It is March 2020 and all the kids are out of school. We want to keep them home and safe and still help them learn. I have created a series of easy crochet toys pattern just for the occasion.
Below you will find my reason for designing this series. I also share several different ways to play with the ball toss game. The materials you will need, patterns and videos to help are all listed below. I will create a PDF pattern for the entire toy series that can be purchased at a later date.
Easy Crochet Toys for the Kids
My son is at home. He is confused, and missing his teacher and friends. Talking to the Winding Road Crochet Facebook Community, I can tell I am not the only one in this boat. Mothers need something to keep the kids entertained that isn’t TV and if it teaches them something or makes them practice their school skills, that is a bonus.
The ball toss game is the first in three pattern sets that I have designed to keep the little ones busy. I had three goals with these crochet toys. They need to be quick. They need to be easy and they need to teach the child something.
I have a two-year-old and a six-year-old at home and the toys are focused on their ages but I will also share ideas to make them work for older children.
How to use the Ball Toss Game
This pattern contains a set of small baskets and some crocheted balls. The basic idea is to try and toss the ball into the basket. Kids love to toss things and the activity of fetching the ball will help wear them out. Here are some other ways to play with these simple crochet toys.
Basic Ball Toss
Toss the ball into the basket and get a score. Have the kids keep track of their points. This can act as math practice. To make it harder for older children, just increase the number of points each basket is worth. Feel free to print out the number PDF below to cut out and place them in each basket.
Math Ball Toss
Have the child toss the balls until they get two into the baskets. Then have them add those two basket numbers together. You can also do this with subtraction. Again you can adjust the numbers of each basket to make this task harder. Pick random numbers like 12, 23, 56, and 34 to challenge the kids.
Color Matching Ball Toss
Like the baskets I made for my example you can have the kids try to get the right colored ball into the right colored basket. Color matching can be the lesson for younger children, but for older children, it is a test of their tossing skills.
DIY Skeeball
I love playing skeeball at the arcade. Use small pieces of cardboard and have the kids roll the balls and try to get them into the baskets using a cardboard ramp.
I hope one of these ideas will keep your kids busy and entertained.
Make it a Stash Buster
For this project, I just used yarn from my stash. I was lucky to have the primary colors on hand to help teach my toddler but any colors would work great. Grab some leftover yarn and get crocheting.
Don’t Miss a Single Pattern
If you love to crochet and you don’t want to miss a single free crochet pattern, make sure to sign up for the newsletter! I will send you a quick email a couple of times a week to let you know what is new. Plus you get access to a variety of crochet related printables.
More Patterns you may Love
Don’t forget to check out all the free patterns at Winding Road Crochet. You may just find a new favorite project. Here are some great patterns you will love.
Easy Crochet Toys: Ball Toss Game
Materials Needed
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information refer to my Terms and Conditions.
1.29 oz or 68 yds of Worsted Weight yarn of each color
Crochet Hook Size E 3.5mm
Crochet Hook Size H 5mm
Yarn Needle
Scissors
1.2 oz Polyfil for 6 balls
Stitches and Abbreviations
CH – Chain
SC – Single Crochet
SC2TOG – Single Crochet 2 Stitches Together
SLST – Slip Stitch
MC – Magic Circle (Learn the Technique here)
ST(s) – Stitch(es)
BLO – Back Loop Only
Gauge and Size
Gauge is not important in this pattern. Just change your hook size if you are not happy with how tight the stitches are.
The Ball is approximately 2 inches tall. The Basket is about 6 inches in diameter and 1.5 inches tall.
Special Stitches
SC2TOG – Single Crochet 2 Stitches Together – Insert your hook into the next stitch, yarn over, pull the loop through the hook (2 loops on hook), insert hook into the next stitch, yarn over, pull the loop through the hook, (3 loops on the hook) yarn over and pull the first loop through all the loops on the hook. Your decrease is complete.
Easy Crochet Toys: Ball Toss Game
Notes:
-Written in US terms.
– Worked in continuous rounds.
