With my first little one on the way, I became a crafting queen, sewing, knitting, crocheting and painting all sorts of things for his nursery room to help stimulate his senses and encourage his curiosity and love of play. In my first trimester, when the novelty of pregnancy had just begun and before the busy work of actually preparing our home for our newest tiny family member had taken over, I became particularly obsessed with making crocheted toys for my new baby, and I was excited to seek out new patterns for toys that not only would be cute to look at, but that also would be fun for him to interact with and would be stimulating for his development as well.
The internet, as I’m sure you must know by now, is a magical place, filled with everything you seek out and it certainly did not disappoint me in this endeavour. I quickly discovered hundreds of unique – and mostly free! – patterns for toys that I was eager to get started on. For a few weeks, it seemed I was making a new toy each day!
My first and favorite patterns to create my little toy collection were variations of balls – toys that would be simple to make but that would really get their use in our future play room. I sought out patterns which were both elegant – I love crocheting but I am often disappointed by old-fashioned patterns which result in sloppy shapes or unfinished looks – and quick to complete because I wanted to make so many different things and nine months has a way of just flying by!
The first of these was a free pattern published by Berroco – a company which makes beautiful yarns. The pattern – appropriately called Celestine Crochet – was just perfect for my rainbows and stars themed nursery, and I quickly began making all of those little cone shapes using a vibrant rainbow variegated yarn I had stockpiled for my toy making endeavours. It was a lot more work than I anticipated, but the end result was amazing! It is a HUGE ball, with lots of cones for a little one to grab onto, and rolls or can be tossed easily and amusingly due to its spikey nature. For added fun, I placed a large cat toy rattle ball inside of the toy as I stuffed it, so that it now jingles and jangles as you play with it! The pattern for this toy can be found here.
My second ball toy was another deceptively intricate toy from a very simple pattern – utilising a hyperbolic pattern to create a lovely and stimulating Development Ball. I found this pattern online at The Sunroom, and though it took some time to complete its ever expanding ripples, it was well worth the repetition! It’s a great toy for fascinating children young and old, and I can imagine it might be perfect for quiet contemplation during “Time Ins” for older children. The pattern for this toy can be found here.
The third and final ball toy I will share with you today comes from the blog Look What I Made and is a really well explained and illustrated pattern for a rather complex toy. I had been looking for this pattern specifically, having remembered these Amish Puzzle Balls from my own childhood and wanting to do a crocheted take on the traditionally sewn craft. Although I found a few different patterns, this one was by far the easiest to follow, and the blog also features a variety of similar patterns offering updated and creative versions of the very traditional toy. I won’t go into too much detail on how to complete the puzzle, to save the fun for you or your children, but I will say it’s a fantastic toy for a variety of ages, and is also quite easy and fun to crochet! The pattern for this toy can be found here.
These three patterns got me started and now that my son is here, they are already some of his favorite toys to look at (at four weeks, he is still a little young to be interacting with his toys, but he loves to stare at the contrasting and bright colors I selected to personalize these patterns and to make them as stimulating for him as possible. I encourage you to do the same with these patterns, and share your results in the comments!