15 DIY Baby Toys (+ Easy and Free Tutorials)

Babies are brilliant at finding joy in the simplest things. Hand a baby an expensive toy from a shop and a wooden spoon at the same time, and don’t be surprised if the spoon wins. That’s actually good news for parents, because it means some of the best baby toys cost next to nothing and can be made from things you already have lying around the house.

DIY toys are also a nice way to give your baby something tailored to what they actually enjoy. If your baby is obsessed with crinkly noises, or loves anything with tags and ribbons, you can build a toy around that rather than hoping a shop-bought one ticks the right boxes. Below are 15 homemade baby toys, along with the supplies you’ll need and links to full tutorials where relevant.

A quick word on safety before you start

Homemade toys aren’t tested and labelled the way commercial ones are, so it’s worth taking a few sensible precautions:

• If a piece could fit inside a toilet roll tube, it’s a choking risk for babies and toddlers who still mouth things (roughly under three years old).
• Buttons, bottle caps, beads and small pompoms should be sewn on very securely or, better still, avoided altogether and replaced with embroidered details for anything a baby might chew.
• Ribbons, cords and long ties are a strangulation risk for babies who can’t yet sit up or move away on their own. Keep anything with loose ribbon well away from cots, prams and sleeping babies, and only bring it out for supervised play.
• Thin plastic bags are a suffocation hazard. Any sensory bag project should use thick, durable plastic, be taped shut completely on every edge, and only ever be used while you’re sitting right there watching.
• Glue lids on sensory bottles properly (a hot glue gun or strong all-purpose glue around the rim works well) so they can’t be twisted open by curious little hands.
• Always check homemade toys for wear and tear before each use, and retire anything that’s fraying, cracking or coming apart at the seams.

If you’re ever unsure whether something is safe for your baby’s age or stage, it’s always worth checking with your health visitor, midwife or GP rather than guessing.

15 DIY Baby Toys

1. Sensory Bottles

Sensory bottles (sometimes called discovery bottles or calm-down bottles) are small plastic bottles filled with water and eye-catching objects like sequins, glitter or small beads. Babies love watching the contents swirl and settle, and they’re a genuinely useful tool for tummy time or for giving an overtired toddler something soothing to focus on. Check out the tutorial here.

• Supplies
• Water
• Glue (a hot glue gun or strong all-purpose glue works best for sealing the lid)
• A small, sturdy plastic bottle
• Small sensory objects (sequins, glitter, small pompoms)

The main safety job here is the lid. Once it’s filled, glue it shut properly and let it cure fully before handing it over, otherwise a determined baby will eventually get it open.

2. Fleece Cloud Toy

These soft fleece clouds with ribbon tails are a lovely first sewing project. Make them small enough for tiny hands to grip, or larger and huggable for a comfort toy at nap time.

• Supplies
• 6×12 inch piece of fleece
• Ribbons
• Thread
• Fiberfill (polyester toy stuffing)
• Black embroidery floss
• Pattern
• Sewing machine
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pins and needles
• Disappearing fabric marker

Embroider the face with the floss rather than gluing or sewing on buttons or safety eyes, which can work loose over time with repeated washing. Fleece is machine washable, which matters a lot once this toy inevitably ends up dropped, dribbled on and dragged around the house. Download the plushie baby toy tutorial here.

3. Baby Discovery Jug

This one is dead simple and genuinely popular with babies who are starting to sit up and use both hands: an empty milk jug that they can drop objects into, then tip out again. It’s great for hand-eye coordination and cause and effect, and it costs nothing.

• Cut off the top of a clean, empty milk jug to widen the opening.

• Cut a second, larger opening on the side so baby can reach in easily.
• Run a strip of duct tape or electrical tape around every cut edge so there’s nothing sharp for little fingers to catch on.
• Whatever objects you use for dropping in and out (large pompoms, wooden blocks, big plastic curlers) should be bigger than a toilet roll tube. If in doubt, don’t use it.

