HANDMADE TOYS BELOW

INTRODUCTION

I always enjoyed making toys and games for my children. Although I am not very  talented with my hands, I've always enjoyed craft work. I designed/invented many toys and games for my children and want to share with others.

Many of the toys and games are hand-made, using materials which are easy to obtain.

 I always tried to make toys which are practical. The doll house, for example, is  good for families who live in small spaces because it can be stored in a large plastic bag. The puppet stage is also collapsible, and has inserts to change the scene.  The Jingle-cheer puppet doll is fun, especially since children love puppets. The puppets have bells that make a pleasant jingling sound. There is a pocket on the back of each puppet...a place to put a special message.  The tri-corner dolls are small, simple dolls which can also be used as puppets. These dolls come with easy to use change of clothing, especially helpful to young children.

Kids love felt boards. There are many ways in which a felt board can be used.  They are especially effective in story-telling. Children who hear a felt board story  often want to tell the story him/herself using the felt pieces. This helps with oral communication. The magnetic board is also suitable for a variety of activities.

Most of the games are educational. They  reinforce certain important skills. Some of the games are suitable for adults, as they can be played on a more advanced level. Many of the games can be played in a variety of ways. My favorite games are in the POOGIES collection.  The materials  can be used in several different games  suitable  for ages 3 to adult.  For the young children, the games help with skills such as visual discrimination and memory. There is a version that help adults with their memory and concentration. It is known that exercising the brain with these sorts of activities is extremely  helpful for people of all ages.

I think it is important to realize that for young children, play is their work. These days, most unfortunately, children are pushed into the academics too soon.  They will learn the academics when they are ready, and that readiness time varies from child to child. The latest educational philosophy seems to be veering away from this concept.

I hope that you enjoy this blog, and perhaps, make some of the toys and games for a special child in your life.

MENU

Thank you for visiting.

Toys
1) Collapsible doll house-click
2) Jingle-Cheer dolls-click
3) Tri-corner dolls (coming soon)
4) Puppet stage-with scenery inserts (coming soon)
5) Felt Board Fun:Stories (coming soon)

Games

SOME WORDS ABOUT WINNING ...AND LOSING-click

SOME WORDS ABOUT THE MATTER OF WHO GOES FIRST-click

1) Match-up-visual discrimination,concentration-click

2) Dig it- quick thinking, spelling, math-click

3) Poogies-multi-concept games for all ages-click

Yarn Management tip-click


4) Marvelous Marble Race - learning exercises-click

5)FACE IT-click

6) More, Less or is it the Same? math concepts-click


Coming soon:
 Anyone's Guess (coming soon)-studying for tests
 Felt and Magnetic Board games(coming soon)a) Sentence Scramble and other linguistic games for reading skills

  

More ,Less, or the Same

More, Less Or Is It the Same is a mathematics game which helps children learn number

concepts and computation. It can be used for number recognition as well as 

addition,subtraction,multiplication and division calculations.  In addition, the concepts of more, less or the same number value are practiced and learned.

Click on the picture for instructions.

A Collapsible Doll House

One method of making toys, especially doll furniture, it to cover a piece of cardboard with fabric and sew the pieces together. The collapsible doll house was put together using this method. We live in a small apartment with very little room for a doll house.

This doll house can be kept in a large plastic bag and stored in a closet.

The walls  are attached to eachother using velcro tabs.

Click here for further explanations and illustrations

 

THE JINGLE-CHEER DOLLS

I was cleaning my closet and found some doll/puppets I made several years ago. These dolls have a purpose: to bring cheer--and fun-- to the recipient.

The dolls are about  12 inches high.  The arms and legs are made out of circular pieces of fabric, sewn at the edges , gathered and secured at the center. 

 Fabric is also used for the body and head of the doll.

On the back of the doll there are two loops for fingers. Underneath the two

loops is a pocket into which a piece of paper can be inserted.  Bells are sewn

on to the arms and legs of the doll. The doll becomes a hand puppet.

The idea is to  put a wish or a message of cheer for a person, and shake the

doll so the bells ring. It is like ringing the message for the person. I made several of these as birthday gifts.  Many of them were clowns.

I used the  Jingle Cheer concept to make some dolls/puppets for  a series of ten stories for children  collectively called 

The Willy-Silly Stories. (click for the story menu)

The stories are about three royal children who live in WillyNilly Land.  Prince Jay, Princess Kay and Princess Fay  live in a way we can recognize.  They visit SillyDilly Land where people live quite differently. The two royal children are 

Princess Peek-a-Boo, and Prince Hop-A-Lot.  The royal children do not wear crowns..

they wear green pigs.  The people of SillyDilly land wear boxes. 

I used the  Jingle Cheer concept to make the dolls/puppets for these stories.

 MATCH-UP

As an educator/librarian in the early childhood grades I learned the importance of

reading readiness skills. One of these skills is VISUAL DISCRIMINATION. Those who

sew, knit and/or crochet could make visual discrimination games using your skills.

1. Crocheting granny squares.

This is a matching game in which individual squares can be matched to a mat of

from 6 to 9 squares. Varying the combination of colors makes the game challenging and sharpens the child's ability to see detail. This is not only important for reading, but for math as well. (the most common math mistakes are "careless errors.") 

Several mats can be made with corresponding individual pieces. The reverse side of these mats could have something else: numbers, shapes,etc. The individual pieces could be put in a bag allowing the child to select randomly. (Children love to pick out

of a bag. You might find that they are spending a bit of time choosing.)

***

2. Quilting Matchup Games

People who have quilting skills can use the same principles in making the

visual discrimination game. The game can be very easy, to complex.

3. Pictures on paper Match up games

Pictures can be cut out of magazines or downloaded from the computer (google images). If a picture is printed out, it is best to use card stock paper. If regular
paper is used, back the pictures with poster board.  You could even opt for
a child to make several pictures, then color xerox two of each picture. Use one
of each for the board.  Have the others as individual pictures.

Teaching Toddlers Colors

 

This is more difficult. The colors are reversed. The game can

be used to teach both colors and shapes.

This  game is very advanced. Here, creative quilting can be utilized.