DIY toys: Travel Discovery Box

Whenever some birthday, Christmas, or any other gifts-giving-celebration is on the horizon, I’m asking myself the same question: What should I get for my daughter? It is not that I don’t know what toys she likes, but usually I get her “gifts” during all the year. But somehow it always happens, that when holidays or birthdays are coming up, there is nothing left on my cool-things-to-get-list for my daughter. Ha, ironical.

So this Christmas we decided to make something ourselfes (yes, it was already too late to find something cool in shops and all other offers of gifts were just crap). One thing you have to know about me: I am not a crafty superwoman, making pretty-tiny-oh-my-God wonders from gorgeous materials. I’m a practical type: a sock, an old picture, baby jars’ lids… Will do.

That’s what you need to make a travel discovery box:

– an old box;

– few pieces of cardboard;

– lots of pictures. Very good work old calendars with a travelling / nature theme;

– lids from baby jars;

– old socks, pieces of material;

– few small plastic boxes;

– for small discovery bottles: small containers, old buttons, beads, beans, glitter, water, aluminum foil. Basically anything that makes sounds or sparkles when you shake a discovery bottle;

– transparent and double sided scotch tape, scissors, a needle, a thread;

– IMAGINATION

1. Preparing the box

Take an old sad box, wrap it in pages from an old calendar or maps. READY

2. Travel themed lids from baby jars

Go through the pictures you prepared, pick the ones you think your kid will like and stick them to the lids from baby jars with double sided scotch tape. Knowing that our daughter enjoys us explaining everything around her, we used a trick and stuck descriptions of pictures at the back side of each lid. Now it is not “a horse carriage” any more but “a horse carriage on the main square in Nicaragua” 🙂

3. Cardboard figures

Works the same like with lids. Remember not to forget the descriptions to turn your answers from “it’s a man” into “it’s a shaman from Mongolia”

4. Cardboard maps

The calendar, that we used to make cardboards figures and travel themed lids, had as well a small map on each site. We decided to use them as well. If your kid is bigger, you may play a matching game with cardboard maps, cardboard figures and travel themed lids.

5. Travel themed rattle

The same material but more work. Done entirely by Dario. So ask him for instructions. (Let’s see when he’s going to write here one 😉 )

6. Discovery bottles

Take a few small containers and put inside anything that makes sounds or sparkles when you shake the discovery bottle: old buttons, beads, beans, glitter, small pieces from aluminum foil etc. Add water to some of them. Voilà

7. Old socks brought back to life

I’m not including here any pattern on purpose, by the way there are none. Just take an old sock, scissors, a needle, and a thread (ah, don’t forget your imagination) and make anything. It doesn’t have to be perfect, ideal and breathtaking. But it has to be fun for you and your kid. Zosia likes glasses, well that’s why the sock girl is wearing them. The figures I stuffed with cotton wool, but anything fluffy will work too. I found as well two small material bags, once filled with spices that we brought from Hungary. Now they are empty and so I put some beans inside and sewed them.