Small world scenes are such a great way to encourage imaginative play in children. This snowy Christmas tree small world would make a great addition to all your Christmas activities for kids. Just gather a few materials from around your home, and you’ll inspire all kinds of pretend play!

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Snowy Christmas Tree Small World

For today’s Christmas Play Day post I’m sharing a snowy Christmas Tree small world! Both Lucy and Theo have been SO excited to get this year’s Christmas tree for our home so I decided to build on their Christmas tree excitement by creating a small world based on Christmas trees. (This post contains affiliate links.)

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Materials for Christmas Tree Small World

These are the materials I had around my house and chose to use for this small world. Don’t feel the need to go out and buy lots of stuff~ look around your house for materials that you already have.

White craft paper
Tape
Brown paper (I cut some off a brown paper bag.)
Poster Putty
Green felt
Scraps of felt in assorted colors
Felt Christmas trees (optional~ We had them already from a few weeks ago so I thought they’d be the perfect addition!)
Cotton balls
Clear glass gems
Miniature gifts (I made mine with plain wood blocks, glue dots, and a mini bow.)
Little critters or people (We used our small wooden animals.)
White play dough (I whipped up half a batch of our favorite play dough.)

Setting up the Small World

1. I decided to set up the small world on the children’s small table since it’s the perfect height for them. I covered the table with white craft paper, and then taped some scrunched up craft paper around the sides to form a border to keep all the small parts from falling.

2. Next it was time to create the felt tree on the wall. I cut out a triangle from green felt and a trunk from brown paper. To attach them to the wall I used poster tack. It’s super easy to remove and doesn’t peel off paint or leave marks. (And you can reuse it!)

3. I scattered some cotton balls around the play area to represent snow. The cotton balls actually worked really well. The kids were able to push them into big snow piles!

4. I also scattered small felt circle ornaments around in the cotton balls. The kids were able to use them to decorate the felt trees since they stick right on.

5. I added our felt Christmas trees made from cones to the play scene along with a couple of little animals.

6. I thought it’d be fun to add a few gifts to put under the tree. I used small wooden blocks and glued a mini bow on top of each block with a glue dot.

7. I had some clear glass gems that made a perfect icy pond for the play scene!

8. And for the final touch, I added a small lump of play dough~ perfect for creating things or sticking things together.

Playing with the Small World

I think my favorite part of small worlds is sitting back and observing all the imaginative play. They come up with ideas I wouldn’t have even thought of, and I often learn more about their interests as I’m watching.

For instance, Theo immediately went and got his school bus toy to add to the small world. He created a road for it with the glass gems and drove the school bus back and forth.

He also enjoyed having the bunny and deer give gifts to each other. He would have one animal give a gift and then say,”Happy!”.

Lucy first decided to decorate the trees with the felt ornaments. She then went straight to the play dough.

She made a cake for the animals to eat, and later the cake was transformed into a sled for the bunny and deer to ride on!

Tips

Use larger loose parts to avoid chocking hazards for young ones. Never leave young children unattended with small parts.
If possible, leave the invitation out for multiple days. The kids were really interested in picking up where they left off and sometimes created whole new scenarios with the materials throughout the week.
Use materials from around your home. The only materials I ended up buying for this were the wooden blocks and green felt. I found the rest of the materials just by walking around the house and gathering things I thought might inspire the kids.
After cleaning up the small world, leave the white craft paper on your table for a few days with some crayons. You’ll have a fun little coloring area all ready to go!