DIY Button Magnets Craft and Educational Toy for Kids

*This post may contain affiliate links. See disclosures for more details.

Once in a while you happen on that magical craft that is both functional and pretty, and this DIY Button Magnets Craft fits is a winner. As a mom of five, I am in ever need of cute magnets to hold various bits of artwork or reminder notes on the fridge. I can’t get over how cute these buttons are, and they are great for my fridge art. What I learned recently though, is that they are also a fantastic educational toy for kids.

Making these DIY button magnets was a piece of cake. I picked up a bag of the buttons from the craft section of my local store. Then I headed to the craft store to get a roll of self-adhesive magnet tape. Once I got home, the hardest part of the job was cutting the magnet tape strip into little circles that would fit on the back of the buttons. It wasn’t really hard, but if you are feeling especially overworked, you can always buy the pre-cut ones for a bit more.

To attach the magnets to the back of the button, you simply remove the non-stick strip, and stick it on the back. You can pump out adorable magnets as quickly as you can cut. Then hang those adorable pictures, drawings, or whatever else you want to look at.

Here’s the little secret that my toddler just discovered, they are also fantastic educational toys for kids. I could not believe how long my 2 and 4-year-old played with these magnets. The way they stick to the magnet board, the fridge or any metal surface is completely exciting. Over the course of this past week my son set out to discover what else in our house was made of metal, the back door, the stair railings… lot’s of fun things.

There are a couple of ways to use these DIY button magnets as educational toys. First, we used them for color sorting. My toddler has a lot of fun grouping them by colors in various parts of the magnet board. It is a simple activity that works for toddler age through preschool.

These magnets also make fun manipulatives for math. Count with them. Add with them. Subtract, multiply or graph with them. There are so many math activities you can elevate with the fun of magnets.

If you’d like to try out these DIY Button Magnets crafts for yourself, I’ll leave some links below to find the supplies. You can also find them in your neighborhood at a variety of stores if that is easier for you. Happy cutting, and enjoy your magnets.