Toddler Toys--Wipes Case

Has your little one ever gotten hold of the wipes?  Then you know what a mistake it was for me to ask Parker to hold the wipes package for a minute...  :)

A few months ago we were in a store and I handed it to him to keep him busy. I was hoping he would just enjoy the crinkling of the package. Um, no. When I checked on him a minute later, he was surrounded by wet, sweet-smelling wipes and was happily pulling out even more!


With all the toddler toy ideas I've found, I came across one where you pull scarves or fabric squares out of a wipes case. Great idea!! I usually buy wipes in a plastic package because the cases are big and bulky. But I had gotten a free sample of cottonelle wipes and they came in a nice little compact-size pop-up container. It's the perfect size for Parker to hold and the hole in the top is a flexible rubber strip so it's also easy to get his little hands inside.


I wasn't sure what to use for fabric... I tried cotton, but it bunched up and the thickness made it hard to pull through. Then I remembered I had some thin, sheer fabric that was left over from our wedding so I got that out. It was soft and really easy to pull through the hole.


Since the squares were just going to be pulled out of a box, I wasn't worried about making them look pretty. I cut out five square-ish shapes and crammed them into the little container. I showed Parker how to pull on the first piece and he quickly yanked it out and reached in for the other ones. How fun!  :)

But I wasn't actually finished. Turns out that the fabric I used frays terribly so after Parker pulled the pieces out a couple times he and the floor were covered in little silver threads. So I needed to hem the edges. Again, I didn't measure anything. I just folded them under twice and sewed a wide, quick hem on all the raw edges.


It only took a few minutes but, as you can see, Parker was a little anxious to have them back to play with!

Cup Holder

Every time I give Parker his sippy cup while he's in the stroller the same thing happens. He either gets distracted and drops it, or he decides he's done and tosses it over the side. But either way it ends up spout side down on a dirty floor or sidewalk. That is, WHEN I see it fall. There have been a few times another shopper has kindly informed me my son dropped something. Otherwise I wouldn't have noticed it was missing. And if I don't have wipes or anything to clean the cup, I have to put it away until we get home. Not ideal when you have a thirsty, cranky little boy.   :)

I looked up cup holders, but couldn't find any plastic ones that would attach to our stroller. So I wondered if I could make something out of fabric. Maybe one end would wrap around the cup and the other end would attach to the side of the stroller? Then when Parker tosses it, it wouldn't get lost--it would just hang off the side. I thought it was worth experimenting!

I measured around the narrowest part of the cup, then added enough length that it would hang a few inches off the floor. For our stroller, that ended up being 21 inches long plus seam allowance. I made the width 2.5 inches. I was planning to use a button to fasten it around the cup and I wasn't sure if it would pull too much or tear the fabric, so I also cut a strip of white fleece (22" x 1.25") to sew into the middle to make it a little stronger.

I folded the cotton in half lengthwise and pinned it onto the fleece, then sewed down both sides leaving the ends open. To turn it right way out I attached a safety pin to one end and started threading it through, like you would put elastic in pants. On one end I turned the raw ends in and sewed across. On the other end, I turned the raw ends in and inserted two pieces of velcro, then sewed across a couple times to secure it. The velcro pieces were about 2 inches long and they have to be sewn in so both fuzzy/rough sides are facing up in the same direction. 

Next I put the non-velcro end around the cup and wrapped it snugly around, marking where the button and button hole would need to be placed. And I got to use one of my favorite settings on my sewing machine! I can put the button into the foot and then just let the machine do the work--it measures the button and makes the perfect sized hole needed. Have I mentioned how much I love my new machine?! :)  Lastly I sewed on the button and then I was able to try it out!

I attached it to the stroller and it seemed to be the right length. It doesn't touch the floor but it looks long enough that Parker will be able to hold it easily. And it can also sit in the basket underneath. 

