This was an idea that our eldest son had last summer which provided him and his sister hours of fun. Make camping gear for your small toys and take them on a trip! Materials Felt Version Felt (a large piece for your body of water and scraps for other parts) Fabric scissors Fabric glue or glue gun (you could also sew any items you may like) Twigs Craft wire Wire cutters Smock Craft tray Paper Version Construction paper Scissors Glue Twigs Craft wire Wire cutters Smock Craft tray Directions Go out on a nature walk and collect twigs to use for your tent frame and campfire. Don your smock to avoid getting glue on your clothes. To make your tent frame, take 3 of your twigs and make them into a triangular shape, attaching them together with craft wire (we find it helpful to make an “x” formation). Repeat this so that you have 2 triangles (as seen below). Take a rectangle of felt (or paper) and fold it over. Cut it to the size you want your tent and embellish it as you like. Glue 3 longer sticks onto the inside of the felt- two on either end and one in the middle (as seen in the photograph). Attach the sticks to your triangle frames (as shown) with your craft wire to complete your tent. (We first attached a little spot of glue with a glue gun to hold them in place to make it easier to wrap the wire around for younger children!) For your campfire, glue your sticks into a “log formation”, then glue some yellow and orange felt in the centre to simulate the flames. Allow this and other items to dry on your craft tray overnight. For the sleeping bags we took a small rectangular piece and folded it over at the top to form a small pillow and at the bottom to form a pocket for your figurines. We sewed these together, but you could easily glue them with fabric glue or if you made them with paper, craft glue. (Be sure to allow them to dry overnight so as not to glue your figurines inside!) For the body of water (pond, lake) cut out a large piece of blue felt or paper. Set up your campsite and have fun! Purpose Hand/eye coordination (cutting, gluing, bending wire etc.) Creating replicas of real life scenes, events or activities. Safety Notes Use scissors with care and adult supervision/ assistance. Be sure to exercise caution with fabric glue so as to avoid gluing items to your clothes. This might be the perfect time to talk about real camping/water/fire safety. If you chose the glue gun option, have an adult use it. Be careful when working with wire and have an adult cut it for you. Please like & share: Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published. Name* Email* Website Comment Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.
