Our homemade toy collection

We made dinosaurs from toilet paper tubes. Not only that, but he actually PLAYS with them now. 

We didn't bring a lot of toys from the U.S. for space and weight reasons. And we've tried to minimize what we accumulate here because we can't take it back. We have bought things at the thrift store so Henry is not lacking for things to play with, but we've also come up with some pretty good games and toys made from things we have on hand.

When we first came, we were trying hard to come up with things to keep him happy. So we all made toys from whatever we could find. It's not only saved money, but Henry has learned to be creative and loves making his own toys now. I think it would be great for any kid to have a limited amount of favorite (non-battery) toys and have a 6-12 month moratorium on new toys. See what you can make from your recycling supplies.


I made a fishing game with a magnet. You can see the floating straws in the water that he had a great time playing with before he discovered dumping his head in the water! But I discovered later that pipe cleaners make excellent "fish" because the wire is magnetic. The fish will stick but not too strongly. It's perfect.

We made car tracks from some of the packaging we had leftover from mattresses.

And little train and car parking spaces from paint chips.

Henry has loved this little nativity set I made him even more in the months after Christmas. He asks me to tell him the story of Jesus's birth every time we get them out. 

A steering wheel made from a connecting toy set. 

He's in the car driving me somewhere. This is just before we crashed.

This is a frog toy made from a toilet paper tube. You hold the frog and try to catch the "fly" in the frog's mouth. 

He found a good use for my Christmas ribbon. This happened many times. 

Duh. I made some play dough. 

But now Henry has gotten the idea that he can make his own toys. It's wonderful! Here are some things HE has come up with.

This was the game changer. He took apart the stopper in the kitchen sink. 

He started putting coins in the cookie scoop and then would pop them out by squeezing the mechanism. He had a blast with this toy. 

He hardly wanted to put it down!

He needed a helmet, so he found one. He also uses this for his construction hard hat.

Here he's being an authentic front-end loader and excavator. Excavator in the front, loader in the back. He switches hands occasionally but never uses both at the same time. 

Because that's not how the real machine does it. 

Not sure what these are, but they are tools of some kind. 

These are his vehicles. He steps inside the space between the legs of the chair and uses the part on the ground as a bulldozer. I had to teach him where to hold the chair so he didn't pinch his fingers when he fell. :(

A rocket and a guitar. He had some help from Dad on these.

Then he started tearing random pieces of cardboard and telling me to make things. So here is the truck I made according to his instruction. 

And a boat he told me to make. 

This a fun launching toy. You put the green straw inside the larger yellow straw and blow fast. The green straw shoots up in the air. And then Henry giggles. 

This is a "boat." We made fish out of pipe cleaners, a fishing pole with a magnet tied to it, and a paddle made from a stick woven into an ice cream container lid. We had a great time fishing and then throwing them back out to sea. 

Did you know that a hole punch is the perfect size to fit a straw? 

We build all sorts of strange contraptions with toilet tubes and straws. 

Henry got a small tool set for Christmas. He wanted to use the screw drivers for something, so I melted holes into peanut butter jar lids to fit the screwdriver so he could open and close them. 

This is a cardboard insert from a baseball hat. It looked like giant teeth to Henry, so I used one of those elastic strings that hold shoes together when you buy them to tie it around his head. It would move when he opened his mouth and he was great at adding the "roooooaaaaar!"

This is a tunnel for trains, or cars. 

An airplane I made. I think it's genius the way the rod for the propeller fits into the tail fin on the back. I cut a slit in the straw, and the tail fin is just slitted into the body of the plane. I'm getting good at this!

He made a bus, and he's very fond of it.

This is pitiful but he handed me the pink foil from an Easter Egg and asked me to make a plane. I made a base form from some kitchen foil and wrapped it with his pink piece, which was already kinda ripped. I did pretty well with what I had!

Henry is really getting the idea of making fun things out of trash. He says we are 'cycling ("recycling"). He told me to make an airplane out of this box and gave me all the instructions. He told me to cut the front flap off and put it on the back for a tailwing (but I had another piece from something else I used instead). We made a control stick from a straw and toilet paper tube so it's movable. The already existing handle hold on the box is the cockpit window. And he told me to draw passengers on the insides for all of our family members to fly back to Utah! He's ready! But he also told me he wants to keep this house in Australia, too. I'm glad he's happy while he waits. Then he muffled into his hand, "Alright passengers, we're ready for takeoff!" and then, "Passengers, we can't fly this plane, there's too much snow."

He wants snow. Everyday he says he wants snow. I hope he isn't disappointed when we finally get back and it's SUMMERTIME. I know I WON'T BE!