DIY Patolli Board Game

Another easy to make your own version of  the board game Patolli. Patolli is one of the oldest games from America. You can find more details of the game and game rules here.

All you need is a pen/pencil, cardboard/reused carton box and some bottle caps for the coins.

Color with water - Busy bag for toddlers

A simple activity to keep your tiny ones busy. I have used a piece of cardboard - reused carton box. Colourful bottle caps to hold water, this way she gets a feel of using real colours. And some paint brushes. Voila, you get 30 minutes of your time :)

DIY - Board Game of 20 squares

All you need is a cardboard - reuse any carton box and some colors. I have tried to recreate the ancient game of 20 squares. You can find more details about the game and rules of play here.

DIY Butterfly Board game for toddlers

You can create your own board games to teach new things. I made this first board game for my 2-year old daughter. It is to help Miss. Butterfly find her way home. 

 The flowers and strawberry are to show the food that butterfly eats, and the spider's web and net are the possible dangers to the butterfly. Later I will bring in little rules to the game, when she has a play date.

• Landing on spider/net means a restart
• Landing on flower lets you advance by one step if you tell the correct color of the flower
• Landing on the strawberry lets you advance by 2 steps if you name the fruit correctly
• The one who reaches the home first is the winner
• Roll 1 on the dice to start
  

 This was our game as "Work in Progress"

That is our Miss. Buttefly, cut out from the cardboard/reused carton box and pasted on a bottle cap. And this is how you make your own soft dice.

Coasters with Bottle caps

Yes you can do it, all you need is nice looking bottle caps and some super glue.
 

Fill up the bottle - activity for toddlers

Just give your toddler a bunch of colourful bottle caps and a bottle with its base cut, she will figure out ways to drop the cap one by one into the bottle, rattle it often and after putting a good number into it enjoy the play of colours in the bottle :)

Building blocks

Bottle caps make great building blocks too. Here are some of our building designs.

Beading Toy

Pincer grasp would be an art your toddler would have mastered by now or is practicing his way towards being a master. In either cases this beading toy will help them hone their skills while also teaching them some perseverance :). You can use pasta, fruit looks, cardboard rings and so on, and so can you use bottle caps. Beading is an excellent way to teach Fine Motor skills.

Check this out to see how to use bottle caps for beading.

Play with Numbers

You could introduce the world of numbers in a play way using bottle caps. Let your imagination run wild making a hungry caterpillar, number train and so on once you have them on the bottle caps.

Teaching the ABC's

 Alphabets on bottle caps can be a great way to introduce the ABC's to your Little One. Alphabet blocks end up with missing alphabets pretty soon, this set can be replenished anytime with marker and new bottle caps.
Worry not if you have a Doctor's handwriting ;) you could always use a stencil to get them right.

Stacking toys for teaching colours

Another simple use of bottle caps is to teach toddlers stacking as well as colours at the same time.

Art of measuring

Kids love to pour out things from one container to the other,  mostly having seen their mothers do this in the kitchen all the time. For a no fuss activity of a similar sort, give them bottle caps and cups to measure and pour out to their hearts content. Leaving behind a beaming toddler having successfully measured and poured and happy mom not to be cleaning any mess this left behind :)

Sorting based on colours

A simple colour sorting activity for toddlers. All you need is bottle caps of different colours, a few containers to sort them into and that is it, can guarantee a minimum of 15 minutes of engagement for your tiny tot :)