4. DIY Sensory Board

Also known as a busy board, this is a flat board with lots of different household hardware attached: latches, a doorbell, a light switch, offcuts of carpet and so on. It’s brilliant for fine motor practice and it holds toddlers’ attention far longer than most shop toys, because it lets them copy the “grown up” things they see you doing every day.

• Supplies

• A basic wooden board
• Cable clips
• Self-drilling screws
• A selection of items with different textures (a mirror, carpet scraps, a door stop, chain, door knob, latch, belt, backpack slider, ribbons, and so on)

Screw everything down rather than gluing it, and go back over it every so often to check nothing has worked loose. This one is best suited to toddlers who are past the stage of putting everything straight in their mouth, rather than very young babies.

5. Rainbow Sensory Bottle / Music Shaker

A step up from the plain sensory bottle above, this version doubles as a shaker instrument thanks to the rice inside, and the ribbons trailing from the lid add a bit of visual interest.

• Supplies

• Clean plastic bottle with lid
• Rainbow coloured pompoms
• A handful of rice
• Rainbow coloured ribbons
• Screwdriver

Use the screwdriver to make a hole in the bottle lid, thread the ribbons through and knot them, then fill the bottle with the rest of the items and seal the lid shut with glue. Keep the ribbon lengths short, and only let babies use this one under supervision rather than leaving it in the cot.

6. Scrap Fabric Bunny

A sweet little sewn bunny that takes about an hour and uses up scrap fabric, an old shirt or an outgrown pair of jeans. It’s a lovely one to make in a couple of different fabrics if you’re planning to keep it for a second baby.

• Supplies

• Scrap fabric
• Scissors
• Thread and needle, or a sewing machine
• Permanent marker to draw the face

Drawing the face on with marker, rather than sewing on buttons or beads for eyes, keeps this one safer for babies who chew everything. Download the fabric bunny pattern here.

7. DIY Wood Baby Gym

This is more of a weekend project than a quick craft, but the result is a proper wooden play gym with hanging rings for baby to bat at and reach for, and it folds flat when you’re done. It’s a nice alternative to the plastic arch-style gyms and works well for tummy time from around three months, once your health visitor has given the go-ahead for supervised tummy time sessions.

• Supplies

• Pine board
• Leather lace
• Wood dowel, 3/4 inch diameter
• Wood rings
• Table saw
• Wooden beads
• Miter box
• Drill
• Wood glue
• Power planer
• Belt sander
• Clamps

Cut your board to width for the legs using the table saw, 1 3/4 inches wide. Cut the boards to length using the miter box, 26.5 inches. Then cut the dowel to length using the miter box, 25.5 inches.

Clean the saw marks off the edges of the boards with the planer, or use sandpaper if you don’t have one. Use a circle template to mark the ends of the legs for rounding off the corners, then measure and mark where the dowel hole will go at the top of each leg, 7/8 inch in and 7/8 inch down.

Drill the hole for the dowel using a 3/4 inch drill bit. Drill all the way through on the two inside legs, but only part way through on the two outside legs, checking the dowel fits snugly. Round over the ends of the legs with the belt sander, then sand every piece smooth so there are no splinters or rough edges baby could scratch against.

Fit the inside legs onto the dowel. Add wood glue to the outside leg dowel holes and clamp everything together, keeping the legs square to the dowel. Leave the clamps on until the glue is fully dry.

Drill holes in all four legs, 11 inches down from the top and centred, big enough for the leather lace to pass through. Tie a knot in the lace, thread it through the holes and knot off on the other side, then repeat for the other leg. With the legs spread apart, drill three holes along the dowel, one centred and the other two 5.5 inches out from it.

Thread wooden rings and beads onto the leather lace, leaving a decent length of leather free at each end, then feed the ends through the dowel holes and knot securely. Once it’s assembled, give the whole thing a wobble test before baby uses it, and always supervise, since dangling rings and cord are a strangulation risk if left unattended.

8. Tugging Box

Hand a baby a box of tissues and every single one will be on the floor within a minute. This toy channels that exact instinct into something you don’t mind them destroying: a cardboard box with holes poked in it and ribbons, pipe cleaners or strips of felt threaded through for pulling out.

• Supplies

• Sticky tape