Ice Cream Shop

Back in the warmer days of summer we turned our little play house into an ice cream shop and had some imaginative fun.

Twist some paper into cone shapes and tape together, then scrunch up some colourful tissue paper for the ice cream, add some coins and a menu and the shop's open!

Not only is this activity great for role play, it's also perfect for early counting skills.

Teddy or Dolly Nappies

My little one is a typical boy - into cars and football and even though I offer lots of different learning and play opportunities, these are definite favourites that he goes back to time and time again.

He also loves his soft toys and is just getting to the stage of role playing and showing teddy and monkey what's going on around him as well as making them talk and wave.



A while ago I posted a Bed for Ted which was pink and lovely and went to a cousin's little one for Christmas, so I've done the same again for Ted but it's neutral this time and not so girly.....I'll post it soon!

To go along with Ted's new bed covers I've made him a couple of nappies - it could be the start of a whole new dressing up wardrobe!

I made my own pattern template (there are some available online too) and used bright cotton fabrics with white toweling and they fasten with a little Velcro.  

You can honestly make them in minutes and they are such fun! 

The paper pattern I made was made to fit Teddy so you will need to adjust the size to suit your dolly or teddy.

Here is a quick how-to guide if you want to make your own......

Stitch the pieces together,
leaving a gap big enough
to turn it all back through.

Turn through and press

Cut 1 piece of fabric on the fold and 1 piece of toweling on the fold.



Trim the edges and corners and then turn through.

Press with an iron and then stitch on the Velcro fastenings.

Hand stitch the opening closed.

Stitch on the Velcro

Fasten up!  The completed nappy.  

Make in different fabrics

Teddy in his comfy nappy!

Farm Play Mat

Monty got a little wooden farm sorting set for his birthday a couple of months ago which he is beginning to show more interest in now. He likes putting the animals through the holes and any hole will do at this stage.
To extend the play opportunity for the farm set I thought adding a simple play mat of patchwork fields would be fun.  In time this will encourage role play as he plays with the animals, sorting and organising them and putting them into different fields......with a little pond for the duck and goose too.

If you want to have a go at making your own play mat, here are some basic guidelines and pictures to help. It's VERY easy!

You will need some small scraps of fabric and a larger piece which is big enough to make the back of the mat - I made this A3 size and used a combination of greens so it would look like fields.

Make a paper pattern from an A3 piece of paper

I started with a piece of A3 paper which I sectioned roughly into 'fields' and then numbered them to make it easier to keep track of where they they all go once they've been cut out.  The circle will become the pond.

Add seam allowances of 1cm

Next, cut all the pieces out and lay them onto another piece of paper.  

Draw around them adding a 1cm seam allowance on each piece, except the circle, as this will be appliqued on and doesn't need a seam.

Cut out the fabric

Now lay the paper pieces onto the fabric, draw around them with chalk or pencil (or pin in place) and cut each piece out. 


Here they are cut out and in position ready to sew.

Applique the circle

First I appliqued the pond - I just used a zig-zag all the way around.  

Now you can join all the other bits together.  This is where the numbers come in handy.



Join 1 to 4, 2 to 5, 2/5 to 3, 3/5 to 6 and finally 2/5/6 to 1/4.  

Hope that makes sense!

Now you need to press it and then cut out a backing piece the same size.  With right sides together stitch all the way around leaving a small gap of about 10cm on one of the seams. Trim the corners, turn through the gap and press. Finally top stitch all the way around and give one more press.

                                                      

Finished!!

It fits snugly into the farm set too, so is easy to transport.