Hobbies And Interests
Materials
Household materials for handmade infant toys include old plastic milk jugs, plastic sandwich bags, old coffee cans, milk cartons, old tin boxes and wooden clothes pins. Jar lids, plastic utensils and old keys also make good materials. You can round up the materials by buying safe adhesive and paints at craft stores. When choosing paints, you should opt for organic paints or those specially designed to be safe for infants and children, free of harmful chemicals. This is particularly important, since infants tend to chew on their toys when teething. The recycled household materials need to be extensively cleaned. Make sure, as well, that there are no sharp or jagged edges exposed that can harm the infant. Do not use any small parts that an infant can swallow, unless they can be secured and impossible to remove.
Ideas
Making a plastic sandwich bag book is very simple. Collect the number of pages you want to include in the book and then sew them together, either by hand or by machine, on the closed side, leaving the zippered side open so you can add pages with images to it. Use cardboard cut to the right size, decorated with pictures from magazines or even photographs, for the pages.
To make a rattle, take a clean jug or bottle, fill it about a quarter or less with smaller items, rocks, or even raw rice, screw the cap back on and then seal it carefully with tape. Make sure the tape covers all around the cap and a little around the bottle. This becomes the handle and can be painted in a bright color.
Buy an unpainted wooden car and paint it yourself with organic paint. By securely tying a rope to it, it functions as a pull-toy. You can make puzzles using a large piece of cardboard and painting an interesting image on it, or by making a collage of images from magazines, and then cutting it into large pieces that fit together so an older infant or toddler can try to put it together.
Educational Aspects
Handmade toys are ideal for stimulating children's minds at an early stage. Without having to spend a large amount of money on educational toys, you can help your infants practice many skills. Dolls and stuffed animals create opportunities for infants to practice language skills when they communicate with their toys. You can teach your children language skills when you read handmade books to them. Getting down on the floor and playing with your child with a pull toy or clipping clothespins on cans teaches fine motor skills. Parents can target specific skills they want to develop with handmade toys made specifically for each purpose and for the child's needs.
Sentimentality
Handmade toys can be seen as economical, disposable, easily replaceable toys. However, they can also be special enough or unique, so that they are treasured long after the infant has grown up and can be saved for future generations. Handmade toys can become representations of those young years, and they can be quite durable if made from good, hardy materials.
Handmade toys sometimes need to be retouched in the far future, but that just adds another level of interaction inspired by the toy. Stories from the first generation to use the toy become part of the experience for the new generation.