Toy Creation

Guide

Supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs

through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP)
Hanging Mobile
Inspiring Baby with Colours 
and Shapes
(Age: 0-6 months)

Instructions
• Draw various shapes on the paper. (For instance, a circle shape on
red paper, a triangle shape on blue paper, a square shape on yellow
paper, a rectangle shape on green paper, and maybe a diamond shape
on orange paper.)

• Cut each shape out, and then cut a small hole on the top of each
design.

• Tie a string or brightly coloured ribbon through the hole, and tie
the figures by their string on a clothes hanger or a smooth stick.
Hang it firmly above the baby’s bed or play area, so s/he can watch
them move.

• Alternatively, hang safe household objects, such as bottles,

spoons, pegs, from the stick or clothes hanger.

© [2020] World Vision International. All rights reserved.

 Box Blocks
(Ages: 6 month -2 years)

Preparation:

d
l empty milk an
Collect severa r,
, or other simila
juice containers to ps an d
Open the
paperproducts. o ut .
are cleaned
make sure they

Instructions
• Cut the edges of the containers and fill in
with crumbled newspaper.

• Tape the ends of the box securely.

• Decorate your boxes by coloring them,

drawing pictures on them, or even
wrapping them in colored, construction
paper. Show baby how to stack the boxes a s
building blocks when done.
Rattle
Shaking It Up
(Age: 6 months-2 years)

Instructions
• Clean the plastic bottle and put some pebbles/beans and/or
seeds inside (make sure your bottle has a lid so your baby does
not have access to the materials inside).

• Seal the bottle well. Decorate the bottle with brightly, coloured
paper and/or paint.
 Puppet Play
(Ages: 1-6 years)

Preparation:

A big clean sock, buttons,

needle and thread
and coloured markers
(preferably red for t he
mouth).

Instructions
• Put your hand in the sock first to see where to
place the buttons and then sew 2 buttons on the
sock for eyes.

• Draw the mouth and decorate as desired.

• Put your hand inside the puppet to play with

your child.

• Alternate Materials: If socks are not available you

can use small, brown paper bags, and draw the
eyes and mouth on the bag with the markers.
Picture Book
(Age: 0-6 years)

Instructions
• Cut out pictures, shapes and colours from old magazines, newspapers,
or draw your own. Glue/tape them in an empty notebook, or on
blank note cards, and make pages for your book, then staple or glue
the pages together.

• Start with pictures of things that the baby knows, like a bottle or
a sock. Later you can make picture books of animals, or other
interesting things, and add words. Page through the book with
the child. Name the different animals, or make the animal sounds.
For example, when you see a pig you can say “oink, oink”

• For older children you can include a story that you know well, 
or make up a story together. The text
should be simple and repetitive.
It could be a simple song, rhyme
or story familiar to the children.
 Play Dough
(Ages: 3-6 years)

Materials:

• 2 cups flour (1/4 kg)

• 1/2 cup fine salt
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1- 1 1/2 cup warm water
• (1cup=235ml /1 Aqua cup)
• Liquid Food Coloring
• 1 Mixing bowl + 1 Stirring Spoon
• Ziploc bag/Tupper ware/
S • any air-tight container

Instructions
• Combine plain flour and salt in a mixing bowl

• Add hot water, food coloring and oil. Mix until ingredients are combined.

• Knead well.

• If consistency is too wet add a little plain flour. If it’s too dry add water
and oil.

• Store the Play-dough in an air-tight container. Can be stored up to 

6 months.

• Sample of Games:
Imaginative play/ Color-matching /
Color-Mixing/ Sorting/ Shape recognition /
Letter-forming/ Big-Small /
Long-Short/ Counting
Math Bag
(Ages: 3-6 years)

Materials:

• A handful of beans - At least two different colors

• A collection of small stones – different shapes and sizes

• 10 each of a number of small objects such as: Paper clips, S traws –

multiple colors, Tooth picks, Water bottle-caps,small sticks, Clothes
Pegs

• Create or find a small bag or basket to hold materials. Add the

suggested materials or other small items that you have available.
Math Activities
(Ages: 3-6 years)

* THE BELOW ACTIVITIES ARE EXAMPLES FOCUSING ON THE NUMBER 6.

ALL ACTIVITIES CAN BE SUBSTITUTED FOR NUMBERS BETWEEN 1-10.