– Basket is worked by holding two strands of yarn together when crocheting.
Easy Crochet Ball
Using a Size E 3.5mm hook and one strand of worsted weight yarn.
Row 1: SC 6 STs into a Magic Circle. (6)
Alternate Row 1: CH2, Work 6 SC into the first CH. (6)
Row 2: *Work 2 SC into next ST* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (12)
Row 3: *SC in next ST, work 2 SC in next ST* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (18)
Row 4: *Sc in next 2 STs, work 2 SC in next ST* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (24)
Row 5: *SC in next 3 STs, work 2 SC in next ST* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (30)
Row 6-10: SC in next 30 STs.
Row 11: *SC in next 3 STs, SC2TOG* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (24)
Row 12: *SC in next 2 STs. SC2TOG* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (18)
Note: You will want to stuff your ball after row 12 and a little more after row 13.
Row 13: *SC in next ST, SC2TOG* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (12)
Row 14: *SC2TOG* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (6)
Fasten off leaving a long tail. Weave your tail in and out through the last 6 stitches, pull tight to close the hole and weave in your end.
Easy Crochet Basket
You will use two strands of worsted weight yarn held together and a Size H 5mm crochet hook.
Row 1: SC 6 STs into a Magic Circle. (6)
Alternate Row 1: CH2, Work 6 SC into the first CH. (6)
Row 2: *Work 2 SC into next ST* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (12)
Row 3: *SC in next ST, work 2 SC in next ST* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (18)
Row 4: *Sc in next 2 STs, work 2 SC in next ST* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (24)
Row 5: *SC in next 3 STs, work 2 SC in next ST* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (30)
Row 6: *SC in next 4 STs, work 2 SC in next ST* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (36)
Row 7: *SC in next 5 STs, work 2 SC in next ST* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (42)
Row 8: *SC in next 6 STs, work 2 SC in next ST* repeat from *to* a total of 6 times. (48)
Row 9: SC in BLO of next 48 STs.
Note: If you are a beginner and you do not want to single crochet in the back loops, you can just work a regular single crochet, the basket will just be a little more bowl-shaped.
Row 10-13: SC in next 48 STs.
Row 14: SLST in next 2 STs. Fasten off and weave in your ends.
Let’s Be Friends
Want to know what I am making next? Follow me on Instagram @windingroadcrochet to see sneak peeks of what I am up to and to be notified of when I release new free patterns. You can also follow me on Pinterest and Facebook. Join our Facebook group Our Crochet Journey and be a part of our community. Share, photos, ask for help and be inspired all in one place!
Written pattern, tutorials, photos, graphs and pdfs of the Pattern Name Easy Crochet toys pattern ball toss game are copyright Windingroadcrochet.com. Please do not reprint or repost this content as your own, but please feel free to share this link with others. You can find more information on sharing my work with others in the Terms and Conditions Page.
Hi, I downloaded the game but didn’t see the crochet patterns on the dl. Did I do it wrong or is the crochet pattern just on this site? That’s fine, not complaining if it is, just wanted to make sure I didn’t miss something. Thanks for the free pattern!
The download is only for the numbers. The pattern is located on the post. I will create a purchasable PDF but I wanted to have the PDF include all three of the easy crochet toys and not just the one.
what a sweet game and indoor safe too, great idea thanks for sharing. I have a lot of yarn ends I can put to good use now and I know just the right 3 year old to gift it.
I used your pattern to make a basket. I used multicolor yarn, and I love the way it turned out. I am a beginner, and this pattern was very easy to follow. Thank you.
You are very welcome.
Do you only need six balls. Can the games be played with 12 balls so each player (2) has a set of balls.
Thanks,
Debbie
Absoluetly.
I love this! I’m going to make a set for my Grade One French Immersion class literacy and numeracy centres. It will be a perfect (and fun) way to practice so many French and math concepts: colours, numbers, addition, complex phonemes, sight words …
I can’t wait to start using them in my classroom.
Thank you for sharing!
You are very welcome.