Homemade Versions of Your Favorite Childhood Toys and Games!

7 Classic Toys and Games & How to Recreate Them

Think back to the toys and games that you spent hours enjoying as a kid. Are they still around? Some may be gone for good. A few may now come in super-upgraded versions. So while there’s nothing quite like the original, of course, why not try and relive the good old days of classic toys and games—by making homemade versions of your favorites!

Here are a few that bring back fond and FUN memories. Each has a tutorial for how to craft it from scratch—with a couple being pretty challenging, we must admit. But you can always make it a family project, with everyone pitching in. Then, you can enjoy being kids again…together!

7 Classic Toys and Games & How to Recreate Them

Let’s see if you remember these. Choose one to try making yourselves. Or use these as inspiration to dig up tutorials for other toys and games you loved growing up!

7 Classic Toys and Games & How to Recreate Them

Homemade versions of our favorite toys and games as a kid such as Slip and Slide, Battleship, and Monopoly

1 – Giant Lite Brite – The original Lite Brite was a light box with plastic colored pegs that you position in holes on a panel to create a lighted image. Well, thanks to Chica and Jo, you can assemble a Giant Lite Brite version out of plywood, a drill for all the holes, LED light strips, and 2-oz plastic bottles filled with colored water for the pegs!

2 – DIY Slip and Slide – Dreaming of that water park fun you used to have as a kid? Well, you can make that dream come true again right in your backyard with this DIY slip and slide tutorial from Dunn Lumber.

3 – Homemade Hot Wheels Launcher – Remember those hours of fun with your Hot Wheels collection? A lot of that came from being able to zoom the cars off at top speed, just as you can do again with this clever launcher made from cardboard! Just follow this YouTube video. (Tip: What a great Hot Wheels party activity this would make, too!)

4 – Pump-action Water Gun – This may not be as power-packed as the Nerf Super Soaker you once had. But this homemade water gun from Josh Builds on YouTube will do the trick for some "squirting practice" on human and toy targets alike!

5 – DIY Off-shore Battle Game – The version you may remember playing is probably the plastic board game called Battleship from the 1960s. But it actually started as a pencil-and-paper game way back during World War I! Now, you can fabricate a replica in this Off-shore Battle game board from Boys Life (warning: woodworking skills required!).

6 – Personalized Monopoly Game – If you find classic Monopoly fun, take a look at how The Craftables create a personalized version by incorporating personal details or favorites of the players in the game components—from the board to the money to the cards to the houses and hotels to the tokens and more. Try doing this for your family, too! It could even be incorporated into a Monopoly themd wedding as an activity or gift.

7 – Homemade Twister – Now, here’s one anyone can do! Simply follow the steps described by Morena’s Corner. It just needs different colors of multi-purpose craft material cut into circles, spray-on adhesive or a glue gun, and a little spinner you make yourself, too!

Get your kids to set aside the high-tech gadgets and gizmos for a while this summer. Share with them what good old-fashioned fun can be, with homemade toys and games like these!

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