DIY play mat for your kids
26.12.2019
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
My kids just love playing out stories. This interactive play mat holds plenty of space for their adventures, making it perfect for on-the-go use. Set aside some time over an evening to craft your own, with just little effort.
I barely watch any television at home with my kids. However, there’s one cartoon which we’ve all grown to really love: Yakari. Our five-year-old son loves to role-play, reenacting Yakari’s adventures with our collection of Schleich toy animals. Anytime and anywhere. «Muuuuum, my bear needs a cave. He needs to sleep. It’s winter.» To meet his request, I created this play mat, which I crafted using simple materials. I wanted to create a lively landscape for the animals to feel at home in.
Here’s what I used
You can design this play mat with just few materials. A table runner in shades of brown is used as the basis, symbolising the steppe. I used dyed natural wool (white, blue, green), thin felting material (brown and blue), and wool in various shades of brown to design your mat. You might also need a fabric bag to store the mat, as well as some small Schleich animals for playing. The only tools you’ll need are a pair of scissors, thread and a needle.
Here’s how you make the play mat
When crafting the play mat, start by creating the cave. Take the brown felt materials and white natural wool and shape it into a cave. I used textile felt for the base, placed the fluffy natural wool on top and used felt to create a round arch on top. Attach everything using pins and sew the cave onto the runner by hand. To make some grass and shrubbery around the cave, spread out the natural wool and sew it onto the mat with large stitches.
Start with the green section and cut out a little creek with a lake from the textile felt. To create a more interesting lake design, stitch the blue wool onto the fabric in a criss-cross pattern, making a wavy pattern for the ducks and fish to swim in later on. Afterwards, you stitch the whole thing onto the table runner by hand, using the felt wool.
Give your playing landscape some tufts of grass and a few individual stones for the finishing touch. Just sew on a bit of natural wool to make the grass tufts. Cut out stones from a light-brown felt mat for the stone, which you then sew on and fill with wool.
That’s it, your play mat is ready to go!
I can guarantee you one thing: your kid will be bursting with excitement to start playing with his or her new mat. Roll up the mat and store it in the fabric bag together with the animals to take it with you wherever you go. The cave, moving water and barren landscape open up a wide range of opportunities for your stories. Have fun playing with the mat!
I'm more of a thinker than a doer. Yet I'm still always active: crafting, sewing, writing to-do lists, daydreaming, counting clouds, digging into soil, comforting my two little ones and collapsing into bed after a long day. If it were up to me, each day would have a few extra hours... I wonder if that would be enough.
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