Make your own Bethlehem Small World Play Scene from simple household items & explore the Nativity characters as they journey to Bethlehem, the stable & the shepherd's hillside. Perfect open-ended play for young children to explore the Christmas Story.
Remember our original Bethlehem Small World Play Scene? This simple small world play scene created from recycled materials has offered so many opportunities for imaginative play, so we decided to extend it a little further.
We used a small recycled cardboard box to make a basic stable, adding a few strips of cardboard for a roof, plus a few more to cover the stable floor.
My preschooler finished it off with a handful of straw & added our homemade manger. This was simply made from two pieces of 'H' shaped cardboard with a little straw added to the middle.
I love the simplicity of this.
There are also hills... & they're alive with the sound of bleating! The small sheep from our toy farm are enjoying grazing on the hilltop.
To make the basic structure of our hills we used an upturned mixing bowl, a small narrow box, some scrunched up newspaper. We then covered it with green fabric. Any green coloured fabric would be perfect for this, we used remnants of curtain fabric, tucking any excess material beneath the the bowl. To add another texture & create a rocky hillside scene, we added a few pebbles.
This super simple homemade play set has been one of the most popular small world play areas we've made! My girl has loved exploring it & retelling the Christmas Story.
The characters have had many adventures, & it's been wonderful to see my girl's imagination, creativity, & understanding of key elements of the Nativity story at just 3yrs old.
