Small world playscapes

I have been creating miniature playscapes to be used with small plastic animals that you can buy for $1-$3 a packet at The Warehouse (or other $2 shops).
They are super simple to make, using empty boxes, card scraps and paper.



I love small world play and allowing children to take control of telling stories. As a teacher of 4 year olds, I have a responsibility to help them develop the literacy skills that will stand them in good stead when they begin Primary School. Telling stories, and retelling stories, allows children to gain a good understanding of how language works, such as sentence structure, and how stories work. If they have this foundation, then they will be able to predict text, and correct words to make sense, when learning to read. It also sets them up for being successful writers, as for them to be able to write stories, they need to be able to tell stories.

 Playscapes can be as simple or as elaborate as you have the time to put into them. But it doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, some simple figurines will be enough for a child to create stories, or tell a familiar story, such as The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  But I like to set a scene and allow children to take it further. These play scapes were simply made using cardboard and paper, and one with scraps of leather. They did not take long to make, and did not cost anything to make except my time and effort, as I recycle card and paper, and keep scraps of fabrics. But the stories that resulted from them, and the hours of wonder, laughter, imagination, collaborative play, and oral language that resulted, were full of riches.

 You will need:
thick card
paper
PVA glue

I save the card from the backs of refill pads, sketch pads, memo pads, and the card that comes inside sheet sets and duvet covers.

I used A4 size card for these playscapes. Being flat means they make for easy storage.

 For the farm scape, I simply glued green paper onto a sheet of card. My green paper was not A4 size, so I used two sheets and cut them to fit.

I cut a stream out of blue paper and glued it over the join, to hide it.

Then I cut a pond out of the blue paper and glued it on.

I kept the details super simple, so children can change it and adapt it as they wish. You could provide a basket of props on the table, such as pinecones (to represent trees), pebbles, etc, so children can add their own details as desired.

For the fences, I cut out thin strips of leather, which can be positioned anywhere on the farmscape as wished.

For this playscape I used a darker green, but as my green paper was smaller than A4, I used two sheets on either side, and glued a river in the middle.

The simplicity of the playscape means it can be a jungle, a forest, a field, a farm - whatever you want it to be.

 This playscape uses brown, blue and green papers. I wanted a playscape that could be used to tell the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff - but again, it can be used for anything - dinosaurs, jungle animals, reptiles, or farm animals.

 I added a strip of leather to be the bridge - but you could use a piece of bark, a stick, some stones - whatever you can find/think of.

 A playscape using yellow handmade paper, blue paper, and brown textured paper, glued onto thick cardboard.

 

 

A simple playscape using forest green textured paper.

I have a friend who works with leather, and she often gives me her scraps to use. This playscape was created with a variety of different leather scraps, placed over an A4 piece of thick card and glued on with PVA. My PVA bottle said it it suitable for use on porous materials, including leather.

I began by laying out scraps over my board and cutting them to fit. When I was happy with the arrangement, I glued on one piece at a time.

The leather playscape with African animals provides lots of interesting textures and places for camouflage.

 The leather playscape with dinosaurs.

A miniature playscape in a box. This was a sturdy box that was originally a gift box for bath products.

I began by fitting textured gold paper in the box, cutting it to size and glueing it down. I added a blue river, then blue strips of paper for the sky.
Lastly I cut clouds out of white paper and glued them on.

These playscapes are really easy to make and do not require special tools or skills. They don't take much time to do (the most time consuming part is waiting for the glue to dry!). And yet they can provide hours of play and invite children to use them in as many ways as they can imagine.

Playscapes put out on the table along with a box of acorns, leaves and bark for accessories.

A piece of bark forms the bridge; 3 goats and a pokemon to tell the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

I hope you take the time to make some playscapes of your own, and marvel at the stories that the children create.

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