DIY toy guide
Bottle-Cap Floor Hockey
A skittering plastic cap turns a smooth floor into a hockey rink
A clean plastic bottle cap becomes a fast, skittery puck that slides and spins across hard floors — an almost-free toy that many cats find utterly captivating.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time
- 1 minute
- Cost
- Free
🧺 You will need
- A clean, dry plastic bottle cap (from a milk, water or juice bottle)
- A smooth hard floor — tiles, wood or laminate
🔧 How to make it
- Wash and thoroughly dry a plastic bottle cap so it is clean and odour-free.
- Check the edges are smooth with no cracks or sharp bits, and discard it if not.
- Flick it across a smooth floor so it slides, spins and skitters.
- Let your cat chase, bat and "dribble" it — narrow hallways make a great pitch.
- Scoop it up and put it away once play is over.
💡 Tips
The unpredictable way a light cap slides and rattles across a hard floor is exactly what makes it so exciting — a gentle flick sends it skating and your cat racing after it. A bathtub or a hallway keeps the puck in play and turns it into a longer chase.
Safety: A bottle cap is roughly the size a cat could get into its mouth, so keep this a supervised, interactive game and put the cap away afterwards where your cat cannot chew or swallow it. Avoid caps small enough to be a choking hazard, and always bin any cap that becomes cracked or gnawed.
📝 Notes
This is the definition of a zero-cost toy, and it can be surprisingly mesmerising — but because a cap is a swallowable size, it belongs to the "play together, then put away" category rather than the free-roaming toy box.