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The good news is: children don't need expensive toys to play and learn. In fact, you probably already have all the things you need to create a fun, versatile and engaging toy!
Here is an idea to help get you started with Do-It-Yourself toys.
Shapes for all ages!
Sorting out shapes helps children to learn to classify things based on for example colour and shape. Children can also learn to group objects freely or based on what adults ask.
You need:
- Construction paper in various colors
- Scissors
- Moulds (eg. cookie cutters, plastic cups, sand toys..)
Instructions:
Cut the cardboard papers in different geometric shapes. That’s it!
How to play? Many ideas!
Babies & toddlers:
- Sort out the shapes based on shape. It helps babies to develop cognitive skills, but also their eye-hand coordination when picking up the shapes.
- You can teach the children about colors and shapes by pointing at them and naming them. Later on, you can also ask the children to point out red or blue shapes to learn about colours – and circles and triangles to learn about shapes.
- For promoting memory and observation skills, you can play Kim's Game with some of the shapes. See the detailed instructions for the game here!
Preschoolers:
Let the children draw and cut some shapes by themselves, for example 10 each. Ask the childen to look for moulds around the room, maybe a cup could be used for a circle or a duplo lego for a square. Help with cutting the shapes out if needed. You can use the shapes in many ways for learning, for example...
- Ask each child to make something out of the shapes, for example arrange the shapes in a form of a face (eyes, nose, mouth...) or the first letter of the child's name. Or even better - ask the children to develop their own Shape Creatures and take pictures of them when ready, write down who they are and what they can do!
- Make an inventory of all the shapes in the class to practice counting. Count how many stars, circles, hearts and pentagons you have!
- Play tic-tac-toe with the shapes in pairs: each player chooses five shapes (different ones) and draws a simple grid on a paper - ta-daa and the game is on!
This is a great toy for promoting development! More similar DIY toy ideas from Unicef here.
In case you would like to have more ideas for activities look here.
Happy playtime!
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