Make a very simple yet engaging toy for babies and toddler using wooden curtain rings and a mug tree! Great for motor skills and coordination, as well as problem solving and hand to eye coordination, this will be played with over and over again and makes a great addition in the toy cupboard, for next to no money at all! 
Last year my mother in law gave me a large bag of wooden curtain rings, knowing that I would love them and use them for something with the kids! I began to look around for a wooden mug tree so that I could put this simple toy together, but struggled to find one for a while as they are no longer so popular in peoples homes! Eventually my dear sister in law found me one in a second hand shop and the toy was complete! The kids have all loved it ever since, even my 5 year old too!
To put to together I simply removed all of the little screws from the wooden curtain rings, then counted out enough to make 4 per knob on the mug tree. Voila!
It’s simple for us of course, but for a baby and young toddler it requires concentration and coordination to be able to both take off and re-hang the rings, and great problem solving to see where there is room to fit them all.
This game sits out on on little toddler play area table and is used most days by Bean as she takes them off, arranges them in groups and little stacked piles, hooks them back carefully and tries to see how many she can fit on.
We are going to change it up a little by adding some colours for naming and sorting, now that she is a little older and playing in a different way. I will add photos of that once we complete it!
Here are 4 fabulous fine motor toys for babies and toddlers
See all of our other DIY toys and games here
Cakie: 5.7
Pop: 4.1
Bean: 2.2
What they are learning as they play:
physical: motor skills, coordination, hand-eye coordination, fine motor control and coordination, simple grasp
maths: problem solving, making things fit in spaces, (early stages of) counting
Looks like a fun while kids are learning. A creative and resourceful way for learning. Thank you for posting. You might wanted to see this A Piece Of Heaven On Earth.
What an excellent idea. So simple but perfect for co-ordination and motor skills. I cannot wait to try this with Buddy!
Great and fun idea. What’s the recommended age for this activity tree?