If you haven’t tried small world play then let me tell you that this is really a game changer. Your kids will play independently for hours, day after day! I had some small worlds that my kids played for about six weeks with, every single day (that was a vulcano/dragon world by the way)!
So read on to learn all about small worlds, why they are important and how to set them up.
What are small world's?
Small worlds are little scenes that you set up to enhance imaginary play for your kids. Anything is possible and themes are almost endless. Basically whatever your child is interested in, could be set up as a small world.
Here is a list of themes that will be a hit with most kids and would be a good starting point:
- Farm
- Dinosaurs
- Garden insects
- Construction site
- African savanna
Some other themes that my kids played a lot with are:
- North American animals
- Fairy small world
- Moon Landing
- Vulcano and dragons
- The little mermaid
- Snow-white and the seven dwarfs
- Rapunzel
- Winter Wonderland
What do you need for small worlds?
For the most part you probably already have things at home that you can use to set up a great small world that your kids will love. Think of a good theme and gather some toys/ figurines that would fit the theme. In my experience, some appropriate animals are always very engaging for kids.
You’ll also need some kind of base. I like to use sheets of felt or other types of fabrics in various colors. Felt sheets lay very flat and therefore animals and other toys can stand well. But if you don’t have felt sheets then maybe you have a scarf, bed sheet or towel in a color that fits your theme that you could use?
It’s a good idea to set up your small world in some kind of tray or shallow box/container. That way you can easily move the small world around while not in use, without having to set it up again and again when your kids want to play with it. The more kids you want to play with your small world simultaneously, the bigger the tray or box should be.
Then you have to set the scene according to your theme. Here is a list of things you might include:
- Stones
- Twigs
- Pine cones
- Nuts
- Leaves or flowers (real or artificial)
- wood chips
- Popsicle sticks
- Cork
- Glass stones (blue ones work great as a river)
- Anything from your recycle bin such as empty toilet paper rolls, caps from squeeze pouches, fruit nets, packaging paper, etc.
Turn your small world play into a sensory experience
Sometimes I also like to include some sensorial material like cloud dough (8 cups flour and 1 cup oil), playdough or even water. My kids get really excited about these “sensory small worlds” and play with them a lot. However, of course there is always some clean up involved.
My general rule for all small worlds, but especially sensory small worlds, is that everything has to stay inside the box or tray. If you enforce this rule once or twice and your kids know that they will need to stop playing if things get out of hand then they usually comply very well with this rule and the “mess” is really limited.
At what age can kids play with small worlds?
Kids as young as 1 or 2 years old can enjoy playing with small worlds. At that age I would keep the small world very simple though and include materials that they can discover like a pine cone and 1 or 2 animas.
Small worlds are especially a real hit for ages 3 to 7. The older the child the more complex can the small world be and the more details/elements you can add.
Got inspired for small world play?
I hope you found some inspiration to create some small worlds for your kids. Please drop me a comment below. I would love to hear what you did and how your kids enjoyed it.
Read about a fairy small world using a mesmerizing play foam
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