Step-by-step tutorial
Step 1
Gather up your supplies. We used tan for our base since the kids voted that they wanted sand. We trimmed the base to the size that we wanted it.
Step 2
My three-year-old daughter told me what she wanted (a castle, trees, road, lake, and so on). I cut the pieces out for her since she was having a hard time with that. Then she placed her pieces how she wanted them.
Step 3
My five-year-old son did most of the cutting himself. (Kid scissors do cut felt.) For some of the shapes, he first drew the picture on the felt then cut them out. He got pretty creative with his shark ocean and dock.
Step 4
When the pieces are placed where the kids want them, we glued down all the pieces that should stay put like the street and ponds and house. The people and animals stayed mobile so they could play with them.
Final result!
Then the mats were ready for a fun afternoon of pretend play! The loose pieces just get piled on and the whole mat folds up ready to be played with any time.
