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Toys to Make for a Two-Year-Old From Recycled Items

Objects set aside to be recycled can quickly become a two-year old child's favorite toy with a little imagination. Items made of plastic, paper and cardboard are ideal to use; however, containers with sharp edges, such as aluminum cans should be avoided. By throwing a few noise-making items in a closed container, a child can have his own maracas or by incorporating several other items found around the house, a child can create his own treasure chest.

Toy shakers
- Almost any recyclable container with a lid can be turned into a shaker. By placing small objects inside the container such as rice, dried beans, coins, or popcorn kernels, a child can form his own musical group.
Collages
- Old newspapers, magazines and junk mail can be used to find images and pictures to create a themed collage. Some ideas for themes are letters, numbers or animals. An old cereal box cut up and laid flat provides a great base to glue the pictures to. Two-year-old children learning to identify written words can be persuaded to include words they recognize.
Crazy Aliens
- Tall recyclable cylinders, such as peanut butter containers, chip canisters, 2-liter soda containers, and condiment containers can be transformed into crazy aliens. Covering the container with leftover fabric and tying rubber bands around the middle help hold the body in place. The face and body can be decorated with old buttons, plastic bottle caps and candy, or your toddler can paint the container. Arms, legs and antennas can be created out of plastic straws, wooden dowels, plastic utensils, and toilet paper holders.
Jewelry box or Treasure Chest
- Used plastic containers, such as old baby wipe dispensers, are ideal for storing prized possessions. Two-year-old children can decorate the outside with colored paper, pictures from a magazine, ribbon, and stickers. Children can hide their secret items in the box and stow away for safe keeping.
Animal jaws
- Pizza boxes (small and large), plastic containers with hinged lids and old diaper wipe plastic containers are perfect to transform into giant animal heads. Two-year-old children can color the eyes, nose, tongue, and teeth of a particular creature already drawn out by a parent (i.e., for a snake, draw a large, forked tongue, several pointed teeth, two tall cylinders for a nose, and two half-circle eyes on a large piece of white paper). An adult can cut out the animal's features and, helping the toddler, attach them to the box with tape or non-toxic glue. Having the lid function as the opening of the mouth, place the eyes and nose on top, the tongue inside the bottom of the box and the teeth hanging from the top. Both children and adults will have fun chomping down on whatever they can find.

Childrens Toys