Make and Play! A Collection of Fun Handmade Horse Toy Ideas
How about making some handmade horse toys? Spending time crafting horse-themed toys with familiar materials can greatly expand children’s creativity.
When kids and adults play with the finished toys, the ingenuity and discoveries from the making process will make it even more fun.
There are endless ways to play, from pretending to run a ranch to doll play.
We’ve gathered ideas you can make with easy-to-find materials like origami paper, recycled items, and paper cups, so please try them at home or in early childhood settings!
Make and Play! A Collection of Fun DIY Horse Toy Ideas (1–10)
Cute zodiac felt finger puppets!
Not just for kids—you’ll want to make and collect them for yourself too! Here’s a cute finger puppet idea.
You’ll need a template, felt in various colors, eye parts, scissors, stuffing, thread, and a needle.
It’s great for those who are good at crafts, but if you’re not confident or you’re a beginner, you can also use fabric glue to stick the felt pieces together and aim to finish that way.
If you customize the mane and eye parts, you’ll end up with a horse that has a totally different look.
The candy box transforms! A moving horse
Let’s make a horse using a box of your favorite snacks! Since the package will become the pattern, pick a box with a design you like.
First, cut the box into three rings of equal width.
Place one ring horizontally, and to its left, place another ring vertically.
Staple the touching edges to create the horse’s body and neck.
Take the remaining ring, turn it horizontally, align its left end with the others, and attach it along the underside of the body.
Flatten the part that sticks out on the left so it juts out, and staple it.
Then, cut the head, legs, ears, and tail from the leftover box pieces and glue them on.
If you hold the part sticking out on the left side of the body and pull the tail on the opposite side, the neck will move.
Puppet horse
You can put it on your hand and make the mouth chomp! Here’s a handmade horse puppet idea.
You’ll use a sock, foam sheets, felt, yarn, and googly eyes.
Stack two half-circle pieces of foam sheet and tape the straight edges together, then attach them to the cut end of the sock with a hot glue gun.
Line the contact surfaces of the foam with pink felt and glue on teeth made from white felt.
Finally, add the facial features, a yarn mane, and felt ears—and you’re done!
Mini ranch diorama
Let’s make a miniature horse diorama.
First, cut the Styrofoam to fit the display box.
Then apply plaster, paint it, lay down the grass, and place trees, stones, and flowers.
Finally, set the horse figurine wherever you like, and it’s complete! This idea suggests a landscape reminiscent of a pasture, but feel free to create any scene you prefer.
A tool called a grass applicator is used to make the grass stand upright, and green powder is sprinkled on to add variation to the grass.
The attention to detail is so fine that it looks like a real landscape!
Mole animal horse
Pipe cleaners are great for wrapping and making accessories, but how about trying a three-dimensional horse made with pipe cleaners? You’ll need two full-length pipe cleaners, two shorter cut pieces, a pair of eye parts, and a small bell.
Pipe cleaners are covered with short fibers, but the ends are wire and can easily prick your fingers, so be careful as you finish.
You can also change the colors or adjust the size to bring the horse closer to the image you have in mind.
Give it a try and have fun experimenting!
A rocking horse that adults can ride
It’s a toy where, when you ride it and rock your body back and forth, the wooden horse moves forward little by little.
You cut the horse’s body, two legs, seat, and handle out of a single piece of wood and assemble them.
The reason the horse moves forward is the mechanism of the back legs.
The front legs are firmly fixed to the body, but there is a gap around the back legs.
After the front legs touch down, the back legs lift slightly and move forward to meet the front legs… Repeating that motion makes it advance.
Finish it by painting it in any colors you like.
Let's make a horse head out of newspaper!
Here’s a 3D horse craft idea using newspaper! You’ll need three sheets of newspaper, scissors, and cellophane tape.
Use newspaper you have at home to make items that transform you into a horse.
With the three sheets, you’ll create a hat, a horse face, and a horse mane.
There are key points to watch out for in each step, so follow along carefully with the video as you make it.
Once you tape the three parts together, it’s complete.
You can also make reins to expand the ways you can play!