DIY Ribbon Box for Babies

 

Baby N loves strings, ribbons, shoelaces, you name it. It doesn’t always seem safe to let him play with items like that that are just lying around the house, though, especially when they’re attached to actual shoes we wear outside…

Instead, I made him a very simple DIY ribbon box from items I had on hand, most of them recycled – and he LOVES it!

Note that this is not a toy that I would leave him alone with, he only gets to play with it when I can see him.

 

Homemade toys for kids: Make a quick and simple DIY ribbon box for your baby!

(N was 6 months old.)

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Materials for a DIY ribbon box:

  • Recycled cardboard box.
  • Colorful paper to cover the box. Recycled wrapping paper works great, and I think recycled tissue paper would be a great choice, too.
  • Ribbon.
  • Knife.
  • Glue stick.
  • Duct tape.
  • Jingle bell and/or other “noise makers” to go in the box (optional).

 

 

 

I used a box that a smallish car radio had come in, and that closes with a flap. Pick something that’s the right size for your baby {I went for not too big and not too small 😉 }. While it’s probably easier to use a box with a flap, you can use any box that has cardboard on all sides.

I covered the box with scraps of left over wrapping paper with the help of a glue stick and had very good results. I had some birthday gift wrap and some from Christmas, and we weren’t close to either occasion but N didn’t mind 😉

 

Homemade toys for kids: Make a quick and simple DIY ribbon box for your baby!

 

I then took a sharp knife {I just picked a kitchen knife but a craft knife would work great} and made two slits each in two sides of the box.

 

Homemade toys for kids: Make a quick and simple DIY ribbon box for your baby!

 

I threaded some ribbon through both slits on each side and made knots on both ends.

 

Homemade toys for kids: Make a quick and simple DIY ribbon box for your baby!

 

Make sure the ribbon is not too long to avoid strangulation hazards.

In the pictures, you see two pieces of ribbon around 18 inches each. That way, with knots and all, they come out of the box no more than 12 inches. You can make them shorter if you prefer.

As a little extra, I placed a large jingle bell and a few mini Christmas ornaments into the box before I closed it.

 

Homemade toys for kids: Make a quick and simple DIY ribbon box for your baby!

 

Here’s N’s completed ribbon box:

 

Homemade toys for kids: Make a quick and simple DIY ribbon box for your baby!

 

Note that at this point, I hoped to be able to get away with leaving the flap free. I thought it would give me a chance to change out the ribbons, add more or do whatever I wanted to do later.

As it turned out once I gave the completed ribbon box to N and he’d played with it for a few minutes, the flap wouldn’t stay in for any length of time until I duct taped it in place.

N didn’t care either way and LOVED his new toy.

He pulls on the ribbons as best he can,

 

Homemade toys for kids: Make a quick and simple DIY ribbon box for your baby!

 

and sometimes, he just looks at them.

 

Homemade toys for kids: Make a quick and simple DIY ribbon box for your baby!

 

He also really likes the box itself,

 

Homemade toys for kids: Make a quick and simple DIY ribbon box for your baby!

 

although he can’t usually keep a good grip on it yet.

But probably the best part for him is holding the ribbon and banging the box around to make the jingle bell and mini Christmas ornaments rattle around. The jingle bell I used was pretty big, and it does get fairly loud. It’s not at the point for me where it’s really annoying, though – I might change my mind once he sticks to it for longer periods of time, we’ll see 😉

 

 

 

Does your baby enjoy playing with ribbons? How have you made it safe for her to do it? Leave a comment below to tell me all about it – and feel free to leave a link if you’ve written about it!

 

 

 

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4 Comments

  1. This is adorable! I have 16 month old now, wonder if she would like it…

  2. Texas Nana says:

    I am going to try this with a plastic orange juice can and lid and glue top on . Thanks