’Tis a Gift to be Free…
Simple Toys For Young Children
Made for the Holidays
By Linda Pratt
You can have a wonderful holiday season without overwhelming your family budget on store-bought presents. Here are some ideas for homemade toys and games from crayons, glue and scissors that are fun and educational for kids of all ages:
Teaching Early Literacy Skills (pre-reading):
Glue magazine pictures onto sheets of paper to make homemade books
Labels from canned goods or cut-up pictures from cereal boxes make good memory games
Make a tape/CD of your child(ren)’s favorite stories
Recognizing Quantity (pre-math):
Fill up the kitchen sink with measuring cups and containers of all sizes to find out how many measures a large container will hold.
Use boxes of different sizes for stacking and building.
Developing Eye-hand Coordination (pre-writing):
(When purchasing scissors look for the “Fiskars” brand which fit little hands better and are available at most discount or grocery stores)
Cookie cutters can be used for tracing, coloring and cutting out shapes
Old sneakers and shoes are good to practice lacing from one hole to the next
Cut old birthday/holiday cards into large pieces and put back together like puzzles
Use small paper (lunch) bags to make puppets.
Building Social Skills (taking turns):
Set two cardboard boxes at each end of a long table and take turns rolling tennis (or other soft) balls slowly across the table and see how many you can each get in the boxes.
Stack a number of pillows at the end of a designated playing area in your house and have everyone take turns running to the pillow stack to grab a pillow and run back carrying the pillow in front of them. Soft landings and plenty of laughs guaranteed.
Unused adult clothing is great for dressing up and pretend play.
Empty toilet paper rolls can be set up as bowling pins…add a small ball and you’re ready to play!
If you are seeking dependable and enjoyable toys at a stocking stuffer price, look for:
- Bubbles (for use in the bathtub during cold weather days)
- Deck of cards (you can use animal matching cards for younger kids)
- Stickers and envelopes (so kids can pretend to mail their own “cards”)
- Slinky
- Finger puppets
- Nerf ball
- Matchbox cars
- Paintboxes w/brush
- Heavy-duty board books
- Small flashlight (w/extra batteries)
These are some of the toys I would keep in my everyday supplies when I was providing individual speech therapy. I would never know when they would come in handy when all of my hard-earned planning just didn’t seem to do the trick.
Parents are cautioned to use their own judgment to determine if a toy is suitable and safe for a certain age level.
Of course, the greatest gift you can give to your child is TIME! Best Wishes for many blessed and happy moments of that gift during this holiday season.
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Linda D. Pratt, MA/CCC-SLP, Sp.Ed. is Owner and Educational Consultant of Learning by Heart, providing training and mentoring in early childhood education.
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