This is an easy Waldorf-inspired craft project for an afternoon. It’s a felt playscape for quiet play time using wooden peg dolls and other props.

I used wool felt for the playscape. I cut the pieces freehand. I wanted some tidal pools, some rocks, sandy beach, and sand dunes with beach grass. I sewed the pieces together and used a decorative stitch that is a built-in option on my Janome sewing machine to create the waves at the shoreline. The sea creatures are buttons, as are the flowers in the dunes. This is going to a school age child, so the loose pieces aren’t an issue. But you should sew them down for a young child.

For safety reasons, button decorations should not be used if the child is under age three. However, you can cut out felt flowers and fish, dolphins, whales, and starfish and sew them onto the mat for a toddler play. (See the meadow link below).

The sandcastle is a cut out shape and two of the pieces are glued together with craft glue. The tower on the left is free standing. The castle is not attached to the mat so it can be moved around during play.

My mermaid peg dolls were off swimming in the deep blue sea when I took this photo. But the fairy peg dolls said they were distant relatives of the mermaids and were happy to step in for the photo shoot!

To see some other felt playscape ideas, see my posts on making a meadow and a lunar landscape.