Bust your cat’s boredom with this DIY cat wand

If you’re one of the many cat owners self-isolating right now, you may be wondering how to keep both you and your furry companion entertained at home. It’s recommended to spend at least 30 minutes of one-on-one playtime with your cat to keep their mind and body stimulated and enriched. What better way to do that than with a brand-new hand-crafted toy?

What You Need:

• String or twine
• Cruelty-free feathers
• Multi-coloured squares of felt
• A packet of silver jingle bells
• Wooden dowel rods

Additional items:

• Tracing paper
• Glue gun/glue
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Pins
• Iron

How to Make a Feather Wand:

1. Select three or four different sized coloured feathers and bunch together.
2. Thread two bells onto the end of a long piece of twine and knot the twine tightly around the quills of the bunch of feathers. Cut off the short end of the twine close to the knot.
3. Using a glue gun, place glue on the outside of the quill stems and wind the twine around up the shafts, sticking it down as you go. In order for the toy to hang directly down, make sure that the twine going up to the dowel is threaded through the middle of the stems and glued in place.
4. Allow about 40cm of twine to hang the toy and then place enough glue on the outside of the wooden dowel that you want to wrap the twine around. Wrap the twine around the dowel and tie off at the end and cut the twine close to the knot.

How to Make a Felt Feather/Leaf Wand:

1. Draw the shape of a feather (or leaf) onto tracing paper (or copy from a template). Pin the tracing paper onto the felt and cut out the feather shape. Repeat with different colours of felt and sizes of feathers.
2. Fold each of the feathers in half along their stem and lightly press with an iron (not too hot or the felt will start to melt).
3. Thread three bells onto the end of a long piece of twine and tie and knot the twine tightly around the quills of the bunch of feathers. Cut off the short end of the twine close to the knot, or, if this piece of twine is long enough, you can attach another bell to the end with a knot (as done here).
4. Allow about 40cm of twine to hang the toy and then place enough glue on the outside of the wooden dowel that you want to wrap the twine around. Wrap the twine around the dowel and tie off at the end and cut the twine close to the knot.

* If you do not wish to use glue, the toys can still be made by tying the twine/string securely to the feathers and again on the wooden dowel.

Please make sure you supervise your cat at playtime with your toys as some parts may come loose and you don’t want your kitty ingesting bells and pieces.