5 Fun small world play ideas to set up at home

Today I’m sharing 5 small world play ideas that you can set up at home. One of my favourite things about small world play is the amount of creativity it offers both the parents/carers, as well as the children. No two worlds are ever the same and your imagination is the only limitation (well, that and resources!). Keep reading to find out about 5 small world play ideas to set up at home that will excite and delight..

What are Small World Play Set-ups?

Small world play set ups are, as the name suggests, a small scale recreation of a scene or world. There are so many themes that can be created for children to explore, and some popular small world play ideas include "school" and "train" setups, and dinosaur lands. 

Small world play is an excellent form of sensory play that allows children to act out their own stories using their imagination and is a popular choice of child-led play for both kids and adults alike. 

Let them lead the session, so they can maximise their learning through play. 

5 Small World Play Ideas To Set Up At Home

Small world play set ups are a great way to help your child develop their vocabulary, and for you to engage with their play on their terms. Now let’s dig into the 5 small world play ideas that you can set up at home… 

Farm Themed Small World Play

Farm themed small world play is a classic set up that children absolutely love. It’s also a relatively easy one to set up at home as most children have a collection of farmyard animal toys sitting around. Toys do not need to be plastic, either. Wooden toys work just as well, as long as you’re not intending to add any water to the small world play set up. 

Here are a few ways to make a fun farm themed small world play set up at home:

• Use fake grass to create fields
• Utilise your recycling and colouring pencils to make farm buildings
• For taste safe options, use porridge oats for pathways and Shredded Wheat for hay bales.
• Use natural resources such as pebbles, pine cones, and sand.

Dinosaur land small world play

Dinosaur Land small world play is a really popular small world set up idea for both boys and girls. It’s another of my small world play ideas that’s easy to set up at home because you’re likely to already have plenty of resources available to create a fantastic small world for your kids to escape into. 

To make a great looking dinosaur themed small world play at home, collect your dinosaur toys and place them in a big tub. 

Lay down your terrain of choice - we loved to mix it up with a bit of grass on one side, something that simulates water in the middle, and then the other side is padded out with something sandy, like porridge or blended biscuit crumbs. Plastic trees, a cardboard volcano, and water beads all make great additions to this dinosaur land themed small world play. You could even add in some broccoli trees! 

Diggers and construction vehicles small world play

This construction vehicle small world play set up is so simple and easy that you can be ready to play, within minutes. This is by far the easiest of my small world play ideas to set up, and can be enjoyed indoors or outside, when weather permits. 

All you need to create this setup is sensory play tub, some sand or gravel, and your construction vehicles. Children will have loads of fun simply mimicking construction yard sounds and shifting gravel from one end of the tub to the other. You can even set this up in the sand-pit or at the beach, which takes seconds! 

Icy themed small world play

Icy themed small world play is really easy to set up since in many cases, the main part of the small world set up is compromised from water. For this reason, plastic toys are best for this particular small world scene, including animal toys such as penguins, seals, and polar bears. To keep the water contained, this is one of the small world play ideas which is best to set up in the bathtub, sink or outside on a nice day.

Here are a couple of pointers for setting up an icy themed small world play at home:

• If you don’t want to use water in your small world set up, try using blue playdough or water beads.
• To make a truly icy themed small world play, freeze plastic sea creatures in tubs overnight and give the children small tools to help dig them out of the ice.
• Crinkled tin foil makes a great icy layer.
• Use natural resources such as pebbles and shells to add extra character to your small world play set up. 

Zoo themed small world play

Why limit yourself to one type of animal in your small world play set up when you could have them all? As small world play ideas with lots of environmental pieces go, this one can be completely store-bought or mostly home-made. 

This is one of the best small world play ideas for children to get involved in setting up with you. Why not allocate them a specific area to decorate according to their chosen animal’s habitat. 

For example, if your child has chosen to decorate the penguin enclosure in your small world play set up, they could use some cardboard and colour it in blue to make a pond for the penguins or use some clear Tupperware tubs to make little ledges for the penguins to sit on. As small world play ideas go, this one can be as big or small as you like. You could even add a new “enclosure” each week, to keep it fresh. 

Conclusion

This blog post covers only a tiny handful of small world play ideas to set up at home - the list is literally limitless. With so many themes to explore and so many different materials and resources to play with, small world play is a truly exciting sensory play activity for all.

This blog post was written by Tina who blogs over at MotherGeek.co.uk - She’s been sharing parenting content for over 12 years now, so there’s plenty to catch up on!