Craft a Horse Prop

See more activities in: Preschool, Recycled Crafts

What kid wouldn't love her own horse? We'd all love to give our kids what they want, but if you don't have the room (or the funds!) for a real horse, try this instead! With just a few recycled household items, you can create your very own stick horse toy. Use an empty dish soap bottle, a broom stick, and a little bit of felt to have the prop of a lifetime. You child will be able to transform into a cowboy, a knight, a princess, or whatever she wants! It's a great toy to have for all sorts of imaginative play.

What You Need:

  • Empty, colored liquid detergent/soap bottles (without a handle)
  • Different colors of felt, like black, white, brown and yellow
  • Glue
  • Long piece of ribbon
  • Broom stick
  • Hot glue gun
  • Large wiggly eyes (optional)

What to Do:

  1. Wash out a liquid dish soap bottle, and tear off the label. (Clorox Green Works and Dawn Ultra dishwashing liquid soap containers work well for this project.)
  2. Cut a hole the size of the broom handle on one side of the lower-bottom part of the soap bottle.
  3. Help your child cut a few thick strips, about 5 inches long, from one color of felt to be the mane of the horse. Then cut several 2 or 3-inch strips of the same color to be the forelock of the mane.
  4. Use a piece of felt of a different color and cut out two ear shapes.
  5. For the eyes, either purchase large googly eyes from a craft store or cut out two round pieces of felt.
  6. Use the glue to attach the eyes to the bottle. Place the eyes near the middle-bottom of the bottle, on the opposite side of the hole.
  7. Glue the ears to either side of the bottom of the bottle.
  8. Between the ears, glue on the shorter pieces of felt as a the forelock; it should resemble bangs, flopping over the horses face but not covering the eyes.
  9. Down the back of the bottle, glue the 5-inch strips until the bottom of the bottle is covered. You can even glue some extra strips down the "neck" of the horse, along one side of the broom handle.
  10. Use the hot glue gun to attach the bottle to the broom handle. Let the glue dry, and voila! You've got a snazzy homemade horse prop for all kinds of imaginative play!