DIY Wednesday: Shaker Toy

            I wasn’t really sure what to call this, and I know I’m not the first to make one, but shaker toy it is! This is yet another way of reusing an old container and making something useful out of it. It’s super easy. It will take you about 5 minutes, if that, and it’s a simple, fun toy for baby to play with.

What you’ll need:

-old container: you choose the size

-beans, rice, other objects that are noisy inside a can and that you won’t mind permanently gluing inside of it ;)

-hot glue gun or really sturdy tape

1)     Pick a container suitable for a young baby or toddler to play with. (In other words, you’re probably not going to want to choose a glass one!) I used an old formula can.

2)     You don’t have to, but you can peel the outside label off and decorate it first if you want. I was being lazy and just peeled the label off.

3)     Pick your noise maker of choice. As you can see, we have an overabundance of rice and beans in our cabinet, so I decided to go with some pinto beans. I’m not a huge fan of beans, except for black ones, so I have no intentions of eating the pinto ones any time soon. ;)

4)     Put in your beans, rice, etc. in the container. You don’t need much.

5)     Put some hot glue around the inside edge of the lid. Yes, if you’re using a plastic lid it will warp it some.

      6)   Secure the lid on top. Wait for the glue to set/cool off and ta da! Easy shaker toy!

UPDATE: For good reason, some of you were concerned about how secure the lid is. I just thought I'd let you all know that while my 1 year old daughter has yet to pull it off, my 4 year old niece did it fairly easily last night, BUT she was trying to.