Our crafts come from many different directions, with many different goals in mind…the day we made Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood my goal was to turn the T.V. off and keep it off for as long as possible! So I decided to bring L’s favorite T.V. show neighborhood to life! You really could do this with any neighborhood, real or make-believe.
Using items found in our recycling basket, kitchen cabinets, and craft closet we pieced together the houses, castle, clock factory, etc. After all the buildings were up, I used painter’s tape to make a road for “trolley” to drive around on. Painter’s tape should be in everyone’s craft pile…it sticks when you need it to, but comes right-up no problem once you’re done playing. We use it allll the time!
Daniel Tiger’s house: old cookie dough container and construction paper
O the Owl’s House: toilet paper roll, tissue paper, construction paper
Jungle Beach: cookie tin lid, beans, construction paper
Prince Wednesday’s Castle: shoebox, random round packaging from recycling basket, construction paper
Museum-Go-Round: round hat box, cookie dough container, construction paper
Trolley: vintage Little People bus, construction paper….Ding! Ding!
And there you have it. Random stuff pieced together in the form of a neighborhood. Whose neighborhood will you make today?
Good question…it's not easy with a 2 yr old! I think while I was working on this project, L was stringing beads on a shoestring next to me. Every time I got to a part where she could help me, I encouraged her to…like finding containers in the kitchen cabinets, taping paper to boxes, picking out the color paper she wanted to use. I usually let her help when she wants with projects, but don't force it…even if she goes off to play with something else for a couple minutes she always comes back to see what Mom's doing. So we worked on it, side-by-side, for an hour or two and I finished the rest when she went to bed that night.
This is cool, Porter. How do you keep her engaged during construction?