Etsy is a marketplace for handmade and vintage items that gives small businesses and artisans the platform to set up a shop and sell their stuff. There are lots of amazing things on Etsy, from downloadable items to custom clothing to furniture, there is a little bit of everything there.
I love Etsy. There are so many very creative artists there that build or create learning products for children. I am constantly looking for new, wonderful ideas on Etsy, and I am always finding impressive things. Here are just a few of my favorites.
Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. However, I don’t make any commission off of the sale of these Etsy products. And none of these products are things I or anyone I know are selling. So, it doesn’t matter much to me personally if you buy the products or use these ideas to inspire things that you create yourself. But, I will say this, every time you buy something off of Etsy, a real person (the seller) somewhere is doing a little happy dance!
The Color Sorting and Matching Things
Please note, some of these have small parts that are not appropriate for kids who still put things into their mouths. Use good parental judgment.
This Color Sorting Basket combines color learning, sorting, and fine motor skills, with the added scoop and tongs. To see more pictures, click here.
DIY idea: Use these bowls, and this basket and these tongs. and this optional scoop. Fill with dollar store items or things you already own to sort.
I love this box, and feel like if I could find a similar divided box, this would be a fun and easy one to recreate. See more pics here.
Kudos to the sewing genius, this color matching wheel is so practical with its zippered storage pocket! For more pictures, click here.
I wouldn’t know how to DIY this, because I am not a sewing genius. But I know there are plenty of sewing geniuses out there!
This color sorting set comes with all kinds of ways to sort, not just by color. Pretty amazing idea! To see more pics, click here.
DIY Idea: The main part of this sorting set is that there is a set of things for each color (one small stone of each color, one button of each color, one piece of ribbon in each color, etc). So, finding or making one of each color is the way to DIY this one, and there are lots of different ways to do this.
Things to Sort
When it comes to a lot of interesting sorting things, this set of 100 is pretty amazing. And the seller guarantees that there are no duplicates. I can see all kinds of sorting and counting you could do with these: by color, by category, by beginning word sounds, etc. Also, it would be a pretty great addition to any DIY’ing you might do with any of the color sorting/matching ideas above. Click to see more pics.
These are so cute! And they almost look real! I can imagine using these to not only sort, but to talk about healthy foods, too. To see more pics, click here.
DIY Idea: If you can find polymer clay molds like these or for separate foods like this strawberry one and buy some polymer clay in different colors, you can definitely DIY this one!
Fine Motor Skills Things
Who doesn’t love stringing beads? But these are soft pastel colors, and a wonderful natural wood toy. To see more pictures, click here.
DIY idea: These little spools, these round beads (comes with 5 sizes), these oval beads, and beading laces. Click here for a tutorial from The Crafted Life on how to dye unfinished wooden beads to get that soft pastel look. While the total investment might be more than the original item on Etsy costs, but you will be able to make a few sets out of the materials.
Don’t want to DIY, but want to save a few bucks? Buy these beads and the beading laces instead. Not quite as pretty, but still fun and colorful!
This sewing board is pretty genius. Because really, look at it. It’s a (very nice) board with holes. But kids can lace the holes, and as they hone their fine motor skills even more, they can start learning basic sewing stitches. And then grow up to be sewing geniuses! Clearly, I was never privy to one of these as a child! To see more pics, click here.
DIY idea: If you or someone you know are handy in the wood shop and have a drill press, this seems like an easy DIY. The wood will have to be sanded and finished after the holes are drilled. Use plastic needles and different colors of yarn and your DIY is complete!
Sensory Tray Things
This sensory tray is good for us Southern California people, who get very little snow. So, if your kids don’t get to play in the real stuff, then they can at least play with a winter-themed sensory tray. For more pics, click here.
DIY Idea: Sensory trays are all about finding different sizes, textures, weights, shapes, etc. within a theme. So, if you can find different themed toys, trinkets, blocks, materials, etc., the “tray” can be anything big enough to hold it all. You might even prefer keeping it all in latch boxes like these. Any of these trays can be made just by changing the theme and looking for different things within the theme.
Ah, a little bit of the sea and the beach, without the sand in your shorts. Plus this one has such calming marine colors. For more pics, click here.
I think this is called “Fiesta” because of the bright exciting colors. This tray allows kids to play with different colors, textures, and shapes, plus explore symmetry. For more pictures, click here.
Busy/Quiet Books/Boards/Boxes/Things
Wow, this is such a cute busy book! My youngest loves trains and he loves counting and matching. For more pictures, click here.
Lots of fun little activities in this Quiet Book! For more pictures, click here.
For the car enthusiast, this roll-up activity mat is both cute and clever! To see more pictures, click here.
ABC Things
Kids love to play with rocks. I don’t really understand why, but these letter and number rocks are pretty cute! To see more pics, click here.
DIY idea: These rocks and some acrylic paint – BOOM!
This cute ABC wall chart has little felt toys that begin with the letter sound that attach to each letter. What a cute idea! A little out of my DIY’ing scope, since I can’t sew, but I can see myself DIY’ing it with laminated pictures that velcro on to each letter. To see more pics, click here.
Felt Board Things
Felt boards are so fun, and this If You Give A Pig A Pancake set is so cute! This is the only picture the seller has, but to see the product, click here.
DIY Idea: There’s not much I can offer here, but to get different colors of felt and go crazy, using the book as your guide.
A felt wall with felt pieces to make a picture/scene! What a clever idea! That’s the kind of thing to bring out the kids’ creativity. It would also keep them busy for a while. Click here for more pictures.
DIY idea: I have only ever thought of felt in those little squares at Walmart or the arts and crafts stores, but a little looking around, and I found large pieces like this. And of course, a fabric store might have felt on a roll.
Game Things
This tactile memory game uses both sight and touch to give the player a little more of a sensory experience. To see more pictures, click here.
DIY Idea: Once again, this is good for someone with a woodworking shop. Which I personally don’t have. If you are like me, then the way I would DIY is to find wooden craft discs and different materials: different types of cloth, sandpaper, string, felt, etc, to glue on the bottoms of the discs to make each pair of discs feel noticeably different. You could also easily make a non-sensory version too, by Mod Podging pair of pictures on each pair of discs.
This sweet little fishing game looks so much more interesting to me than the electronic plastic version. I really love the octopus and the sea turtle! So cute! To see more pics, click here.
DIY Idea: So, this looks like a lot of sewing, but I think this could be done no-sew as well. Just glue the felt pieces onto paper clips, and find a small magnet to hide in the “hook.”
Stacking Things
These Rainbow Stackers are so pretty! A work of art! But this definitely requires some woodworking skills to duplicate, so if that’s not you and you want one of these, you might have to shop around. To see more pics, click here.
Once again, a piece of wood art! I love this idea. Not something I could necessarily DIY exactly…. but it combines a little science (astronomy), a little math (size comparison), and a lot of fun. See more pics here.
DIY Idea: On the other hand, I wonder what I could do with some foam poster board (possibly doubled up), an X-acto knife, a thin wooden dowel, and some glue? And pictures of the sun and planets, of course. It won’t be as durable, but it might just work!
Just so you know, one article couldn’t possibly hold all of my favorite ideas I’ve found on Etsy. This was really fun to put together, so maybe I’ll do another one with a fresh batch of ideas soon!
Do you browse Etsy? Do you DIY? Share in the comments!
