Make your own toys with hook and loop fasteners(Velcro)

My son loves the fruit toys that come with the hook & loop fasteners in the middle. He likes to use the plastic knife and cut it. So, I thought I will make some DIY hoop and loop fastener toys for him so that he can learn colors, shapes and build structures with it. I browsed the dollar tree store for wood items that I can turn into DIY toys and found the alphabet blocks which will be perfect as velcro blocks which he can cut as he does with the fruits.  Jenga blocks in case he wants to build anything he can use those for arms and legs and then popsicle sticks for building shapes. Also, I made this to entertain him on the long flight journey and it worked. Let's see how I made them.

Materials used:

Wooden cubes, Mini Jenga blocks, popsicle sticks

Acrylic paint and brush

Hook and loop fasteners

Step 1: Paint the blocks in colors of your choice. I painted two blocks in each color I chose. It took 2 to 3 coats of paint to hide the letters in the alphabet blocks. For others, it took 1 to 2 coats of paint. Allow it to dry. 

Step 2: Paste the hook and loop fasteners as desired. That's it the blocks are now ready to play. 

For wood cubes: I pasted the hook and loop fasteners on either side and for few blocks, I added them on the third and fourth side so that it can be used to create structures like the Robot, dog to name a few. Initially, I used to build a long chain of cubes and he used to cut them with the plastic knife just to separate and then he puts it back. Now that he recognizes words and identifies letters we try building structures or even alphabets using these blocks. Options are endless and it is left to your creativity. 

Building structures

For Jenga blocks: It is pretty straight forward, I used one hook and one loop fastener on one side. I used these blocks mainly to teach colors to my son and also we played the color matching game with these blocks. I used to take three colors at a time and will ask him to match them. I made this game when he was 1.5 years old mainly to take it along with us to India when visiting grandparents. As he won't have access to his regular toys, I thought something new will entertain him during the long flight as well as during the vacation. He made a long chain of these and pretend played saying it as train. ;)

Color matching game

For popsicle sticks: It is almost the same as Jenga blocks but I mixed the pattern of pasting the fasteners in the sticks in order to form shapes. I pasted hook fasteners alone on one side and loop fasteners on the other side then in some of the sticks I alternated fasteners like one hook and one loop on both the sides. In this way, you can form shapes like triangle, diamond, square, hexagon and many more. 

So, what do you think of these DIY toys using velcro (Hook and loop fasteners)? Will you make these for your kids? These are also perfect for gift giving if you have a niece or nephew or for any kids in your family or friends circle. These can easily engage kids of all ages, I mean even the kid in you :P Another small tip on how I store these are, I always save those clear pouches with zippers -the ones in which you get sheets set, baby products, etc. I use those pouches to organize my kid's toys. They are also very useful while traveling to pack your toiletries, cables, etc so that you can easily put them into the trays for security checks. 

I hope you like these ideas. Share in the comments below on how you will use these toys and what other structures you will build using these? I would be happy to hear from you. 

Other DIYs you might like, 

DIY Chalkboard Canvas

DIY Rotating Jewelry Storage 

4 in 1 Asymmetrical Clutch