7 Homemade Toys for Baby

Building Blocks

• Gather milk cartons in a variety of sizes (half gallon, quart, and pints).
  
  
• Wash, clean, and stuff the cartons with newspaper.
  
  
• Fold and tape the open ends down, creating a square and proceed to cover each block with adhesive contact paper.

Nesting or Stacking Tins

• Gather several aluminum or tin cans of various diameters such as coffee, vegetable, soup, tomato paste, and large juice cans (you can also use plastic containers).
• With one end removed, clean and soak off labels from each can.
• Hammer down the edges until they are flat and very smooth; use cloth or vinyl tape to cover the rims and edges (We must protect tiny, tender fingers!).
  
  
• With this colorful tape, makes stripes around each can (primary colors work well). Sit with your little one and show him how to nest the smaller cans inside the largest one. If you turn the cans upside down, stack them to make a tall tower.

Clothespin Game

Here is a color-classifying game to use along with the above nesting tins: Paint wooden clothespins (you can find these in craft stores—don't purchase the spring-action type), to coordinate with the striped tape of the cans in the above toy. Your young baby will enjoy dropping the clothespins into the can. Older toddlers can play two games: