Rainy Day Fun: Kid Designed Playmat

It can be quite fun to design your own playmat and see your vision realized!

Materials

• 2 large felt pieces of felt
• Various colours of felt
• Ribbon
• Fabric glue or sewing machine/thread
• Fabric scissors
• White paper, pencil & eraser
• Plastic figurines (people, cars, animals etc.)
• Ribbon
• Smock

Make a paper version

• Bristol (Poster Board)
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Pencil/ Eraser
• Felt markers, pencil crayons, crayons etc.
• Ribbon, yarn or twine

Directions

• Have your child draw out the plan for their play mat.  You might want to brainstorm a theme beforehand (city, under the sea, a farm etc.).

• Based on your plan, cut out your pieces of fabric using your fabric scissors.  If your child isn’t ready to use fabric scissors (as they can be quite sharp), have them draw the pieces out on paper, cut them out and pin them onto the felt for you to cut out.  It is a good idea to cut out all the pieces and arrange them on the felt before you glue them down to make sure everything fits.

• Glue the pieces to the large felt piece or sew them on should you like. (As you can see, this is a fun project for beginner sewers- glue it to hold it in place for later sewing!)  Allow to dry overnight.

• If you went with the sewing option and you want to cover up the back, glue or sew an additional layer of felt to the back of the mat. Before you go all the way around, sew (or glue) ribbon in between (as shown) on one side to form a tie when the mat is rolled up.

* You can do the same thing using paper!

Purpose

• Making a plan and creating something based on that design.

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with direct supervision.
• When using fabric glue, be sure to don a smock so as not to affect your clothes.
• Based on your child’s age and ability, have an adult sew the project or do so with direct supervision/guidance.