Mama Made It: Toddler Toys

As Cruz gets older and enters the ever entertaining world of Toddlerhood, I find stimulating him to be an increasingly tougher task. He has never been much of a toys kind of boy, always preferring to be outside, running, jumping, playing, puddle stomping. But lately I can see him feeling the desire to learn more and more. He tries so hard to say every word I tell him. He is loving to paint and draw and build. I started seeing him needing to be stimulated. If he isn't getting enough of that stimulation he cries for attention, or worse, television.

So, I decided to start looking around for toys and activities that would keep that little mind of his spinning.

I'm not a huge fan of plastic/computerized/battery operated toys so I knew I wanted to keep it simple. Unfortunately, these days, simple comes at a price. All the Waldorf style and Montessori style toys I could find were pretty far out of my single mama budget.

But the more I researched, the more I realized that I could definitely recreate a lot of these things on my own. So recreate, I did.

I found this great website called Woodworks Ltd that sold all the wood pieces I wanted at a wholesale price that was available to the public.

And here is a super simple little tutorial for anyone interested in making their little ones some sweet, simple toys.

I decided to make a color matching game using the little pots and the acorns (they came separate but fit together perfect). I saw this idea on etsy, retailing for close to $30.00

I was using the little pails for a different project. I was going to paint them as well, but decided to go ahead and leave them natural so that Cruz wouldn't be overwhelmed with a ton of color. 

I used watercolors that we had on hand. Paint them any way you like. You get get creative with different kinds of paint or wood stains.

Finishing the set took me about 15 minutes

Here are some colored balls that I made previously that I paired with the plain pails to create an "in and out" game. Cruz loves to take things out and put them away.

I decided to save the color matching game to give to Cruz as a Christmas present. I had quite a few leftovers, so if you know me and we have kids the same age, pretend you didnt see this because its probably what I am making your little one for Christmas!

Hope you enjoyed.