How to Make Your Pinata Environmentally Friendly

One of the most common questions I see on parenting forums regarding children's parties is how to find toys for filling piñatas that are environmentally friendly, safe, and inexpensive. Many parents do not want to spend their money on cheap trashy toys such as plastic clackers, sugary candy, and breakable items. Try some of these great eco-friendly piñata toys instead.

Toys and prizes that can be useful and used up are some of the best ideas. Sparkly pencils are always handy for school work and just writing in general. Some other items that can be used include funky erasers, small packages of crayons, lip gloss, temporary tattoos, rubber stamps, toothbrushes, notepads, and miniature bars of scented soap.

Money prizes are also fun to find. Add some coins and maybe a dollar bill or two into the piñata toy mix. You can also add other items that are like money such as tokens to local children's activity centers or Chuck E Cheese. You can even make your own tickets or tokens to put in the piñata that can be redeemed later in the party for prizes.

Felt puppets are great for putting into piñatas. They will not break when the piñata is struck and they are easy to make by the handful. All you need is some craft felt, scissors, yarn, and a little glue to make all kinds of little felt people and creatures.

Wooden dolls are also easy to make and fun to find in a piñata. You can easily make your own little wooden dolls from old-fashioned clothespins with glued-on felt clothes. Draw their faces using craft paint pens or acrylic craft paints. If you know how to make rag dolls or yarn dolls, they can also be included in a piñata.

You don't need to fill your child's piñata with sugary candies and sweets. There are all kinds of treats that you can put into a piñata that are affordable and will be loved by almost any child. Fill your piñata with small boxes of raisins, dried fruit snacks, granola bars, handmade goodies, or popcorn balls.

There are a number of other little handmade things you can include as well. You could make little flower rings out of felt. Bookmarks are also easy to make and can be laminated at home. You can put together little mini coloring books from printed pictures. There are plenty of websites on the internet that offer free coloring pages for kids.

To learn how to make your own pinata from recycled materials, see my article: How to Make an Easy Homemade Pinata

Beading kits are lots of fun. To make a bead jewelry kit, include a small handful of beads and/or buttons and some stiff string inside a small zip-top plastic bag.

Some other easily handmade items include cloth bean bag animals, beaded stretchy or wire rings, friendship bracelets, bead jewelry, and doll clothes.

Don't forget prizes that parents might like. Some toys that can be included in a piñata might be interesting to an adult, even if their child does not want it. Try adding sturdy key chains, metal brain teaser puzzles, patches (the type you sew onto clothes), or barrettes.

Don't forget to add items you may already have around your house that you no longer want such as marbles, fridge magnets, large chunky beads, flat glass marbles, beads from Mardi Gras, sugar-free candies, and leftover candy from Easter or Halloween.

Look around your home to see what you might already have. Recycling is the first step in environmental awareness. Once you have done that, see what small items you can make yourself at home from recycled materials. Handmade toys will be appreciated by kids much more than cheap plastic toys which have little use and will probably end up in the trashcan by the time the party is over.