Small World Play

It's lots of fun to play with small world figures and develops imagination and language, storytelling, communication, problem-solving - there are just so many benefits.

There are some amazing small world bases available but really you don't have to spend anything to get a great set up for some small world play.  We have, this week, made our own!

What did we do?

I used a fairly large sheet of paper from an Ikea roll and we used tissue paper to create the sand and sea with glue.  I did this with my eldest (3 and a half) while little one was napping and it was lovely to do together but for older children, once they get started it would also be great for an independent project.  She enjoyed spreading the glue and sticking pieces of tissue paper down.

If you don't have a specific art and craft paper roll, you could also use a piece of cardboard box, offcuts of wall paper, or even a piece of patio or pavement and chalk would do.  You could also use magazines and catalogues from the post, cutting out pieces of the right colour from the pictures.  This would also make it trickier for older children and means the only thing that really needs to be bought is glue.

Once it's dry, it makes the perfect play base for a small world activity mat.  I stuck it to the children's little table and added some shells and sea-themed toys and they have been playing with it for a few days whenever we are all in the kitchen together.