Handcrafted Autumn Small World Woodland Play

Small World Play Scene

Aren’t Autumn colours just magical? If you’re looking for ideas to make your own sensory, small world woodland play scene then read on!

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This scene I made for Yes Bebe Arts and Crafts subscription box October 2019. For all the resources please see the resource section at the bottom of the post.

Autumn Rainbow Rice for Small World

Rainbow rice is a lovely sensory resource. It can be used on its own or as part of a small world invitation to play. I like to add small bowls and spoons with rice play – it’s a super simple idea, but keeps little ones entertained for ages.

If you love rice play too, below is a really simple way to make rainbow rice that lasts really well. Looking for more small world rice play ideas then check out these posts here.

What You Need

Tiny Land Woodstains or food colouring diluted in spirit vinegar
Rice
Bowl
Spoon
Baking Tray

How To Make

Making rainbow rice is super easy with these natural food and plant based woodstains. Add long grain rice to a bowl, add in a little woodstain (or food dye colour and vinegar) and stir quickly. That’s it!

Transfer the rice out onto a baking tray to dry. Once dry give it a good mix to split up any bits that are stuck together. You can colour mix with the woodstains too, so there are so many possible colours you can dye your rice.

Once you have dried your rice it’s up to you if you keep the colours separate or mix them up like I’ve done for the Autumn play scene. Don’t just stop at rice, chickpeas and oats work great too as small world sensory resources.

Woodland Small World Figures

I’m a HUGE wooden toy enthusiast. I love the look, feel and smell of them. They’re beautifully smooth and untreated so perfect for putting your own marks on them.

What You Need

Tiny Land Woodstains
Wood Blanks
Paint Brush
Baking Tray

How To Make

Cover all surfaces really well – stains can get messy! You can use the stains direct from the jar. Start by applying one layer using a brush. As you come close to an edge (like on the trees), where you don’t want the colour to bleed, almost dry your brush and go gently. Leave to dry on a baking tray. Once touch dry you can add another further coats if you want a deeper colour. I’ve just done one coat. You can add extra detail to your trees and figures using paints, pens or pencils. I’ll update with some pictures soon of an apple and an oak tree that I’m making, I think my hedgehog needs some extra spikes too!

They will be touch dry very quickly, but I leave them a couple of days before letting my daughter play with them.

Adding Detail

Once dry you can use paint pens, felt pains, crayons or paint to add detail to your trees. I decided on an apple and an oak tree, but I’m also looking forward to making an Autumn maple tree.

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Small World Natural Loose Parts

Adding natural loose parts to small world play scenes helps to bring the outdoors in and adds to the excitement. You can set up a little scene for your child, or give them the individual elements and let them construct their own.

Small World Play Scene Boards

These are a super simple idea – use woodstains to make your own play board for small world play or display board for your nature table. Want to find out more about keeping a nature/ seasonal table in your home then check out my blog post here.

The colours blend together so easily. Smaller boards and a stunning 30cm diameter tray are available from Yes Bebe in their blanks section. If you want colours to blend more then apply new colour while the first colour is still wet. You can let the stains mix on their own or use a brush to get the effect in the area you want. If you want more clear lines between stains then make sure that you wait until one colour is dry. Then as I described before, almost dry your brush and gently work the new stain up to the edge of the previous colour. You could use a sealant to seal one colour first if you wanted a much clearer definition.

Woodstain Folk Art Trees

I’ve been seeing some beautiful, rainbow folk art trees popping up over social media recently, especially on Pinterest. So, with these beautiful Autumnal stain colours I thought I’d have a go myself. First, I used the woodstains to make the basic outlines of the trees and fill them in. Then leave them to dry. Once dried I used a felt pen to draw on the different branch structures. I think these would make perfect little note cards.