12 fun and eco-friendly children's toys to make using recycled materials

Even if they are very small, children are always ready to have fun creating objects with their hands and letting their imaginations take flight. So why not make some fun toys with them by recycling objects destined for the trash? There is nothing that cannot be creatively adapted to become toy of some kind, and children know this very well. 

Listed below are 12 projects for making simple toys for children of all ages. The "recipe" is always the same: recycling, reuse, imagination, creativity and a great desire to do so.

1. Wind chime using keys

If you have  a bunch of old keys at home and you don't know what to do with them, they are ideal to make a windchime with. Children can have a lot of fun making this and also listening to the sounds the windchime will make. Making this is very simple: you just need to paint some old keys and tie them up with cotton or wool thread or string to a stick, the lid of a glass jar or a CD. The variations you can make are endless!

2. Reusable water bombs

When it gets very hot, the best way to find some relief is to take a cold shower. And children enjoy playing with water pistols and water balloons. Instead of using disposable balloons, why not make them some reusable water bombs to play with? They are quick and easy to make: just get some old sponges and cut them into strips. Tie them together, immerse them in water and your bomb is ready to go. Fun is guaranteed!

3. Box train

A few old boxes will be enough to build a toy train for the kids to play with. You can make it however you like and the children will have a lot of fun on board.

4. Sensory table

For children, exploring the world and discovering new textures and materials by touch is very important. You can build a sensory table by using recycled materials. Cardboard for the table, wet wipes packets for the containers and pieces of fabric, dried vegetables, beads, seeds, buttons, blades of grass and anything you can think of placed inside them for the kids to to touch and discover.

5. Rattles

What's better than an older sibling giving their younger sibling a toy? Involve the older kids in making a rattle for the younger ones: cut out the handle of an empty bottle of detergent and drill holes along the edge; tie strands of string with plastic caps to the ends and the rattle is ready for the young one.

6. Clocks

How about teaching your children to tell time through play? Making a clock is very easy using a few recycled materials: plastic caps, a disposable plate, cotton swabs or colored sticks for the hands. And it will be a useful teaching aid!

7. Kaleidoscope

It will be fun for your children to get lost in the light games of a kaleidoscope. And it will be even more satisfying if they can build one by themselves. All you need is a paper towel roll (or an empty tube of chips), cardboard, beads and small pieces of colored plastic paper. It will be amazing.

8. Marble run

Playing marbles isn't just fun on the beach or the schoolyard: build a marble track from old rolls of paper towels or toilet paper. Have fun creating the route and decorate it as you wish. Your children will be thrilled!

9. Recycled robots

For technology lovers, robots are the ideal toys. And what's more satisfying than building one yourself? Give vent to your imagination using the most diverse materials, shapes and colors: egg containers, rolls of paper, old CDs, cords, string, bottle caps. Any type of material can be useful for this project.

10. Tambourines

Accompany dancing with the sound of music: making tambourines is very simple using just a few recycled materials such as cardboard, plastic, beads and rubber bands. If you like percussion, maracas are also very simple to make using plastic cups and pebbles.

11. Foosball table

An old shoebox, wooden skewers, cardboard, paints and a ping pong ball will help you make a portable foosball table. It will be fun to make a game from your childhood.

12. Guitar

For the musicians of tomorrow, the ideal way to stimulate their interest is to build a musical instrument and discover its sounds. You can use old bottles or tissue boxes, paper towel rolls and rubber bands to make a guitar.

Which of these projects do you want to start with?