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Easy-to-Make Toys for Kids

Anyone who has children, no matter what their age, can tell you that those little bundles of energy can drain your physical resources---and your financial ones, too. Between clothes, school lunches and store-bought toys, kids can empty your pocket books in the blink of an eye. Save some money by making your own toys with the assistance of the kids who will play with these small masterpieces for days on end.

Soap Box Racer
- Construct a small car for your child that can be made with his assistance. Build several cars if you have more than one child so they can race on a long, flat surface. Let your child paint a box from a bar of soap any color she chooses and then decorate it with stickers and draw a number on it, just like a real race car. Poke four holes through the box and push four bamboo skewers through these holes to act as the axles of the car. Drill holes into the center of four plastic soda-bottle caps and place all four wheels onto the axles. Tape a straw to the top of the box and place a balloon on one end of it. Secure the balloon to the straw with tape, leaving enough room for the balloon to be inflated. Have your child blow into his balloon, pinch the end, place the car on the floor and let it go.
Colored Binoculars
- Use two ordinary bathroom items to create a pair of binoculars that will make your child want to explore her environment. Line up two toilet-paper or paper-towel rolls and glue them together lengthwise. Cut out one square of red cellophane and one square of blue cellophane. These pieces should be large enough to cover the holes on the rolls and have a little slack to allow for attachment. Cover the end of one cardboard roll with the blue cellophane and the other with the red. Secure the cellophane pieces with a rubber band. Let your child use these binoculars to look at different objects and see how the colors on the binoculars change their appearance.
Optical Illusion
- Turn an ordinary piece of cardboard into an optical illusion that will amaze and excite any child. Cut a circle out of a piece of cardboard. Trace two circles that are the exact same size as the cardboard circle onto a piece of white paper. Cut out the circles and draw a picture of a lightning bolt on one circle and the picture of a cloud on the other. Color the lighting bolt yellow and color the cloud blue. Glue the lighting bolt to one side of the circle and the cloud to the other. Allow the glue to dry and then punch a hole on both sides of the cardboard. Loop a piece of string through each hole and tie each at the end. Twirl the string between your thumb and index finger. Watch your child as she is amazed when the two pictures meet and it appears as though the lighting bolt is in the cloud.

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