Easy DIY Montessori Learning Puzzle 

I absolutely love creating play to learn activities that can be made with items I already have at home. 

Sometimes all you need is a recycled cardboard box to create a recycled toy. 

It’s that easy. 

And, it’s ready to go for only pennies. 

Have you ever seen nesting toys? 

You know the ones you can stack upward and they come in different sizes?

Nesting and stacking boxes are great for learning about different sizes, counting, colors, numbers and so much more!

We love nesting toys but how about if you can make one out of cardboard or a foam craft board? 

Cardboard Nesting Boxes

What are nesting toys? 

What are nesting blocks? 

Stacking cubes are great learning tools to learn while playing! 

And, making them from cardboard is a pretty epic idea. 

You can literally make so much out of a cardboard box. 

I’ll be sharing what exactly I used along with how I made our cardboard nesting boxes. 

Note: If you like a good learning through play activity made from literally pennies, check out this Easy Heart Count and Match Activity we made in February! 

Supplies

This post contains affiliate links. 

• Foam craft board or recycled cardboard box

• Scissors

• Sharpie Markers (optional)

• Crayola Markers 

And this the gist of the items you need. Not much, right? But it will probably keep your little one playing for quite some time! 🙂 

Recycled crafts for kids 

Whether you are creating neat recycled toys at home for play or for montessori learning, they are so easy to make and can be made from literally nothing. 

You can also use wood or recycled plastic like jugs, containers, and plastic bottles. 

Wooden nesting blocks are one we haven’t tried yet but I would love to learn how to create some cool toys from wood. 

For now, cardboard will do! 🙂 

Fun number games

So, how did I create this nesting toy from cardboard? 

Whether you are at a montessori learning center, a school setting or right at home, here is the simple steps I took to create this cardboard nesting toy:

• I used scissors to cut rectangular pieces from a foam craft board.

• I then used crayola markers to color each of the rectangular shaped pieces in different colors while leaving space in the center for me to write a number. 

• I made sure that each number was at the corresponding next level up. 

• Once, the pieces were colored and numbered, Iaid them out on the table. 

• My little one and I worked together to build our nesting toy by shouting out colors, numbers and sizes. My little one called it her “cake”. 🙂

• There you have it! You’ve created an epic cardboard nesting recycled toy! 

Have you made something out of nothing using cardboard or a foam craft board before? 

Tell me in the comments below. Maybe we can try it out too!