Dino Mat - an easy portable play-mat DIY

Ever wish you had something to take to the cafe for your preschooler to play with while you sip a latte? UM YES. Like, you don't even know how many little snot-fingers have been all over the grimy old plastic toys that are stuffed in a basket somewhere in the corner of many cafes. Not to mention often these cafe basket toys were donated for good reason - i.e. they are missing parts, don't hold kids attention, etc.

Here's a simple DIY you can put together for playing on the go. I made this for my daughter's birthday and it cost me $1 thanks to my scrap fabric, and the fact that the little plastic dinosaurs came from a damaged package so they were discounted.

This toy is open-ended, allowing for endless scenarios and habitats. My 4-yr old can go out into the garden and forage for twigs, bark, stones etc to create her own dino habitat for this, which combines fresh air and nature as well as having "ventures" as she calls them, and that makes me happy.

Fabric you need:

- Green felt for grass (this is an A4 piece)

- Scraps of blue-ish fabric for pond

- Scrap of sandy coloured felt/fabric for sand/swamp

- 2 types of fabric for the drawstring bag, or one type if you don't want it double-sided (OR use a small bag you already have)
- Ribbon / sewing tape / drawstring for bag chord

- Optional: a smoother fabric for a backing. This is handy as it's easier to brush clean than felt.

Step 1: Cut the fabric in the shapes you want. I made a pond and a sandy patch.

If you are making a backing (I did, but the fabric is not pictured in the photo below) cut that the exact same shape as the green felt.

Step 2:

Sew your pond onto the green felt with a basic zigzag stick. If you are handy with "no sew" glue then you could use that, but I haven't tried it.

Then your sandy patch in the same way:

Then, place your backing on and zigzag stitch around the whole thing. Mine is pretty imperfect, as you can see. If you want it to be really neat, choose a much closer zigzag stitch. But this does the job, in my opinion.

Now you have your mat!

Step 3: Make the drawstring bag

Ok, forgive my wrinkled fabric but I couldn't risk waking the baby by getting the iron out of the cupboard by his room ;D

I used 2 scraps of linen type fabric. These were actually samples and are roughly 15cm x 20cm.

Place your fabrics together with right sides together. (I.E the fabric pieces are inside out to how you want the finished bag to be).

Sew a straight stitch on 3 sides.

Fold down the opening and then fold it again, so the raw edge of the fabric is hidden, then (ideally ;D) iron it flat before sewing right around, leaving a 1-inch gap where your drawstring will go in.

Turn it inside out and admire how crafty and talented you are.

How cute! Get your drawstring or ribbon, pin it to a safety pin and thread it through, making sure to keep hold of the other end so it doesn't get lost inside.

Step 4: Populate your mat!

I used small balls of green plasticine, placed on a circle of card (shown below) as bases for my trees. Pebbles, twigs, and pieces of bark also make a great habitat.