Make a Felt Play Scene for Toy Animals

My boys love to play with toy animals, especially Gresham who is our biggest animal fan.  We’ve built up a pretty good collection of Schleich animals over the years, and those see almost daily use.  The boys have also recently discovered Safari Toob animals – the ones that come in a clear plastic tube.  Their small size makes them great for playing and collecting and carrying around in pockets.

Gresham received the Safari River Animals and Zoo Babies for Christmas (Amazon Affiliate Links).  I decided to make a felt play area for his new animals, complete with a river and a cave.

We had plenty of cardboard boxes leftover from Christmas, so I created a large square by duct taping some pieces of cardboard together.  I made a construction paper “river” and covered it with clear packing tape.  The tape makes it look more like water, and it also makes the river a little more durable.

Then I used Tacky Glue and felt to cover the rest of the cardboard.

We made a cave for the animals out of the bottom of a plastic juice bottle.  My husband cut the bottom off of the bottle with a utility knife and then cut an opening in the side.  I covered the cave with brown felt.

It made a perfect cave for the tiger cubs!

We added some river rocks and real sticks for the beaver to build a dam out of.

Gresham was thrilled with the finished product!

More ways to play with toy animals:

• Play outside in the grass or sand
• Set them up in a potted plant
• Play in the bathtub – our boys like to float them on a wooden board for a raft
• Spread out a blanket to be an “ocean”

I love simple childhood fun!