I haven't let Parker try it out yet, so maybe we'll have to go for a walk tomorrow and see what he thinks of it.  :)

Toddler Toy--Doorstops

This toy wasn't my idea. It was made by my husband, Kyle! A few months ago he had planned to make Parker a little wooden box with different activities on each side. Last Fall was a little busy for us, though, so it was never made. But he saw the supplies today when he went out to clean the garage, so he decided to work on it. When he tried to put it together, however, he realized the wood he had picked out wouldn't work, so he decided to just use one of the boards and keep it simple. He screwed four doorstops on the front of the board. Done!

 Confused?   :)

 Think of those little doorstops that look like springs. They bounce and make a loud, annoying "BOING" sound when you kick them. Yes, those doorstops. :) It seems like kids are drawn to those like magnets. So what better toy could you make than a small board with four springy doorstops that Parker can bend and pull on to his hearts content?

 It was an instant hit! Parker sat and played with it for quite some time. Not my favorite sound ever, but he loves it. And it's pretty hard to resist Parker's cute little grin when he finds a new favorite toy... :)

Toddler Toys--Lacing Beads (or Rings)

I made this toy a few weeks ago but never got around to posting it. I saw some sets of lacing beads online and they had good reviews from parents of both boys and girls, so I was thinking about buying a set. It's basically a length of thin rope and jumbo wooden beads to string, to help teach toddlers motor skills. But ordering them and paying shipping was a little pricey, so I saw some ideas for making a set instead.
I checked Joann's for large beads but even though they were big, they were still small enough that Parker could put them in his mouth so I opted not to get them. I was going to put it on hold for a while, however, I was in Target shortly after that and I happened to walk past a box of foam pool noodles--perfect!

We picked out a bright blue one and paid $2 for it. Kyle already had some thin red rope left over from another project so I was all set. The only 'tools' I needed were a serrated knife and a cutting board.
I started cutting the noodle into rings, making them different widths.

It cut really easily with a knife! I only used about half of the noodle and I got a pretty good pile of rings.

I cut a piece of rope about 3' long and tied a loopy knot in one end so the rings wouldn't fall off as easily. The last step was to light a match and hold the ends of the rope up to the flame just for a second. This melted the fibers together so the ends can't fray and come apart.
That's it!

Although I don't think Parker is old enough for this one just yet... he didn't quite get it when I showed him what to do--he tossed the rope aside and wanted to stack the little rings! Since then he's enjoyed playing with them and scattering them throughout the house. I tried showing him again last week how to string them and he actually did okay, as long as I held the rope for him. So I guess this may be one for when he's a little older. :)

Memory Game

While I was at Michael's a couple weeks ago getting pompoms for Parker's little 'toddler toy' bucket, I came across bags of wooden shapes. Did I need wooden shapes for anything? No. But as I picked up a package of small, round wooden discs and wondered what I could make with them I had an idea.... these would make cute memory tiles! Memory was one of my favorite games as a child, so I thought it would be fun to make my own version.

I bought a package of wooden discs that were 1.5" wide, a bottle of mod-podge for glue and a 1.25" round paper punch. The punch was a little expensive but I've been wanting a round one anyway, so I figured this would be a good time to get it. And I already had a ton of scrapbooking paper at home, so I was ready to start!

I had 22 wooden discs so I chose 11 different designs and colors of scrapbook paper to use for the game. I cut two circles out of each sheet. Since the circles are so small I was able to use up some scrap pieces of paper

The next step was to glue the paper circles onto the wooden discs. I kept hearing that mod-podge is great for craft projects, so I tried it out on these. I brushed a little onto the wood and stuck the paper circle on top. Then I brushed over the entire surface to smooth and seal it. The pieces dried within a few minutes, so I turned them over and brushed over the bottom to give both sides a nice glossy look. I thought that might be enough, so I put them aside for the night. But when I pulled them out the next day to check on them, several of the discs were stuck together. The glue was also supposed to be a sealer but it had left the tiles just tacky enough that they stuck together. Bummer. I went back to Michaels and bought a small bottle of varnish and a brush that ended up shedding bristles all over. Those kind are my favorite.
I should also mention that since this for little kids, I used non-toxic glue and varnish. I can't vouch for the random bristles, though...

