5 Currant Buns Finger Puppets

It's amazing what you can achieve if you put down Candy Crush for an evening!

We were singing this song at bedtime the other night - a fairly new one for my two year old - and he really liked it.  

So as a surprise for him I decided to make some little finger puppets that we could use while singing the song.








As soon as they were both in bed and I could sit down with a cuppa I got out the box of felt and got started on these little currant buns.  They're completely made from felt which is great as it means you don't have to finish edges - just cut it!  And the currants are just french knots using darker thread.

I left a little gap at the bottom so little fingers can slip in and out easily.

He was delighted to find them lying out for him when he came down the next morning and we've been doing lots of singing, buying, eating and counting too!


Here's the song we sing (there are different versions)

5 currant buns
In the baker's shop
Round and fat with a cherry on the top
Along came (child's name) with a penny one day
Bought a currant bun and took it right away

Continue for 4, 3, 2, 1

Colour and number play mat

Using buttons to sort and match colours

My little one is just beginning to talk about colours and knows some colour names, although is not yet applying them appropriately, instead he usually calls everything green!


However, he is very good at colour matching so I've made this play mat so he can collect and sort coloured objects and in time he will be able to name them correctly too.

He loves playing with buttons as most little ones do and this selection of different shapes, colours, tones and sizes is perfect for lots of sorting activities.

You could also try a random selection of bits from around the house and put them together in a little basket, like this.....

Provide a selection of colourful objects

Sort the objects onto the appropriate coloured square

So that's one side of the mat but what about the reverse side?  

It seemed a shame to have just a plain backing on it so I thought some numbers might be nice to provide counting opportunities.

I cut and stitched numbers 1-5, each in their own box so we can count out objects.  

In the photographs you will see we used discs for counting but you could easily use buttons, cars, shells, pom poms etc, whatever you like!

We used discs for counting but you could
use shells, buttons, pom poms,
 cars....anything!

To make the mat I cut and stitched colourful scraps cut into squares to make a mat roughly A3 size and then cut a large plain piece for the back.

Onto the plain piece I stitched some ric rac ribbon to divide the mat into 5 sections and then appliqued some bright numbers.




To complete the mat, stitch right sides together, turn through and slip stitch the opening closed.

Fabric Numbers

I made these for my little one's room to hang like bunting and just to look pretty but they will also serve a useful purpose as he grows up. 

Ordering Numbers

For now they just decorate his room and familiarise him with number shapes but in time to come they can be used for a whole load of number games including ordering, find the missing number, identifying odd/even numbers and using the numerals together to make new numbers.  

There are endless other possibilities that they can be used for but I'll come back to that when the time comes!

Find the Missing Numbers

Odd Numbers

Even Numbers

Combine Numerals to Make New Numbers

If you want to have a go this is what I did....

I cut out paper templates and simply drew around them with a pencil onto different coloured squares of cotton fabric (the wrong way round so you don't see the pencil marks).  The reason for the squares is that it's far easier to sew around the number shape and then cut it out.  I sandwiched some wadding in the middle to make the numbers a bit firmer.  After I stitched them I cut them out with pinking shears.  That's it!  
You can use the same idea to make letters and names too.