Earlier in the last Term of Preschool, we were looking at native Australian animals. My clever colleague thought it would be fun to make an Australian animal small world for the children to play with.
Putting together the small world-
I set to work and started by looking around the preschool for materials to create this super cute small world. It’s amazing what you can find in a preschool, you open up cupboards and there is always a world of creative possibilities!
I found some great Australian outback scenery which I printed and then pasted around a big box. Next, I scattered some small rocks and added the plastic animals. We had kangaroos, Bilbies, Koalas and platypus. Finally, I collected some native Australian plants we have growing in the front garden of our preschool and placed these around the box. They not only looked fantastic but they also gave off a nice fresh scent. That was it! a small world ready for the children to enjoy.
The Great thing about Small World Play-
Small world play has many benefits for children’s development. It gives them a perfect opportunity to enjoy imaginative play, it supports their language development and builds their confidence and self-esteem. I just love hearing the little conversations and creative ideas the children have while playing together. Another positive thing about small world play is that it is nice and contained and the children can revisit it again and again.
I just love putting together small worlds for the children. A while ago I made a Dinosaur world and you can read about that here. It’s so fun to see the children playing and enjoying the preschool activities. Definitely one of the highlights of being an early childhood educator!
I’ve never thought of making small worlds. I think my kids would love this and play with it the same way they play with the fairy garden. It can be done so easily too! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Glad you liked this one! Small worlds are so fun for kids and they are just as much fun to put together too. Hope you have a great week!!
That is so neat about the Australian mini world! My son has a volcanic dinosaur mini world, complete with a real lava stone and realistic aquarium volcanoes.
Thank you! Your son’s dinosaur mini-world sounds fun! I bet he loves playing with it.
This is such a cute idea. I like how you can use items from outside like rocks for your artwork.
Thank You!