jasmine from our Facebook group crafted inquiry jars filled with materials to stimulate senses and encourage discovery. Using old coffee jar lids (plastic containers are also suitable), she added various items inside to create mini sensory exploration jars.
Image: Small jars filled with different sensory items, like fabrics and small toys, showcasing DIY inquiry jars for stimulating baby’s senses.
Emma shared a captivating sensory board in the group, created from an old photo frame. Fill frames with various textures and objects to create engaging sensory exploration panels.
Kelly from our Empowered Ed Community ingeniously used old pump bottles for fine motor water play. Babies enjoy matching lids and pumping water, developing coordination and strength. These bottles are also great for pretend play, like hairdressing or bathing dolls, and can even help children who are sensitive to hair washing by providing a controlled water stream.
Image: A pump bottle being used to gently pour water on a child’s head during hair washing, highlighting a practical use for sensory comfort.
Babies truly don’t require elaborate or expensive toys for engagement and early learning. We hope these DIY learning toy ideas have inspired you to start creating and adapting your own resources for your baby!
For more fantastic DIY resources and baby play setup ideas, join our Empowered Educator Facebook community where over 20,000 educators worldwide share their innovative ideas.
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About the Author
Jodie Clarke is an experienced early childhood professional dedicated to supporting educators in maintaining their passion for their work. With 30 years of hands-on experience in early childhood and human services across diverse roles, Jodie is a mum of three in Australia. She empowers thousands of educators through her popular blog posts, activity ideas, online training, and e-books.
