Recycled/Reused Toys for a One Year Old

I really don't know why we buy toys for our boys at all.  Our kids would be fine with sticks, cardboard boxes, blankets, silverware, measuring cups and all of our recyclables.  They are both explorers, and seem to have long attention spans with each toy they explore.  But we do buy them.  And I LOVE toys, especially those for very young children.

Lately, Eli has been having too much fun getting into the two cabinets that are not locked in the kitchen, and pulling books off the bookshelves in the living room.  So, I finally put together some more busy bag type activities for him to keep him out of my stuff.  Almost all of these activities/toys were made from stuff already around the house.

Pipe Cleaner Poke:  Simply putting some pipe cleaners into a clean Parmesan cheese container creates a fun toy.  Big brother took his turn enjoying it too.

Fabric Pull:  Some squares into a wipes container saved us from having to hide the real wipes container all the time.

Cupcake Sorter.  I've been keeping the cardboard tubes from toilet paper and paper towel for weeks now, but don't really have anything to do with them.  This was my first use.  This one and the last idea came from here.

Lid Drops:  A while back I went ahead and put a hole in a milk jug so he could use it to drop lids into.  Recently I made this one from a cocoa container.  This quick and easy one was a quick favorite with him.  While designed as another place to deposit lids and caps, he quickly decided it was better as a bowl when he put his spoon inside to stir.  Additionally, he has fun taking the lid on and off, as well as shaking it too.  Another great idea from here.

 Puff Push:  I had done this back in the day for Theo, and Eli has taken to it.  He's really good with it.

 Shaker Bottles:  I've also found a lot of these ideas on pintrest.  Just filling a bottle with something interesting to see/hear has provided Eli with a lot of entertainment.  This is one I now throw in the car for carseat entertainment.  The one filled with beads (left overs from an algebra film canister activity ages ago) was originally his favorite, but after a while he has really started liking watching the glitter swirl inside the second one.

 Can you tell he's enjoying them?