Craft a few toys for your pretend pets...

The small pink rug above was cut from a real bath mat. Students can recycle all
kinds of things about the house to use in ordinary dollhouse play or displays.
Our doll's pet dog and bunny are romping around this tiny rug with their
new chew toys.

 

       Here are a few toys that can be crafted from limited supplies for your doll's pets. The first is a bone sculpted from oven-bake clay. The shape you see above in the photo is very simple and an ordinary one for pets to play with in real life too. 

Cat pointers for doll pets.

       The second to is made using yarn and a few beads from our sewing notions box. Choose three colors of yarn to braid together and then slip one or two beads over the braid. These should have extra large holes so that the braid may fit easily through the openings. Then tie off the braid in a loop so that the beads won't slip off. 

       Now your pretend pet dogs can chew and toss these toys around as much as they like!

       To make a cat pointing toy you will need a hot glue gun and hot glue. A parent or much older sibling should help younger kids when glue guns are being manipulated. 

       Glue a colorful pom pom and a feather or two at the tip of one toothpick in order to make something similar to the cat picks shown in the photograph.

       Cats love to chase, flip and jump after these simple toys in real life. So, items like this make playtime fun for pretend as well. 

Colorful toy tubes for cats and dogs.

       The next pet toy shown on the left, is made from paper straws, paints and pom poms and a small amount of metal tape.

       First, cut the paper straws to the same length, at least one inch.

       Then glue these together in a bundle using a tacky craft glue. Let the glue dry completely before painting the tubes. 

       After the paint is dry, apply some decorative metal tape. When the light hits the tape it will reflect it and make the toy even more interesting.

       The last step is to insert tiny pom poms inside two or three of the tubes using tacky glue. Do this on both sides of the toy in random places.This toy is good for tumbling and giving your doll's pet something interesting to toss about the room!