Introduce #6 using these steps:

Materials: Body Blackboard

• Write #6 on paper. Child writes number 6 in the air and on
the back of a family member
• Invite children to clap, stamp, snap, etc 6 times each;

Designs with “6”

Materials: Sticks, notebook, pencil

• Take 6 sticks from the math bag and make a design of 6.
• Reproduce the design on a piece of paper and write the number 6.

Patterns

• Take out 6 each of three objects such as stones,

shells, and seeds.
• Make a pattern using the materials.
Recognizing numerals and order

• Caregiver writes numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 on paper.

• Child takes out number cards 1,2,3,4, 5, 6 and puts them in the
correct order
• Caregiver checks if the child have the correct order by pointing to
each number and saying it.
• Use small items from your maths bag (shells/caps/ buttons) to show
how many each stands for. Place the correct number of objects
under each card.

Staircase with six

• Select number cards 1 to 6.

• Put these in order.
• Above each number put beans or bottle caps to show the number.
• Form the beans in a way that they form a stair step up to the six.
• Ask children to now form the staircase down the other side using
5-4-3-2-1 beans.

Addition & Subtraction Trains

• Take out 6 paper clips and hook them together like a train.
• Now make different length trains that add up to six. For example,
4 car train + 2 car train.
Review Dance

• Child claps forward in a rhythm, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and then snap

fingers as they count backward - 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
• Now child slowly rises from their seat counting forward 1-6,
and then slowly sit counting backward 6, 5,4, 3, 2, 1.
• Finally, they try to increase the counting speed with claps, snaps,
rising and sitting, without losing their balance as they stand and sit.
• The last activity is like a dance. Child stands with a family member,
clasp right hands together up in the air and slowly
walk in a circle and count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. When they
reach 5, they quickly release the hand, turn direction,
slap the left hands together and walk and count
backward, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 See if they can do this
backward and forward until they can do it smoothly
without losing a beat.

Shapes

• For numbers that are multiples of 3 childcan form different size

triangles. For multiples of 4 child can form squares.
• Take out six sticks.
• How many triangles can you make with your six sticks?
• Can you use the sticks to make a big triangle
“6” Counting Race

Materials: Dice
• Create a starting line and a finish line. Now you are ready for a race.
• Child and other family members line up at the starting line.
First player roles a dice and takes as many jumps forward while
counting out loud eg. child rolls 4, they jump forward four times
counting ‘1, 2, 3, 4’
• Each family member gets a turn.
• Repeat until someone reaches the finish line.
• First one to reach finish line is the winner.

How to Make Dice:

• Take a thick and long strip of

wood and cut it into small
cubes (about 2 cm square).

• Use a marker to draw a

number of dots from one to
six on each side. If there are
two per child, make one die
with dots and one with number
symbols.
Alphabet Flag
(Ages: 3-6 years)

Preparation:
• Rope or string
• A4 pieces of paper cut in half
• Clothes pines, paper clips, short
pieces of string, something to
secure the letters to the long line
• Markers, colored pencils, or crayons

Instructions
• On each piece of paper, write one letter of the alphabet, be sure to include both
the uppercase letter and the lower case letter on the same paper.

• Be sure to write the letters large enough for children to read from a distance.

• After doing this for the entire alphabet, securely attach your rope or long string
at one end of the room and extend it to the other side of the room to securely
attach it.

• Be sure to not tie the rope or string too high so that children cannot read it.

• Starting with the beginning of the alphabet, attach the small pieces of paper with
the alphabet letters on it to the long rope or string.

• Do this for each letter of the alphabet, ensuring that there is equal space
between each piece of paper.
 Geometric Shaped
Building Blocks
(Ages: 3-6 years)

Preparation:

• Thick sticks or pieces of wood

• Saw/tools to cut and shape the
wood
• Sander/tool to smooth rough
wood
• Paint (optional)

Instructions
• Cut pieces of wood into small geometric shapes
– you can make as many as you have wood for.

• Sand or smooth each piece so there are no

rough edges.

• Paint each piece using the different colors

(optional).

• Store blocks in a bag or box when not in use.

Wooden Cubes
(Ages: 3-6 years)

Preparation:

• Boards of wood, found wood such a s

legs of tables, old shelving, etc

• Saw/tools to cut and shape the wood

• Sander/tool to smooth rough wood

• Non-toxic paint or markers

Instructions
• Measure the pieces of wood into 2.5 square centimeters.

• Cut the wood so that there are 60 pieces in total.

• Sand or smooth the edges so there are no roughparts.

