Every mama knows that the best toys are the ones that aren't really toys. It's very easy to figure this out when you have your baby open their Christmas presents and they could care less about what's inside...they just want the ribbon.
I saw some cool baby sensory bottles on Pinterest and I thought, "I can do that!" But when I started looking at the instructions and the ingredients I realized I needed a shopping list of items to make the bottles that I had seen.
Determined to make it work and create my own frugal baby sensory toy. I pulled an old waterbottle out of the pantry that I had picked up at a surplus store for $0.50, opened it up, poured in the only crafty thing I had that would fit, pony beads, and superglued the lid back on. (I also removed all the stickers from the outside of the bottle)
I let it dry overnight and then gave it to my little guy to play with in the morning. He didn't care that it wasn't full of glitter, or fancy sequins, or special shiny beads. It was pretty, it moved when he rolled it on the floor, and it keeps him occupied! All for just over $0.50!
You can make these too. Just grab some kind of hard plastic water bottle (like a pop bottle or something similarly sized), add in whatever hard plastic crafty things you have on hand, fill with water, superglue or hot glue the lid on and it's ready to go!
Someday I might have a good time at the Dollar Store and pick up a few other crafty things that I could pour in another bottle but for now, this version works just fine!
Another fun cheap toddler project is making tambourines with paper plates, and check out all the other frugal crafts we have posted!
What "not a toy" things have you made into fun toys for your little one?
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
So cute! My son loves the cheapest toys best. Give him a piece of paper and he’s happy for at least 20 minutes
Take an empty parmesan cheese container, clean well and remove labels. Cut straws to fit in the container.
My little one thinks this is the coolest game ever–she dumps the straws out through the big opening and then puts them back in one by one through the little holes
It is greaet for fine motor skills!
One my kids loved was a 20oz water bottle emptied and dried, filled 3/4 the way with rice and glued shut. They loved to shake them!