Little Worlds

Celebrating Creative Play

  • Home
  • Imaginative Play
  • Creative Play
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Contact

How to Create a Stone Quarry Small World

March 23, 2018 By Ann Maes Leave a Comment

If you can not walk, ride or drive past a digger without squeals and pleads to stop and watch for hours, this simple stone quarry small world is for you.  Read along and see how you can put together a pretty amazing invitation to play and explore construction vehicles and rocks. Lots of rocks. Enjoy!

How to Create a Stone Quarry Small World

This post contains affiliate links.

How to set up a simple stone quarry small world

My oldest son, now almost five years old, has been obsessed with all things truck and digger since he was about two. Then one weekend we found ourselves driving past a stone quarry and his little eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. The sheer size of the quarry, the busy to and from driving from all kinds of heavy construction vehicles sure had its impact on the little boy.

It was years later that my mother in law got out a box with vintage construction vehicles my husband used to play with, which made me think of that stone quarry. So I decided to go and search for some materials and inspiration to set up our very own stone quarry small world.

How to Create a Stone Quarry Small World

Here’s what we came up with:

  • a large serving tray that will hold all the rocks and still give you enough space to maneuver the diggers around
  • construction vehicles: diggers, trucks, pick ups, cranes, …
  • wooden blocks to separate areas, build bridges and so on
  • rocks, both from nature and craft shop

The trick is to use what you have available to you so have a look around your house for trays or tubs, trucks and diggers. And feel free to get creative in using other things as rocks if you feel it’s not safe for your kids to use. Everything is possible!

How to Create a Stone Quarry Small World

How to play with the Stone Quarry Small World?

It’s a simple but very clever question I get all the time. A lot of parents will tell me their kids get bored, or destroy the tray within minutes. (I’m all too familiar with that!) Here are a couple of pointers that will help you get the most out of your set up.

  • adjust the theme to suit your kids interests (use their favourite diggers, loosely base it on a favourite book, …)
  • keep it simple (too many materials can overwhelm)
  • get the tray out at a specific time (quiet time, after school play, …)
  • and then put it away again (to avoid kids trashing it, only getting it out for short amount of time will make it more special)
  • keep the tray around for a week or two (kids like to come back to their play over time, it’s a process)

All kids are different and every stage of development can feel like an alternate universe at times, so trust your own instincts and judgement to take from activities like these the things you like and think will work for you as well as they did for me.

How to Create a Stone Quarry Small World

How to Create a Stone Quarry Small World

How to Create a Stone Quarry Small World

But wait … there is more!

Should you like to read more about small world play, what it’s all about, benefits for child development and how to get started, this beginner’s guide to small world play is a must read. Then I also wrote an extensive article about encouraging creativity in young children and put together this list of simple invitations to play an a tray of which I’m SURE there will be plenty of ideas you’ll absolutely love!

Thanks for your time and hope you enjoyed reading this!

Ann*

Loved this post? You can pin it here.


Filed Under: Small World Play Tagged With: cars, Imaginative Play, Nature Play, preschoolers, school kids, Sensory Play, toddlers

« 15 Creative Perler Beads Projects to try today!
Easter Tree Decorating for Toddlers »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Protected by WP Anti Spam

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

About Me

Hi and welcome! I'm Ann, Mom of three with a love for creating things. I adore imaginative play in action and I am always in the middle of 101 projects. If you can't find me, I'm probably hiding in the pantry eating chocolate! Have a look around and see what crazy exciting things we've been up to lately. Read More…

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required


Food Advertising by logo

Popular Posts

Jump & Wash! A Simple Dinosaur Sensory Play Idea

Jump & Wash! A Simple Dinosaur Sensory Play Idea

A Beginner's Guide to Small World Play

A Beginner’s Guide to Small World Play

How to Make a Simple Gorgeous Heart Garland

How to Make a Mini Dinosaur Travel Tin

How to Set up a Creative Invitation to Build a Bird Nest

Stuff the OBall Heuristic Play Activity for Babies

Stuff the OBall Heuristic Play Activity for Babies

How to make braided bookmarks you won't lose!

How to Make Braided Bookmarks

Good Night Gorilla Story Basket

Good Night Gorilla Story Basket

The Theory of Loose Parts: The Right to be Creative

The Theory of Loose Parts: The Right to be Creative

Invitation to Create a Play Dough Flower Garden

Invitation to Create a Play Dough Flower Garden

Food Advertising by logo

Look through Categories

  • Arts & Crafts in Play
  • Creativity in Play
  • Dramatic Play
  • Loose Parts in Play
  • Mom Projects in Play
  • Most Popular Play Ideas
  • Parenting in Play
  • Small World Play

Find Your Topic

animals art babies beads block play books buttons cardboard cars Christmas clay dinosaurs dollhouse drawing Easter embroidery fabric scraps fairies farm felt flowers Heuristic Play Imaginative Play Lego Mother's Day Nature Play ocean paper play dough preschoolers rainbow recycling school kids Sensory Play spring St. Patrick's Day STEM story basket storytelling summer teens & tweens toddlers travel tin Valentine's Day winter

Latest Pins

Visit Little Worlds's profile on Pinterest.

Archives

Food Advertising by logo

Copyright

Copyright 2018 Little Worlds Big Adventures * All Rights Reserved * No content or images from this website can be altered or used without prior permission.

Disclosure

The posts on this website may contain affiliate links to Amazon. This means that at no cost to you I may receive a small referral fee if you decide to make a purchase on Amazon.

Disclaimer

Please use your own judgement to decide whether certain activities and/or materials are safe to do and/or use. Supervise your children when necessary.

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in