Nothing ignites the imagination like fairies and dragons. Mix in some super soft sensory bases and you have a pretty cool mini fantasy land to explore.
This post contains affiliate links. We were kindly gifted the Safari Ltd. Designer Toob Dragons and Fairies, the Wizard Dragon and the Fairy Dragon used in this blog. Safari Ltd. products are automatically linked with a 20% discount code. We were also gifted the Floof and Foam Alive sensory materials from Play Visions.
Making sensory based small worlds is one of my favorite ways to capture the imaginations of my toddler and 6 year old. This one was particularly cool because it included some brand new Safari Ltd. figurines and had several very different sensory bases to explore. My kids were so taken by the magical nature of the dragons and fairies.
What you need:
- a large play tray (ours is from Party City)
- magical creatures from Safari Ltd. - Designer Toob Dragons and Fairies (coming soon), Wizard Dragon and Fairy Dragon
- we used Play Visions Floof as the main sensory base, along with some green Foam Alive, also from Play Visions
- rocks and wood rounds (from Dollar Tree)
- flower beads (from Michael's)
- hearts and gems (from Dollar Tree)
How it works:
For a set up like this I always make a small world from the materials and then leave it up to my kids how they choose to interact with it. There were so many fun textures to explore with this tray that it took the kids a while to even get to the fairy and dragon role play!
They spent a considerable amount of time carefully studying the new fairies and dragons. They thought the wizard dragon looked super evil!
6 year old big bro enjoyed making a play scene where the dragons were taking the fairies hostage in their evil black and green garden. It was great to see his creativity driving the play.
Meanwhile baby sis was frantically trying to bury the fairies in the 'snow' to save them from the dragons.
The detail on the Safari Ltd. products is incredible. The kids both spent a long time studying the features of each figurine. It sparks such in-depth conversation, as well as prompting some really fun play.
Baby sis loved acting out play scenes with the Wizard Dragon and Fairy Dragon. She took it all very seriously!
Playing with small worlds is a great way to explore emotional intelligence with toddlers. You can act out certain scenarios and discuss how the figurines would feel. You can see baby sis really sympathizing with one of the dragons here.
I always encourage my kids to explore the sensory materials in their own way. For baby sis this meant taking the tray apart and re-building it in her own way. I love that she had the confidence to make her own small world!
Do your kids enjoy small world play? It's such an easy combination of a sensory base, some loose parts and a few fun play figurines. Great for fine motor skills, creativity, sensory confidence, vocabulary and team work.
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