Totally FREE Toy Ideas

by CallaLily Sun 10 Apr 2016, 3:08 pm

A place for everyone to share their ideas for fun mouse toys made from everyday "free" items.

A few ideas copied over from The Fun Mouse Forum to start:

muumimamma-64 wrote:I do some paper igloos to my mice.Here is few fotos how to make them.Its easy and lot of fun for mice.

First you need is (plain water in the spray bottle)

Then slice the paper like this

Then do like this several times (at least 10-15 times)

and it should look like this

then let it try over night

then take the inside cup away

then cut the doorway

It wont last long with mice but they have lot of fun with it

kulmalukko wrote:

hvansick wrote:

by CallaLily Sun 10 Apr 2016, 3:31 pm

kulmalukko wrote:

elibear wrote:I had a lot of felt leftover from a project I had to do a bit ago, and I had 3 pairs of chopsticks in a drawer in my kitchen. I cut a piece of felt into a large, even square and then another piece into long, thin strips. I cut small holes into the corners of the square and then put the strips through the holes. I tied two sides together and had them meet and then tied them outside the cage. Then I sawed the 6 chopsticks in half, sandpapered the ends so both ends were perfectly smooth, and then boiled them. After they were all clean and dry, I tied them all together with 2 more strands of felt and wedged a corner of the hammock between two chopsticks, so the "stairs" would lead right to the hammock.

scaredymouse wrote:I saw this topic pop up and I thought I would post a couple of my favorite free toys. One of my favorites is the toilet paper roll tunnel system. I cut holes in the rolls and glue them together to make a tunnel/maze with lots of ins and outs. Then I bury it under the bedding. They *LOVE* it. I like to put treats in the tunnels.

I cut these in quarters and hot glued them together

I made these for Halloween. They are just filled with treats and are fun all year round!

This one isn't totally free but if you have a small triangle of fleece... you have a hammock!

And if you have a hammock, you get to see this

Abeona wrote:

by CallaLily Sun 10 Apr 2016, 4:03 pm

A paper pumpkin. I hid treats in the folds and the mice had a great time shredding it. Smile

Idea from here: http://www.diyinspired.com/how-to-make-paper-pumpkins-for-fall/.

Cardboard cupholder turned food dish holder/jungle gym:

by CallaLily Thu 15 Sep 2016, 4:05 pm

This year's free pumpkin toy. I'm going to stuff them with Fall colored crinkle paper and hide a few treats inside. Made from pieces of paper towel tube and brown paper lunch bag scraps. Colored with non-toxic colored pencils. (I figured if Sharpie was considered safe...but you could always use soy paint or veggie-based food coloring instead)

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by CallaLily Tue 25 Oct 2016, 11:38 am

I know these are nothing super special, but I thought I'd go ahead and share them here since this thread doesn't get a lot of use anyway. Totally free box toy ideas that my mice enjoy. Smile

Inside this cereal box I hot glued a simple paper towel tube maze then glued it all back together. There are 3 entrances that lead in and out of the maze, plus another entrance that leads into the space outside of the maze.
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The box is on the bottom of this stack.
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The next box up is just stuffed with shredded paper towels, then the next box has scrap cardboard bits inside. There's multiple entrances in these boxes, including one that leads between the two. The very top box is just one I cut into a tray to hold the flying saucer in place. They're all hot glued together.

Kcup boxes turned into dig boxes filled with different bedding. One open, one closed.
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The bottom box has a couple paper towel tubes glued inside.
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The bottom tissue box has shredded toilet paper.

And last, a tissue box and scrap of fleece turned hammock.
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by goldfishfanforever Tue 25 Oct 2016, 12:29 pm

I'm gonna have to try a few of these for Hugo after I finish his lollipop stick house and castle Smile

by Peachy Tue 25 Oct 2016, 6:15 pm

I like the maze idea, but I hate when the mice decide to turn big boxes into their nest. Lightbulb

Ooh, maybe a fun playtime idea!

by AnonymousMouseOwner Tue 25 Oct 2016, 6:29 pm

muumimamma-64 wrote:I do some paper igloos to my mice.Here is few fotos how to make them.Its easy and lot of fun for mice.

First you need is (plain water in the spray bottle)

Then slice the paper like this

Then do like this several times (at least 10-15 times)

and it should look like this

then let it try over night

then take the inside cup away

then cut the doorway

It wont last long with mice but they have lot of fun with it

I made this toy! Laughing

by CallaLily Tue 25 Oct 2016, 6:37 pm

abeona wrote:I like the maze idea, but I hate when the mice decide to turn big boxes into their nest. Ooh, maybe a fun playtime idea!

They probably will nest in the box with the paper towels but they almost always come out when they hear me, so I don't mind. Maybe a smaller version would work?

by Peachy Fri 04 Nov 2016, 5:36 pm

I made a Christmas tree with cardboard and tissue paper. The Cheerio ornaments are attached with a dab of corn syrup. lol Hopefully gluing it to a cardboard base would prevent the mice from tipping it. Razz