The Simple Things in Life

When I was young, we spent many Summer holidays at my Grandparent's place. I remember, with great fondness, those long, care-free days. Wandering the veggie patch with Pop, eating freshly picked peas and carrots, dirt and all. Rummaging through the biscuit tins looking for all the baked goodies that only Nan would make. Lazing in the river with my brother and cousin, while keeping a close eye out for smurfs, fairies and other forest dwelling creatures (I never did find any). A glorious way to spend the school holidays.

One thing I also remember is an amazing, creative toy that Nan had made us. It was remarkable in it's simplicity and entertained us for hours. She had cut out various shapes from felt and given us a larger piece of felt to place them on. We would use the shapes to create pictures and stories. Our imaginations ran wild.

Today I decided to try this, with my own twist. I have used felt to create tangrams. A tangram is a Chinese puzzle where you use given shapes to make pictures.

You start with these seven shapes.

I have simply cut these directly from felt. No preparing, or sewing needed. Just trace the shape and cut it with scissors. You can use any colours you like, though I would recommend keeping the background neutral.

Next, find some tangram images online. You will need a silhouette image, which only shows a black version of the picture and the answer, which shows you where each piece goes. For children, you may want to just use the answer image and have them recreate what they see.

Try a rabbit,

or a cat,

maybe a chicken,

or a rocket.

Tangrams not your thing? No problem. Just cut plain shapes instead. There's such a large variety of felt available, the possibilities are endless.

Some plain shapes,

or cute patterns,

or even printed felt pictures.

Be adventurous and make your own shapes. People, animals, cars...

This will keep little ones amused for hours...assuming you stop playing with it long enough to give them a chance.

We had to use all the pieces.

The hardest part is deciding which piece to use next.