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Animal Ed-Ventures At Home: Recycled Cat Play Stage

Written by: Arizona Humane Society

Create a Cat Play Stage with Homemade Cat Toys!

Thank you for joining our Animal Ed-Ventures At Home! National Pet Week is next week, May 3-9, and we hope you and your pets will celebrate with us. This week's Animal Ed-Ventures At Home activity will offer your cat enrichment with homemade toys on their very own cat play stage. Next week, we will show you how to create puzzles for your dog! Supplies:

Recycled materials: Large cardboard boxes, toilet paper or paper towel rolls, yarn/string, plastic cups, junk mail, and/or newspaper are a few options
Glue: A glue gun or Elmer's glue
Tape
Scissors
Markers: Non-toxic, washable markers to decorate (optional)
Cat treats: These can be hidden for your cat within the play stage (optional)

Instructions:

Follow along with our Animal Ed-Ventures At Home video on AHS' Facebook page for inspiration for your cat play stage! The video will premiere on Wednesday, April 29 at 10 a.m.
Choose a base for your cat play stage. The side of a large cardboard box is one great option. If the cardboard is difficult to cut, ask an adult for help!
Draw out your plan with markers directly on the box.
Begin creating activities for your cat on your cat play stage! Some suggestions and instructions for activities are below.
Hide cat treats inside the different activities of your cat play stage and watch your feline friend explore! Remember to supervise your cat when he or she is playing with your homemade toys.

Homemade Cat Toys:

Newspaper Ball Pit
- Glue a small cardboard box to your base.
- Tear strips of newspaper.
- Crumple some pieces, twist others, and mold some into balls, and fill your newspaper ball pit!
Cardboard Ball Toys
- Decorate paper towel or toilet paper rolls with markers.
- Cut 4 pieces of the rolls into rings.
- Slot one piece inside the other piece to make a cross, another on top to make a snowflake shape, and one more on top to make a ball.
- Toss any scrap leftover pieces into your newspaper ball pit.
Treat Tube
- Decorate a paper towel roll with markers.
- Carefully pinch the roll so you can cut a slit in the side.
- Cut another slit across your previous cut to make a cross.
- Push down into the cross, folding in the corners inward to make a hole. Make a few of these holes on all sides of the roll.
- Glue the treat tube onto your base.
Hide & Seek Circles
- Cut paper towel or toilet paper rolls into different lengths creating tubes of varying sizes.
- Decorate these cut rolls with markers.
- Glue the tubes onto your base upright, forming tubes your cat can look down into.
Tube Tower
- Decorate about 10 toilet paper rolls (or cut down paper towel rolls into smaller sizes) with markers.
- Cut a few pieces of yarn or string to lengths of about 45 inches long.
- Glue down the middle of your yarn or string to the base and glue four rolls down, side-by-side.
- Glue three rolls on top of the previous four, then two on top of the three, and complete your tower with one roll on top.
- Tie the yarn or string around the rolls with a secure bow.
Mystery Cups
- Glue a few plastic cups to your base, some upright and some lying down in different directions.

We would love to see your cat play stage when you are finished! Please feel free to share with us on AHS' Facebook page and be sure to join us for future activities each Wednesday at 10 a.m.! AHS' Education and Outreach team inspires a compassionate community of animal lovers through education events across the Valley and youth programs in schools and in our shelters. They also care for our Animal Teachers, who are ambassadors who help young animal lovers develop an appreciation and compassion for living things through interaction and up-close observation. Our Animal Teachers come to us from a variety of circumstances. Some were surrendered or transferred to us from another rescue organization, while others were rescued after being abused, abandoned or injured. They become ambassadors in our education programs as their stories are filled with a message of caring, empathy and hope. Both our Animal Teachers and our own companion pets will join us in our Animal Ed-Ventures At Home weekly series.

Learn More About AHS' Youth Programs

April 28, 2020