I brushed a coat of varnish on the front and back of each tile and, once they were dry, brushed a second coat onto the front of each one. I left them out for an hour to thoroughly dry and they had a nice smooth, glossy feel when I checked them later! It worked! Here are all the sets...

I'm sure everyone knows how to play this super simple game, but here are the basic rules: Lay out the tiles upside-down in rows. The first player takes his turn by flipping over two tiles. If they match, he removes that pair and turns over two more. If he turns over two tiles that don't match, they are turned upside-down again and the next person takes their turn. Once all the tiles have been matched and removed the game is over. The person with the most pairs of tiles wins.

Toddler Toys - Velcro

The first toddler toy I made Parker was a hit, so I thought I'd try another one! Most of these ideas are from Pinterest but I mainly just look at the pictures and then make up my own version. The toy for today is velcro sticks! Because what kid doesn't love to tear velcro apart?! Velcro is still fun for for me and I'm, well...let's just say I'm a lot older than Parker! :)

I found a package of jumbo craft sticks (like popsicle sticks, but bigger) at Target for $2. I had to go to Joann's for the velcro. I bought the kind that has a sticky back so they're easy to put on, but the downside is that they're a little pricey--$3.80 for 30 round dots. And you need four per craft stick, so I only had enough for 7. I was thinking later that it would probably have been cheaper and worked just as well to buy a strip of velcro, cut it into squares and glue them on the sticks.
BUT I already had the dots. So the only work involved for me was peeling off the velcro dots and placing them on the ends of the sticks (on both sides!). Can't get any easier than that! :) Since I only used a few of the craft sticks, I may pick up more velcro later and make a few more. But for now these would be enough to see if Parker liked them.

I waited until after dinner before getting them out. I needed a few minutes to put food away and wash dishes, so I pulled these out and set them on his tray. I showed him that the ends stuck to each other and he grabbed a couple and began putting them together. Well, I finished cleaning and doing dishes and he was still so intent on his building that I sat down and was able to sew for about 20 minutes before he started squirming to get down. Love that it kept his attention so long! I don't know if it shows in the picture, but he was focusing so intently that his tongue was out most of the time. :)

Toddler Toys

Parker is a typical toddler. Which means he's very busy! And he doesn't have a very long attention span. So I've been looking up some little toys and activities I can make (and do!) with him. Pinterest has all kind of ideas for 'busy bags.' The idea is to have several ziploc bags, each of which contains a simple, homemade activity that you can pull out if your little one is bored and needs something new to play with. Or they're perfect to toss in the diaper bag if you're out waiting at a restaurant, doctor's office, etc. The best part is, most of them are pretty inexpensive to make! This one stood out, not only because it doesn't take many supplies, but also because Parker loves to put toys into other containers right now. He's all about stacking and dumping things out.

I wanted a small container with a lid for this, so I started looking around the house for something that would work. I found a small plastic bucket with broken sidewalk chalk. Perfect! I got rid of the chalk pieces and washed out the bucket. Later while Parker was napping I went out to Michaels and got a bag of jumbo pompoms.

I cut two 1-inch square holes in the lid. Although this wasn't the easiest plastic to cut. I think I'd recommend something a little softer... a can from baby formula or something similar would work great! These holes aren't perfect, but it works!

I wanted to make sure the edges weren't too sharp for his little fingers, so I cut short pieces of duct tape and stuck them along the sides of the holes. Nothing says homemade like duct tape, right? :)

Fortunately, I don't think Parker cares what it looks like. He had been sitting at the table while I was making it and he couldn't wait to get his little hands on it! I showed him how to stuff the pompoms in the holes and he quickly took over.

He liked it! I'm going to try a few other toddler ideas, too...will let you know how they turn out!