As I discussed in my post on Organizing Baby Toys, children (even babies!) can start to meet there own needs when their toys are easily visible and accessible. Implementing this design philosophy in my own home, I had chosen a couch side table to be the place for one on my child’s favorite toys, a toy car. But the car sitting so alone on the table didn’t quite look right to me. That is, it was not obvious that the car was in it’s correct spot. And so with the help of a crafty mom (as usual!).. toy coasters were born.

A toy coaster is the same form as a drink coaster, but they’re made of a non-fragile baby-safe material and used to display a single toy. Why use toy coasters?

• To clearly signify to guests and your child where a toy belongs
• To add a touch of style to your children’s toys, making them an aesthetically pleasing part of your living space for adults as well as children
• To replace fragile or non-baby safe drink coasters
• To act as another toy for your child, providing interesting senatorial exploration

To make our toy coasters, my mom followed this pattern to crochet circles and then we felted them slightly by throwing them in the washing machine. These coasters aren’t just for toys and they’re a great use of yarn scraps. For other uses of leftover yarn, checkout the balls in Boxes and Balls and the scrubbers on the Toddler Wash Stand. But yarn isn’t the only material that’d make great toy coasters! I used to have coasters that were simple slices of a tree branch that would’ve been fantastic for this use.