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The Craft Train

Crafty ideas for kids and parents

You are here: Home / Crafts and Activities / DIY Toys / Homemade cardboard toys for kids to make and play with

Homemade cardboard toys for kids to make and play with

October 16, 2019 By Kate 2 Comments

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Here are more than 50 homemade cardboard toy ideas for play!

We’ve scoured our own archives and drawn inspiration from bloggers around the world to come up with this HUGE collection of cardboard toy ideas.

There are cardboard games, pretend play ideas, STEM crafts, doll houses, boats, vehicles…. and more. 

50+ cardboard toy ideas to make from recyclables. STEM crafts, vehicles, pretend play ideas, cubbies and more!

Christmas is coming, which means the plastic and fad toy onslaught is about to begin.

My girls are as susceptible as any to toy crazes, and they’ve had their fair share of shopkins, ooshies, hatchimals, fidget spinners, squishies – you name it.

I’m always blown away by the ridiculous cost of these things, and by just how short-lived their interest is in them. It changes from complete obsession to forgotten at the bottom of the toy box in no time at all. That squishy collection my daughter spent all her pocket money on is now so last year.

It makes me sad that the insane number of plastic toys being sold and given to kids at Christmas are probably all going to end up in landfill one day. Sure, we donate them to thrift stores or pass them on to younger kids, but still… those toys will be here on earth for at least another 200 years.

That’s why making your own toys from cardboard is a much better idea. Kids adore playing with boxes, at LEAST as much as they love plastic toys. Every parent knows the feeling of splurging on some expensive toy and seeing their child spend way more time playing with the box it came in. 

That’s because cardboard rocks! It’s like a blank canvas waiting to be transformed into a space shuttle, flying car, toy washing machine or even an airport. All you really need is a little bit of imagination.

You can find all those things and more in this round up of over 50 fun ideas.

Check it out…

50+ cardboard toy DIY ideas from recyclables

easy cardboard toys kids can make to inspire play

Cardboard toys to encourage play

  • Ninja stars by Pink Stripey Socks
  • Cardboard Laptop by Red Ted Art
  • Easy paper roll shakers
  • Egg carton jewellery box
  • Paper Roll dinosaurs

 

Cardboard puppets and theatres you can make at home

Cardboard theatres and puppets

  • Bouncy spider string puppet
  • Unicorn and Rainbow puppets, inspired by the book My Color is Rainbow
  • Tabletop puppet theatre by Childhood 101
  • Jungle shadow puppets from ETSY
  • Recycled Arty bird puppets by Oh Creative Day for The Craft Train
  • Printable Cardboard theatre craft by Adventure in a Box

 

DIY cardboard STEM toys – a kaleidoscope, a giant dice, shoe lacing cards and a home made Tetris puzzle

Cardboard classic toys

  • Cardboard tube kaleidoscope, by Buggy and Buddy
  • Easy DIY giant dice
  • Cardboard DIY shoe lacing cards
  • Cardboard Tetris game, by Hello Wonderful

 

Large scale cardboard toys for pretend play, a tank, a space shuttle a house on fire cubby and a car

Large scale cardboard crafts

  • Cardboard Tank cubby house, available from Amazon
  • Cardboard space shuttle craft by Mama Smiles
  • House on fire from a box, by Teach Me Mommy
  • Kid-made flying fairy car

DIY cardboard STEM toys. Threading activity, paper roll scribblers, a cardboard disc spinner and a magnetic ice skating theatre

Cardboard STEM toys

  • Fine motor threading activity by Laughing Kids Learn
  • Paper roll scribblers
  • Printable whirlygig patterns
  • Cereal box ice skating theatre

DIY cardboard games, a paper roll construction set, a cereal box board game, DIY indoor putt putt golf course and a cardboard box marble maze

More cardboard STEM craft ideas

  • Paper roll construction set by Picklebums
  • Cereal box board game DIY
  • Make an indoor putt-putt golf course with cardboard obstacles
  • Cardboard box marble maze by Hello Wonderful

Cardboard castles DIY, a realistic castle for play made from recyclables, a princess castle, a knight's shield. a castle cubby you can decorate and a home made castle cubby

Cardboard castles and knights

  • Castle from recyclables by Adventure in a Box
  • Cardboard box princess castle
  • Cardboard Knight’s shield by Red Ted Art
  • Cardboard castle blank cubby to paint and decorate from Amazon
  • Home made Castle cubby by There’s just one Mommy

 

cardboard vehicles, egg carton helicopters, an egg carton train, an egg carton fire engine and a cardboard airport

Cardboard vehicles

  • Egg carton helicopters
  • Egg carton Fire Engine
  • Egg carton train
  • Cardboard airport by Non Toy Gifts

more cardboard vehicles, a london bus, cardboard space shuttles, a car ramp and a paper roll car

More cardboard vehicles

  • London bus by Here Come the Girls
  • Space shuttles by Pink Stripey Socks
  • Car mountain ramp by Pink Stripey Socks
  • Paper roll race car by Kids Craft Room

cardboard boats, a pirate ship, Noah's ark, a kid-made boat, and a mini cardboard canoe

Cardboard boats

  • Pirate ship by Red Ted Art
  • Cardboard box Noah’s ark
  • Kid-made cardboard boat by Nurturestore
  • Cardboard Olympic canoe by Here Come the Girls blog

cardboard characters

Cardboard character crafts

  • Paper roll Batman and Robin
  • Captain underpants with printable accessories
  • Batmobile from recycled cardboard with printable template
  • Egg carton Darth Vader by Jumbletree for The Craft Train

cardboard pretend play ideas, sparkly wands, monster costume, angel wings, washing machine, a knight's helmet and paper roll binoculars

Cardboard pretend play ideas

  • Cardboard sparkly fairy wands
  • Sea monster mask
  • DIY angel wings
  • Cardboard washing machine by J Daniel 4’s Mom
  • Medieval cardboard helmet  by There’s Just one Mommy
  • Paper roll binoculars by Crafts by Amanda

cardboard doll ideas, box doll house, hair cut dolls, empathy dolls and a shoe box bed

Cardboard dolls and accessories

  • DIY cardboard dollhouse by Non Toy Gifts
  • Paper roll hair cut dolls by Laughing Kids Learn
  • Empathy Dolls with printable template
  • Shoe box doll bed by Coffee cups and Crayons

Did you find something to make? I hope so.

I love the book Not A Box by Antoinette Portis, it would make a perfect Christmas gift packed inside a beautiful cardboard box, haha.

You might also like

  • You’ll love these 25+ DIY toys made from rocks
  • Here are 30 different ways to have fun with bubbles
  • Get kids sewing with 20+ easy kids sewing projects
  • Head outside and get creative, with 25 ways to create art from nature

cardboard toy ideas for kids from recyclables

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sparkly magic wands
Monster munch sight word game

Comments

  1. 1

    Ruby Gayle says

    March 26, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    It’s very interesting idea to make a homemade toys for kids. I will try these ideas for my child and it will be very interesting work for me. Good job and keep writing !

    Reply
    • 2

      Kate says

      March 30, 2021 at 5:54 am

      thank you

      Reply

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  • Kate GronoKate GronoCrazy Craft Fanatic

    I’m basically a big kid who never grew up and still loves to muck around with paint, glitter, glue and toilet rolls. With the crafts shared here on this website I’m hoping to give other parents and carers inspiration to get crafty with their kids at home – make our projects, or use them as a source of inspiration to spark ideas of your own. When it comes to crafting no rules apply!

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