Last month, I was asked to help create some materials for the pediatric physical therapy clinic at the regional hospital in Mbarara. My desire was to create toys from local materials that promote physical and mental development and are easily reproducible.
Babies and toddlers can find fun in just about anything. Boxes, cups, containers, keys... you name it! It doesn't have to be an official toy to provide entertainment and valuable learning opportunities. Your recycling bin is probably the perfect place to look to start creating your own set of homemade toys. I, along with the help of others in our community, collected all sorts of bottles, containers, tins, lids, boxes, and tubes. Everything was put to use.
Here are some of the toys I created for the physical therapy department:
Sensory bottles provide plenty of visual and auditory stimulation for young children. Oil and water is always a fascinating combination, especially when foam bits are riding the waves. Watching strips of shiny wrapping paper twist and twirl in water is a calming experience. Dish soap and water make for lots of bubbly fun, and colored rice and toothpicks sound just like falling rain.
This I-Spy jar makes a nice sound when shaken about and is full of surprises. It encourages numeral recognition for older children and promotes problem-solving skills as the child must move the jar in a way that allows her to find all 10 numbers.
These posting toys encourage hand-eye coordination as well as fine motor development in order to put the bottle caps and pipe cleaners into their containers. The lids can be removed for children who need a bigger target. The bottle caps in the tin also teach about object permanence as once the bottle caps are inside, the lid comes off, and they're discovered again! Young children also delight in putting things in containers and dumping them out again, so these toys can be used for a variety of ages.
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| bottle caps are a choking hazard!! please only use with direct supervision and older children. we use what we can here... |
This oatmeal tin, covered in shiny wrapping paper, has a few grains of rice inside. When it's rolled, it makes an enticing sound. A toy like this could encourage motor planning as a baby learns to reach out toward an object of interest while keeping his balance or crawling after it as it rolls away.
For this ribbon pull toy, I punctured some holes into the sides of the container and made sure there were corresponding holes at the same levels on each side. I passed pieces of ribbon through the sets of holes and tied a variety of large, knobby buttons to the ends. When the ribbons are pulled, they make a surprising zipping sound and offer some light resistance. This toy offers a variety of sensory experiences and teaches cause and effect... when one end of the ribbon gets longer, the other gets shorter.
This is a similar toy, made from pipe cleaners and a strong paper towel roll. It has a nice combination of textures with hard, smooth cardboard and fuzzy pipe cleaners.
This simple toy offers so much fun for toddlers. Strips of fabric are tied together to form a long piece, which can be pulled through a hole in the lid of the container. This gross motor activity also teaches about cause and effect. As the child pulls the fabric, the portion outside of the container becomes longer and the portion inside is visibly reduced.
Finally, this sensory bottle contains multi-colored rice and strips of reflective wrapping paper. For young children, a toy like this can encourage visual discrimination as they view the contrasting objects inside and offers an interesting auditory experience when the jar is shaken or rolled.
Supervision of babies with toys:
Babies put everything in their mouth, so any homemade toy can potentially cause choking – no matter how well you have made it. Super glue all lids shut, and keep an eye on baby at all times.
