Home-made Toys for Your Baby

Toys are as important as food and sleep for children. They help develop hand and eye co-ordination, social skills, creativity, imagination, cognitive behavior etc. Most expensive toys today may just look attractive, but may not serve the purpose of a toy. So, instead of buying expensive toys with which your child may or may not play, try these simple home-made toys and enjoy watching your baby have fun and learn!

6-12 month old babies:
1.Rattle: Fill a small, transparent plastic box with little rice, dal, pasta etc and put the lid on. Your baby will love watching the contents move and the sound it makes!
2.Puppets: If you're thinking of throwing away an old sock, think again! You can make a puppet out of it by adding colorful eyes, nose and lips.
3.Teether: The best teether you can give your baby is a toothbrush. The added benefit of this is that your baby will be introduced to a toothbrush and the feel of it at a younger age..
4.Bath toys: Give your baby small cups to collect and pour water. You can even punch holes through the cups for your baby to watch the water flow out of it!
5.Drums: Give your baby a wooden/steel spoon and a big plastic box. Let your baby bang the box to his/her heart's content.
6.Treasure box: Keep all your baby's toys in a medium sized cardboard box and let your baby find the toys. You can even keep a new toy and surprise your baby!

1-2 year old babies:
1.Pull toys: Cut an egg carton lengthwise to obtain a strip of 6 egg cups. Colour each egg cup with a different color (use non-toxic colours) and draw eyes, nose and a smile. Punch a hole in front of the box and attach a long string to it. You can even put bells inside the box to make it more interesting.
2.Sponge doll: Tie a ribbon just above the centre and top corners of a rectangular sponge. This will be the head and ears of the doll. You can draw the features of the face and a dress for the doll, or even better, you can let your child draw it.
3.Books/albums: You can stick pictures of animals, trees, or your family and friends and write notes about everyone/everything. This will help the child read, write and recognize people.
4.Building blocks: Collect cups, caps tumblers etc which are big enough and cannot be swallowed. You can help your child build towers with it.

Caution:
1.Avoid using small and detachable parts. It can be a choking hazard.
2.Use non-toxic colours.
3.Wash the toys that can be washed to remove dirt.
4.Make sure there are no sharp edges in any of the toys.

So here is a way to make a customized toy for your child! It's easy, fun and definitely saves you a lot of money you may waste on some expensive toys!