Hobbies And Interests
Wooden Blocks
You can buy pre-cut wooden blocks at most craft stores. Otherwise you can buy sheets of wood at the hardware store and have them cut into different sized blocks for you. Paint the blocks with nontoxic milk-based paints. You can even paint letters on the blocks to help your child learn the alphabet.
Milk Carton Buses
You can make just about anything out of milk cartons. First, gather up a few empty milk cartons. Be sure to wash them out well. Get some glue, tape and construction paper, in addition to any other supplies to decorate with. Smash down and cover up the top with construction paper to make a rectangle box. Cover the box with yellow construction paper. Cut out windows and wheels. Tape or glue the wheels on and get creative.
Simple Box Toy
Gather up several cardboard boxes from around the house. You will need to find small, medium and large boxes. Cut off the top flaps of all the boxes. Be sure that you can stack the boxes inside each other one by one until you get to the smallest box. Keep the boxes separate while you paint each one to prevent them from sticking to each other. Paint each box with nontoxic milk-based paint. Your child will love putting the boxes inside each other.
Drum Set
Find an empty round oatmeal box. You can also use coffee cans or canisters, if you want several different sized drums in your set. Feel free to use the existing lids or you can make your own. You can put construction paper around the drums for decoration. Use bamboo chop sticks to bang on the drums with.
Tambourines
Making homemade tambourines is very simple. Get some large, heavy duty paper plates with large outer rims, dry beans, tape and markers. Put some dry beans on the paper plate and then put another paper plate directly on top of the first one, facing inward. Tape the plates together on all sides. Color the plates with markers. Shake them up to make some noise.