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Fun Littles

Fun and easy kids activities

Rainforest in a Box

Mar 23, 201517,641 views
Small World
Small World Play: Rainforest in a box Save
rainforest craft Save
playing Save
close rainforest scene Save
set out materials Save
tree crafts Save
pretend play rainforest Save

by TurkeyMom in Small World

Ages3–7 yrs
Prep1 hr
Activity45 min
Levelmedium
MessMedium
Works for1:1 · Small group

Turn a big cardboard box into a rainforest with taped-on branches, a painted floor mat, paper-roll trees and a poster-board pond. Then kids fill it with toy animals and make up animal stories.

⚠️ Safety first

  • Rocks, small branches and small toy animals are choking hazards for children under 3. Supervise play at all times.
  • Check foraged branches for thorns, splinters, sharp ends and bugs before taping them in.
  • Adult cuts the poster board.
  • Keep the yarn 'monkey line' short and taut inside the box, and take it down after play. Loose string is a strangulation risk for young children.
  • Use washable kids' paint for the floor mat.
  • Most play dough contains wheat. Use a gluten-free dough if any child has a wheat allergy.

Before the kids arrive

  • Collect small branches on a nature walk.
  • Paint a white sheet of paper brown and green for the forest-floor mat, and let it dry.
  • Cut a pond shape from blue poster board.

Steps

  1. Tape small branches to the inside walls of the box.

  2. Line the floor of the box with the painted brown-and-green paper mat.

  3. Make paper roll trees: kitchen rolls with tissue paper leaves on top.

  4. Press play dough around the bottom of each tree so it stays standing.

  5. Lay the blue poster board water in the box and add a few rocks along the edges.

  6. Adult: string white yarn across the box for the monkeys to hang from.

  7. Set out a basket of twigs, rocks and toy animals next to the box.

  8. Let the kids place the animals and build their own rainforest scene.

  9. Play and make up animal stories inside the box.

Tips

  • For a 4 year old, just a lot of dense vegetation is enough. We kept it simple, fun and focused on storytelling with animals.from the author
  • Simple crafts are key. Paper roll trees are quick, and play dough at the base keeps them from tilting during play.from the author
  • Set out the materials and let the kids explore and make their own animal scene, like many small world play setups.from the author
  • If your child has a deep passion for creating animal habitats, this activity will keep them entertained for a long time.from the author
  • Hang on to the big box afterwards. We reused ours for throw ball painting, glow-in-the-dark fun and an art studio in a box.from the author

Make it your own

  • With an older child, make the 4 layers of a rainforest to make it more realistic.
  • Try other animal habitats: a sandbox savannah, a desert sensory bin or a pond sensory bin.
  • Reuse the box as an art studio in a box.

The story behind it

By TurkeyMom · March 2015
Small World Play: Rainforest in a box
It was my 4 year old's idea to make a giant rain forest in a box, so we kept it simple, fun and primarily focused on storytelling with animals.
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Rainforest in a Box: the original post

Create a fun rain forest in a box for a pretend play session and a fantastic learning opportunity. We still have the big box! In fact we made this rain forest even before our box throw ball painting and our glow in the dark box fun. Our most popular activity - art studio in a box If working with an older child, you can easily make the 4 layers of a rain forest and make the activity realistic. For a 4 year old I think just a lot of dense vegetation is enough. Besides it was my 4 year old’s idea to make a giant “rain forest in a box” and I’m pretty sure she did not have “learning the layers of rain forest” in her mind when she suggested this project! So we kept it simple, fun and primarily focused on storytelling with animals.

What we did

With our stash of small branches from our nature walks my preschooler and I taped them to the insides of the box. I lined the floor of the box with a simple play mat made with a regular white paper painted with brown and green paint. pretend play rainforest Next we set our paper roll trees. Those are kitchen rolls with tissue paper leaves. My 4 year enjoys making simple crafts - simple being the key and we love our paper rolls crafts.. To make sure the trees don’t tilt down during play time we put down play dough and it held up the trees.

tree crafts

To create a water body I cut out a blue poster board and we added a few rocks along the edges. >As with many small world play setups, I set out the materials needed to play and the kids explored and enjoyed making an animal scene. You can also see a white yarn hanging for the monkeys..

set out materials

It was pretty difficult to take pictures during playtime.

playing

We used our SAFARI TOOBs and other stuffed animals we had on hand to make a fun rainforest scene

close rainforest scene

Here is our creation. This child of mine has a deep passion for creating animal habitats! If you have kid like that at home, this activity will keep them entertained for a long time. After creating the scene, playing and making up animal stories inside the box was the highlight. By the way Diego ( from the tv show) was mentioned during play time many times.

rainforest craft Animal habitats sensory/small world we have shared blogmemom earthday activities desert small world play SENSORY ACTIVITIES WITH POND

Art studio in a box Active Art

Thanks for reading!

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