I usually make a lot of Levi's gifts, but this time I wanted to make sure it was something he would actually play with! He has all kinds of little toys that don't get used often so I thought I'd find a way to get them used. The play table I came up with can be used for setting up little scenes to play with, which is great for him to use his imagination with! Its also something I can continue to add too when I come up with new ideas.
I also did not want to buy anything at all for this project, and it needed to take up 0 space b/c he and I share a room so I keep the "stuff" down.
I started with a pointless shoe rack that lived in our bedroom, and found some wood in the garage to build a top for it (I'm sooo not a wood worker, but I tried!) Then I used some felt, and fabric scraps to make all kinds of little things to go with it!
Here is what 4yr old Levi is getting! (I also made him a quilt, but I think this is more fun!)
Down on the Farm: Piggys are playing in the mud, made from puff paint and felt. Sheep by the pond and the farmer plants carrots on the felt field (they are pickable!)
Wizard of Oz scene: Inspired by the outfit I made for Levi here:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=397316.0I made the road from felt, stitched with a brick pattern (a bit hard to see in the pic!), and then painted for color variation. The rainbow is made from wood and painted.
Now, because we live on the Space Coast, here is a rocket scene:
On earth ready for lift off (felt earth)
Arrived on the moon, with stitched and painted in craters. (flip side of the earth). Sequins make nice stars too.
Did I mention that the table top isn't attached? And notice that it doesn't have a edge piece on one of the short sides? Here is why!
Lift the blue bar for a race! Levi loves to build ramps so I thought this would be fun, I tested it several times and it works wonderfully.
Or for a regular roadway, I made little felt pieces that can be put in any shape. I even made a cross-walk because I found little cross-walk signs. And the little red rectangles are puff painted with dots, just like the bumpy things by cross walks. (bonus points if you knew what those are called: Trunkated Domes)
Or we can have a pirate island: Made from felt with foam inside, and an X marks the spot!
Or maybe the treasure is in the pirate cave (also made from layers of felt)
Or we can dive down to make an underwater scene:
This is a wave in a bottle, oil/food coloring/water
The cave could be an underwater cave too, with a lobster in it:
Meanwhile, back on the shore, we have a relaxing beach scene with felt rocks and sand. I made a beach towel too, and I'm working on a sand castle
Back in time to the dinosaurs! The sand flips over to make dirt, the fire is also made from wood like the rainbow.
Or maybe we have a jungle floor, infested with bugs!
Or just monkeys: (the dirt can be a mountain background too!)
And here is my version of Angry Birds, these bird guys aren't angry, and are propelled by a catapult that Levi made by himself using the contents of the recycle bin and a glue gun (cold melt of course)
We have a slingshot too though:
And here it is all put away, the shelf under it is perfect storage for all the little baskets I found to hold it all (I had to take a picture of this, once Levi gets it, it will never be this neat again!)
Thanks for looking!
Oh and if you have any "scene" ideas for me, let me know, I want to keep adding to this! Next up, is a Egyptian scene, he has little Egyptian characters in his advent calender soon.
All the pics here:
http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u218/leighi123/crafts/playscapes/
