Joy of making

Few days back Megh came to me and said “Mummy, see this is my simple JCB” he has a cloth pin in his hand and show me how it can pick, lift and place thing! After pretending play of animals and shop-owner now he is interested in different kind of vehicles… especially trucks & JCB!!! He tried making JCBs from different things…from shafts and some parts Nikhil use in his machine, sometimes using bamboo sticks & rubber bands etc. Love to play with car he make using Mechanix.

Ash loves to make drawings, making different kind of homes with her Architecture set and ornaments using beads, flowers and sometimes using beads from cutting papaya branch.



Apart from this we make many toys. Sudarshan Khanna’s book Joy of making Indian toys is good source for making simple toys and another very useful source is www.arvindguptatoys.com Many simple toys we make from trash ,some house hold things or sometimes buy cheaper items from hardware store and make toys which children loves most.

Children’s toy psychology is complex…..which toys they like or how longer will it be his/her attraction…difficult to say. When they select a toy from toyshop, we feel that they will use it fully but you found it somewhere roaming next day. Some children like passive toys like soft toys and enjoy imaginative plays and some like active participation with toys. Sometimes box of toy interest them more than toy itself. Cost of toy never matter or important to children obviously. Sometimes they break costly toys driven by their curiosity and sometimes a trash becomes their favorite toy!

Toys are their best friends and teach different skills with fun. But when you make toy yourself creativity involved will sensitized children. Shree Arvind Gupta is doing wonderful work in this field and his website has amazing collection of toys, children can make themselves or with help of adult.




Simple toys like marble train and spiral snake too kept Ash & Megh busy for hours. In fact, for days. It is interesting to see that they tried different tracks from broom sticks & clay and when marbles not rolling smoothly they troubleshoot themselves. With spiral snake too they were always experimenting why straw beads get struck or how can we move them fast or slow by stretching spiral.

Making toys encourage creativity and perfection. If design or measurement not proper it will not work and then they troubleshoot problem. It is amazing to see their cheerful faces while they are enjoying these toys. When they will come to know science behind these toys later, it will be more surprising for them. Today they are always busy thinking of making one thing or other and store trash for it. Y’day morning Megh came with straw and paper and wanted to make watch from it... I helped him by writing no. & attached straw with push-pin and here is his watch model!!!