• Divide these 60 pieces into 6 groups of 10

squares each.

• Color each group a different color: red, blue,

yellow, green, purple, orange, ensuring there are
10 blocks of each color. Store blocks in a bag or
box when not in use.
Dramatic Play
Set-Ups
(Ages: 3-6 years)

Instructions
• Recreate a child sized kitchen using the materials available.
Use cardboard boxes to create a table, stove, refrigerator, or other
type of large kitchen items.
• Create shelves or cupboards using boxes or bookshelves and place
play items in them.
• Draw on the boxes or fabric to add details that make the kitchen
seem realistic.

Instructions
• Recreate a market using the materials available. Draw on the boxes
and fabric to create visual details.

• Set up other materials on shelves or on tables as appropriate.

Instructions
• Provide old clothing, hats or cloth to create dress up costumes.
Store all clothes in a large box, separated by type of item (hats in
one box, large sheets of fabric in another, etc.)
 Tangram
Puzzle
(Ages: 3-6 years)

Preparation:

• One big piece of cardboard

• One big white piece of paper
• Cardboard paper
• Paint or markers
• Ruler, grey lead pencil, eraser
• Scissors/cutter
• Sticky tape

Instructions
• On a piece of paper glued to cardboard, draw and colour one small
yellow triangle shape, one medium-sized dark blue triangle shape, one large
light blue triangle shape, one medium-sized light green triangle shape, one
small-sized red square shape, one small-sized light orange triangle shape and
one medium-sized light purple parallelogram shape.

• Neatly apply a layer of sticky tape around the cardboard so it is sturdy and
long-lasting.

• Use the scissors/cutter to cut all of the shapes

• Neatly apply a layer of sticky tape around each card so that they are sturdy
and long-lasting.

• Pieces can be used to create a puzzle or shapes (animal shapes, house,

vehicles etc).

• Place all items in a medium-sized bag.

Tic Tac Toe
(Ages: 3-6 years)

Preparation:

• 2 Medium sized pieces of

cardboard
• Pen/pencil/marker
• Ruler or other straight
object
• Scissors

Instructions
• Take one piece of cardboard and measure and cut it so that it is a medium
sized square, approximately 10 cm by 10 cm.
• Using the ruler, draw two vertical lines and two horizontal lines to make a grid
with 9 evenly sized boxes
• With the other piece of paper, cut 18 small squares (one square should be able
to fit in one of the boxes on the other piece of cardboard.
• On nine of the small squares that were just cut out, draw a big ‘X’ and on the
other nine draw a big ‘O”.
• To play, each player (2 players in total) takes it in turns to place their X or O
into one of the empty squares in the grid. To win the game get three of your
symbols in a line horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
Color Bingo
(Ages: 3-6 years)

Preparation:

• Big piece of cardboard 

• Two -4 paper sheets
• Cardboard paper sheets
• Markers/crayons/colored
pencils
• Sticky tape
• Ruler, grey lead pencil,
eraser
• Scissors/cutter
• Glue
• Plastic bottle caps (16 blue
and16 orange)

Instructions
• Each game board has 16 squares.

• A coloured shape is drawn in each square.

• The two game boards are different in some way.

• There is a set of coloured cards for each shape

and colour. (There might be a green triangle,
a red triangle, a yellow triangle, etc., as well as
an orange circle, red circle etc.).

• One person is the caller. They mix up the cards

and draw one from a special grab bag. They call
out what is on the card.

• The players who have this coloured shape cover

it with a token.

• The first one who covers their board calls out

‘Bingo!’ and wins the game.

• Then they get to be the caller for the next game.

 Dominos
(Ages: 3-6 years)

Preparation:
• Big piece of cardboard
• Markers
• Ruler, grey lead pencil,
eraser
• Scissors/cutter
• Stones can be used as an
alternative to cardboard

Instructions
• Draw a table on a piece of cardboard and divide it into small
rectangles. All rectangles must have the same dimensions.

• Divide each rectangle in half with a marker.

• Fill each half with a combination of dots (one dot in one half and
two dots in the other half, one dot in one half and three dots in
the other half, one dot in one half and four dots in the other half, etc.

• Combinations must be made out of one dot to six dots.

• Neatly apply a layer of sticky tape

around the cardboard so it is
sturdy and long-lasting. Cut the
domino pieces with scissors or
a cutter.

• Dominos can be used to play

many games, such as matching
numbers end to end.