Toy Fairy Treehouse

I have had a few people ask about the boys' toy treehouse & how we made it so I thought I would make a quick how-to post that included some of the details.

To start off, we cut off a 2 foot branch from a fallen tree. It is important to make sure the branch has several off-shoot branches and that there are no bug holes, which would compromise the stability of the branch once it is upright.

For the base, we used a heavy particle board. Unfortunately, our base proved to be too soft and the branch wobbled. I would recommend using a heavy hard wood, as little children tend lean on the treehouse as they play with it.

I used paper to make a template for the platforms and cut them out of a 1/2 inch hardwood board. Then came the fun details:

Peg steps for friends who cannot fly.



A comfy hammock.

Little clothespins that hold playsilks on the back of the treehouse.

A fun felt party banner set a festive atmosphere - fairies love a good party!

A pulley to lower and raise a bucket. (Made from 2 dowel rods & a toothpick)



Now, off to play!

Here fishy, fishy, fishy!

One of my favorite Waldorf resources is the book Creative Play For Your Toddler from which I got the idea to make felt fish so the boys could pretend fishing.

The boys have seen many fish at aquariums and love to watch the fish, including large catfish, in the stream at Longwood Gardens. Although they have never fished, they know that their dad caught a big fish this summer and have read books about fishing. Shane is also learning his colors so I thought I would combine his love for learning and imitative play by making felt fish and fishing rods I'm sure the fun activity will extend into our many pretend camp sites or other adventures.

To make our fish, I cut fish shapes out of felt and needle felted eyes on opposing sides. Next I used a blanket stitch to stitch the sides together leaving the end open to stuff in the wool roving then stitching up the end. finally I tightly sewed on little washers. (This is a work in progress as I want to add more colors.)

For the rod I dabbed the ends of a 2-foot length of string in wax to keep it from unravelling then tied one end of the string on a stick, dabbed it with glue, and glued the other end to a magnet.

We put our fish on a blue playsilk lake and the boys placed their catch in a basket. Next time maybe we will add a box boat to the fun.

There you have it, an easy-to-make, imaginative toy that will provide hours of creative play!