Possum absolutely loves all forms of pretend play and one of her absolute favourite roles is being a princess. This will always see her grabbing a fluffy dress, tiara and her pair of pink sparkly shoes that seem to refuse to stay on.
I always try hard as her parent to encourage and engage in her love of pretend play, and so it was with her latest obsession that I decided to make a very simple DIY (no sew) princess castle.
How to make a DIY no-sew princess castle
You will need –
- paper
- sticky tape
- material off-cuts
- blanket (optional)
Simply create 6 long paper rolls and fasten with sticky tape. Create a triangle using 3 of the paper rolls and stick the ends together. Using the remaining 3 rolls, create a peak by sticking three ends together and positioning the opposite ends into each point of your original triangle. You should create a large 3D triangle shape, or tetrahedron.
Using whatever material you have on hand, tie the corners in a knot and drape over the top peak of your princess castle. You might like to add a blackout or some cushions to the base for your child’s comfort.
Once you’ve done all that you simply need to add one little prince or princess!
Hasbro recently asked us to try out their latest Play Doh product called Play Doh – Disney Princess Magical Palace, which instantly became a complimentary addition to Possum’s pretend play experience. Treasuring it closely, she spent a long time inside and outside of her princess castle playing and exploring all it’s wonderful possibilities and developing her skills at the same time.
Of course I’m a huge advocate for engaging our children with manipulative dough. The Play Doh – Disney Princess Magical Palace toy comes with 4 tubs of Play Doh, which makes it such a wonderfully tactile experience for them and great for developing fine motor skills.
The Play Doh – Disney Princess Magical Palace actually surprised me, not just because of what it can do but because of the learning children can gain from interacting with it. Possum was clearly taken with the attachable princess, which you fill with a variety of sparkling Play Doh, and once a special draw bridge lever is pressed she oozed all sorts of colourful dresses. This process involved lots of cause and effect and creativity. It also gave us lots of opportunities to talk about colour names.
Giveaway time!
Hasbro are giving away 3 ‘Play Doh Disney Princess Magical Palace’, which you can win!
To enter- COMPETITION ENDED.
Terms and Conditions –
- Open to Australian residents only (sorry to all my international friends)
- Must use a valid contact email address
- Winner must respond within 3 days or another entrant will be selected
- Competition closes on Monday 23rd June, 2014 (one week!)
Best of luck to everyone!
Kim Maver says
June 17, 2014 at 8:26 amHe jumps from his fort that is so high, Just watching gives me shivers and makes me sigh. My grandson likes to pretend he is a super hero, oh no. I would be able to ground him with some lovely play dough.
Melissa Borghi says
June 17, 2014 at 9:18 amMy son loves playing with his monster trucks and doing the commentary like on tv. My 10mth old sits with him and makes the brmmmm noises with him!! Too cute
Bek @Just For Daisy says
June 17, 2014 at 9:39 amOh Kate! What a delightful little princess teepee! You’re so clever!!
My girls LOVE pretend play – it’s all about dressing up over here… the funniest is when Miss 2 dresses herself, it’s usually a combo of cowboy hat, princess shoes, tutu and a fairy wand or handbag!! We all get a good laugh each time the girls dress up and their role plays are even funnier! 🙂
THat castle looks fab – my girls love playdough toys that ooze and have moulds!! Perfect!
Maree Mortimer says
June 17, 2014 at 9:42 amOne of my daughters loves very dramatic pretend play. She will often re-enact what she has seen on tv and gets us involved. Only problem is it can be 3 or 4 storylines twisted together and no one but her has any idea what we are supposed to be doing. Dressing up and going trick or treating for halloween is her current favourite (yes even though its only June and she has never been trick or treating!) along with camping out in the lounge room.
katepickle says
June 17, 2014 at 9:43 amWhat a fabulous idea for making a castle! My smallest LOVEs building cubbies at the moment so I’m going to borrow this idea and see if his big sisters and brother would like to build something amazing for him!
Rachel | Racheous - Lovable Learning says
June 17, 2014 at 10:12 amWhat a gorgeous activity and thank you for the awesome chance to win! The type of pretend play that my child loves to engage in is role play. She loves playing ‘Mummy’ and dressing up like Elsa from Frozen and singing 🙂
Kate - The Craft Train says
June 17, 2014 at 11:51 amWhat a gorgeous castle you made! Last week it was the characters of Frozen, but this week my kids are into superheroes after discovering Daddy’s collection of old action figures from his childhood in the garage, lol. They love to pretend they are Wonder Woman and Batgirl.
Nae Peters says
June 17, 2014 at 1:17 pmMy son has been right into secret agent/Detective pretend play lately, he has a great imagination. He found a broken robot toys shield which has become a secret weapon, apparently it beeps when bad guys are in trouble, gives him maps in his brain to save them and can turn into a detectives gadget that can fly him into space and everything 🙂
I often hear him narrating elaborate stories where he saves his toys and he carries this little broken toy piece around in his pocket, pretending to press buttons on it & listen to ‘secret’ messages.
My daughter thinks its hilarious and tries t join in by chasing him around giggling. too cute!
By the way, I love the princess castle, its simple but delightful
Debs says
June 17, 2014 at 2:02 pmWhat a sweet little castle. There are so many great props that can encourage children’s creative play. My daughter is quite into the Disney princesses at the moment and any chance to play with them or dress up like them is very much enjoyed. Her favourite pretend play is always being a poor lost child, (often in the woods) who’s parents are either dead or evil. Delightful hey? lol
Katie Nilsson says
June 18, 2014 at 1:04 pmMy son love to pretend that his favourite toy Emma Wiggle is his sister, he nurses he when she is sad, he takes her to the park and pushes her on the swings. We must always take her everywhere. He is always telling me how much he loves her and she loves him
Julie @ Off to the park says
June 18, 2014 at 7:30 pmMy girls would love a castle like that! My eldest daughter (5yrs) is my little princess, and loves all the princesses. She loves to dress-up as a princess complete with tiara and jewels then dance to music pretending she is at a fancy dress ball.
Serren Callister says
June 18, 2014 at 10:17 pmMy little one has recently learnt the art of pretend and dress up play, which is so much fun to participate in. One of her favourites is to put on her princess crown and her tutu skirt and run around on the deck pretending to be a penguin. She puts her hands out and waddles around and (since we went to see the penguins at Phillip Island) she bends her knees and announces ‘plop’, apparently an essential activity for a princess penguin!! Bless the imagination of little people to help keep us young at heart.
vanessa o says
June 20, 2014 at 8:19 pmMy daughter is 3.5 and loves dress ups and pretend play. She is also quite crafty and loves sensory bins full of coloured rice and whatever else we have on hand. This playdough toy would be a favourite instantly, as she loves anything princess, especially snow white.
Sarah says
June 22, 2014 at 9:52 pmWhere to start… Mr 5 likes to pretend he’s a tween and shut himself in his room while he listens to music and tries to talk his way into watching ABC3. It is a little concerning! Thankfully though he still loves to put on a ‘circus’ with his brother for hubby and I. And I’ve got to say they both make great clowns!
Jason says
June 24, 2014 at 8:10 amAn idea for making a stronger castle – visit your local fabric store, many give away the cardboard inner tubes the material come on.
Kate says
June 24, 2014 at 8:53 amAwesome idea Jason! Thanks 🙂