Natural toys, wooden toys, all these things are big. But what about toys literally created from nature? Whether you’re camping, spending a day outside or you live in the middle of a forest- there’s plenty around that can be used to help your little one connect with nature.
This blog post will share some ideas of natural toys you can make for your little one!
Woodland Mobiles & Hanging Toys
For a child, everything is new and interesting. They don’t need store-bought toys to explore different textures, colours or develop their senses. There is so much around us in nature that we can use. Here are some ideas:
Create a play arch from woodland materials
Gather twigs, pine, leaves, flowers – anything safe for baby to touch and create an arch from a bendy stick to create an arch mobile for your baby. This is one I’ve done so I will share some photos of it here:
Of course, make sure you’re monitoring so they don’t put anything in their mouth they shouldn’t – but don’t be afraid to let them feel the materials and explore new textures. The great thing is – clean up is easy!
Dreamcatcher
Another craft I have done for almost as long as I can remember (okay, I remember, it started in Grade 5) is making dreamcatchers with red willow & sinew. While camping I collect driftwood from the beach with holes in it to include in my dreamcatcher along with nice feathers I find. I made a dreamcatcher to hang over my son’s bed while we camp.
Sensory bins
This one is pretty easy. You can use basically anything as a sensory bin! Here are some ideas:
-Collect sand and sticks to create a habitat for dinosaurs or just to play with
-Collect moss and other different textures for a young child to explore
-Water and flowers and different cups
-Pinecones, petals, there are no limits!
Here are some that I have created:
Mud Kitchens
If your child is a little older and into pretend play, a mud kitchen is the PERFECT natural toy. You can use anything you find and with imagination, you can create any delicious pretend meal!
I’ve done this both by literally just using natural items as the pretend food AND also by collecting rocks and painting food on them. You can do it either way!
Here are some images of the mud kitchens I created last summer:
More ideas:
- You could literally create baskets from birch bark for the kitchen or natural toy storage
- Collect different baskets of objects for open-ended play ie. a basket of pinecones, one of stones, one of sticks – to be used for whatever your child comes up with
- Natural paintbrushes: create painbrushes out of different items – pine needles, cedar, leaves, dandilion and see how each one creates different effects with paint.
- A natural doll house with moss beds and furniture made of found objects from the forest.
- A fairyhouse on a tree.
