Toddlers and their preschooler big brothers love to buckle. And unbuckle. And buckle. Repeat.
In fact, just this morning — when I thought we were past all this — I found my laptop backpack completely rearranged so that the buckles were insane-crazy. Enter The Buckler.
The Buckler is a buckle clipping toy that is so brilliant in its simplicity that you’ll wish you made it a long time ago. It’s also a clever upcycle of those random buckles that come with luggage that are floating around my house (for some totally mysterious reason).
Quirky Momma invented this clipping toy after watching her 17-month old stay focused and entertained buckling (and unbuckling!) stroller straps during a playground trip. She ordered a few supplies from eBay and made The Buckler in an afternoon. Learn about what you need and how to create your own >
This clipping toy has become a go-to travel toy as well (flat and portable with hours of noise-free entertainment value).
Related DIY toys for crafty parents:
Activity #406: Craft a stuffed toy ball
Activity #408: Make a wee bunny or scrappy alien
Activity #271: Make a cheap-o rattle
I need one of these! On a recent out-of-town trip to visit my parents, I had to stash the carseat (which kept coming inside to move from car to car to car) in another room, because my DD 20 mos was obsessed with the buckles. She could buckle the chest clip (after MUCH effort) but (whew!) couldn’t unbuckle it, and couldn’t buckle the crotch clips – and got SOOOO frustrated!
At one point, she was bent over, head down in the seat, booty up in the air, waaaaiiiilllling brokenheartedly about it.
(And she’s not a tantrumy kind of kid.)
Explaining that “But you’re not ALLOWED to learn how to unbuckle your carseat!” did not make matters any better
I love this idea! DS is only 10 months, so can’t buckle or unbuckle, but is still fascinated by buckle pieces. I may need to make this for our Disney trip on Saturday.
I also love that “The Buckler” sounds like a kind of superhero!
I have been meaning to make something like that for about a month now. M is obsessed with “helping” buckle his car seat every. single. time.
My child is a bucklophile, so this needs to go on the top of my long list of projects…
loved this idea and finally got around to mading one this weekend. the buckle obsessed boy loves it. i used a different colored ribbons to help him match the buckles up (and make it cute), and was able to find 3 different sizes of buckles at the facbic store.
thanks for this idea