Celebrate Craft for Your Local Shelter Day: 5 Easy DIY Cat Toys

by Emily Hall

Looking for a way to give back to your local animal shelter? Now is the perfect time since Craft for Your Local Shelter Day is coming up on July 21st! Animal shelters can always use donations and supplies, and shelter cats can always use more toys, playtime, and enrichment. Plus, it’s always fun to get a little crafty… especially for a good cause.

But what if you’re not the crafty type? No worries! Below, you’ll find 5 easy, DIY cat toys you can easily make with supplies you’ll likely find lying around your home. 

1. Cardboard Ball Toy 

Supplies needed: an empty toilet paper or paper towel roll, scissors, and a ruler
Time: 2 minutes
Purpose: great for batting and chasing around

Step 1 – Flatten the toilet paper or paper towel roll.

Step 2 – Cut the roll into sections about half an inch wide.

Step 3 – Assemble the pieces by interlacing them together in a crisscross fashion to create a ball.

Step 4 (optional) – For some extra fun, hide some treats inside the ball.

2. Wand Toy

Supplies needed: ribbon, scissors, and a plastic wand (like a bubble wand, for example) 
Time: 2-3 minutes
Purpose: great for interactive play

Step 1 – Cut roughly 10 pieces of ribbon that are roughly 15-20 inches in length.

Step 2 – Tie ribbon pieces onto the plastic wand.

Step 3 – Curl the ribbons with scissors.

Note: Because of the ribbon, cats should only be allowed to play with this toy under supervision.

3. Catnip Toy

Supplies needed: fleece or other similar fabric (e.g. t-shirt scraps), scissors, ruler, and catnip
Time: 8-10 minutes
Purpose: great for sensory enrichment and batting around

Step 1 – Cut two 6-inch squares of fleece.

Step 2 – Stack the squares on top of each other and cut equally spaced 2-inch slits around all four edges.

Step 3 – Tie the squares together on all sides, but leave a 2-inch opening on one side.

Step 4 – Fill with catnip.

Step 5 – Tie the remaining opening closed. 

4. T-shirt Knots

Supplies needed: fleece or old t-shirts, scissors, and a ruler
Time: 5 minutes
Purpose: great for batting and chasing around

Step 1 – For a large size, cut your fleece or t-shirts into 3 roughly 2-inch x 10-inch strips. For a small size, cut your fleece or t-shirts into 3 roughly 1-inch x 6-inch strips.

Step 2 – Slightly stretch each strip so they begin to curl up on themselves.

Step 3 – Stack your 3 strips on top of each other.

Step 4 – Tie the strips into a knot. 

Step 5 (optional) – Dip the knot in catnip for an extra kick!

5. Busy Box

Supplies needed: shoebox or similar-sized cardboard box, fabric strips, toilet paper rolls, crumpled paper balls, tissue paper, empty food containers (yogurt, egg carton, etc), any other similar things you can find, and treats and/or catnip
Time: 5 minutes
Purpose: great for sensory and mental enrichment

Step 1 – Collect your “found items” (e.g. fabric strips, paper balls, etc).

Step 2 – Hide some treats within your items (i.e. inside a crumpled paper ball).

Step 3 – Place your found items inside the shoebox or cardboard box however you see fit.

Step 4 – Sprinkle some treats or catnip on top.

Step 5 – Place on the floor and let the cats enjoy sniffing around looking for treats!

As you can see, these 5 toys take minimal supplies, minimal time, and minimal craftiness to create. Despite the minimalism, they pack maximum entertainment power for shelter kitties! Any cat would love to bat, chase, sniff, and play with these toys (you can even make a few extra for your own cats!). 

So set aside an afternoon, and have some fun. In no time, you can easily put together a bag full of handmade cat toys to take to your local animal shelter in time for Craft for Your Local Shelter Day. If you have extra time, you could even stick around and play with the cats while you’re there dropping the toys off! I know both the shelter workers and adoptable kitties would appreciate it.

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