Last weekend, our family went to see Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” (Thank you, Aunt Julia!) We all really enjoyed the ballet and music! So much so that Emily wanted a play set so she could re-enact the story. I thought that was a fabulous idea, so I sent her on a scavenger hunt to find toys she already had around the house to use for her play set! This kept her busy for a long time, but she was able to find everything she needed.
Without having to buy anything, she found two men dolls (one for Peter, and we added a white beard and cane to the other one to make him into the Grandfather), a small duck, a cat, a gate, a wolf, and even some hunters!
We recycled some cereal boxes to use for the scenery (a meadow, and a dark forest), added some felt for grass and a pond, some yarn for a lasso, and used our tree sculptures for trees!
Run, duck, RUN!!!!
Oh nooooooooo!!!!
The bird and Peter will come up with a way to capture that tricky wolf!
Caught him!
Out come the hunters……
Hurray for Peter!! (I knew he could do it!)
I even found some of the music to go along with the play set…. Have fun!!!
Dear Valerie,
I seriously doubt that those weapons are legal for hunting wolf.
Love,
Mark
Dear Valerie,
Upon closer inspection, it looks like the first soldier (the one calling in radio support) is brandishing a hair dryer. Clearly he just wants to style the wolf's fur.
Love,
Mark
@ Mark — Those hunters don't stand a chance, since they are made out of paper. Good thing Peter caught that sneaky wolf with his lasso!
@ Mark — More importantly, however, why is it that we have all these other toys in our house, and no green army men????
A great way to use what you have in a new way. Love it.
I love your green soldiers. Something with guns would be hard to get in our house 🙂
I love the way you think! I was wondering what you used as the hunters and laughed when I saw the picture! My husband just took out his bucket full of army men which he saved from his childhood. I just showed JC your photos and she's already looking for her duck! lol.
This is great! I was just wondering how Buzz and Woody would look as Peter and the grandfather, when I saw your "hunters" LOL. With boys in our house, we could produce quite an army to face down that wolf!
@ Ivy — I think Emily liked this activity a lot! It's part scavenger hunt, part play activity, and part craft project all in one!!
@ Joyful Learner — We had a hard time finding a suitable Grandfather. They don't make many dolls to look like old men!
"Duh, duh, duh, duh-dee-duh, dee duh-dee-duh, dee duh-dee-duh, dee…"
(Oh- I was TRYING to "sing" part ofd the Peter and the Wolf music for you, but I lost track of my duhs and dees…)
I love doing stuff like that, it certainly saves money on buying more toys.
My 9 year old loves making play boxes. I know when I show him this, he'll be off to make one.
Some of those toys look familiar. LOL at the collection she gathered to make the story, too funny!
Glad you guys had fun at the show! Mark–I think I recognize that duck from when we were kids! Talk about repurposing… 🙂
fun fun!
@Aunt Julia,
You are correct. That is one of the little ducks that I painted with mom when we were little. Emily really likes them!
Mark
@ Wonder Mom — It's been stuck in my head all day!
@ Aunt Julia — Wow, you have a good eye!! The girls have several of those ducks on display on top of their dresser. They love them!
Looks like she had a great time playing with all the characters you found.
Great idea! I love recycled projects! Your kids had a great time using their imagination!
cute! the Pea has a shoebox he painted blue that he uses to play with his sea creatures. and, i didn't realize that the tree sculptures were so tiny! what am i doing with these ginormous tree sculptures in my kitchen???
So creative! Homemade play sets are so much cooler than the store bought variety. I love it.
I love Mark's comments too, of course!
That's pretty funny, cute and creative.
Ah, great ideas! We have the doll set you show and I've used felt in the house as blankets and beds (Annabelle just loves that especially since we are short on furniture).
But bringing all the different characters together with self created settings . . . brilliant!
I just found your blog this weekend and had a wonderful time reading through it! I'm the mom of two little girls, and we live in West Africa. Let's just say that craft stores are limited here — and that's being generous 🙂 I love all the great ideas that don't require a perfectly stocked craft store!
@ danita — I bet those enormous tree sculptures are really cool! Ours are only a few inches tall!!
@ The Sommer Family — I am so happy you stopped by — All the way from West Africa! We love to re-purpose things, and make crafts from recyclables or natural materials as much as possible. Welcome to FFFB!! 🙂
what a really lovely idea!
very creative and a lovely way to build on such a great theater experience.