" Create a colorful play corner with a playmat and creative craft materials "

A play arch is an extremely useful and fun toy that babies can really enjoy and develop all kinds of motor skills. In combination with the matching crawling blanket, it creates a wonderful little play area for your little one. You can also easily make a play arch yourself. Find out how here.

Why is a play arch useful for babies?

Your baby watches the lovely play elements on the play arch with big, bright eyes. Full of eagerness, it naturally tries to reach for it. Your little one lifts his little legs and his tiny fingers keep trying to reach for the ring, the cube or the loop. The little sunshine squeals happily and it is a real pleasure to watch all the action for a while.

A play bow is a wonderful activity for the very youngest and a useful toy for the first years of life. It is not just a distraction, but combines a number of educationally valuable exercises. A baby play arch, for example, promotes a variety of motor skills. Conscious seeing, feeling, touching and, of course, grasping are practiced in equal measure. If you would also like to give your little one a great treat, why not try making a play bow yourself? There are many creative craft materials available for this, such as motif beads, wooden letter cubes, crochet beads or complete grasping toys.

A cozy crawling blanket as a base

The basis is a wonderful baby blanket with child-friendly motifs. After all, playing on the bare floor is anything but cozy. Such a soft and warm surface is much more fun for the child. And when your little one has exhausted himself, he will also find a comfortable surface to lie down on for a little nap.

A play blanket for the play arch comes in a variety of designs - animal pictures in particular are still very popular. You can also add a personal touch by embroidering names on it.

Making the baby play arch yourself

Making a play arch yourself is not that difficult. It is important that you think in advance about which elements you want to use, which highlights you want to add and, of course, the shape you want to make the arch in. First of all, you should decide on the shape and, of course, the appropriate size. Please remember that less is more. Especially if you want to make the bow yourself. Avoid overloading it and rather make two different bows if you have too many ideas that you would like to realize.

Here you will find detailed instructions on how to build and design your baby toy.

1. the materials and tools required for the play arch

First of all, think about the necessary craft materials for the basic wooden frame. For the classic arch, you will need

• 5x wooden poles with a length of 80 cm and a diameter of 22 mm
• 2x 3-way pipe connectors as a T-piece (to match the diameter of the wooden poles 22 mm)
• 1x sandpaper
• Small screws for the connectors
• 1 cordless drill
• 1 drill

2. ideas for craft materials

Now that you have the materials for the basic frame, it's time for the craft materials for the play elements on the arch. There are countless materials to choose from, so you can let your imagination run wild.

Here is a small selection of ideas that you can use if you want to make your own baby play arch:

• 3 leather straps or string (depending on how you like it)
• various motif beads
• various letter cubes
• 4 half rings
• 2 bells
• 2 silicone clasps
• 4 crochet beads
• 1 fabric star

3. build the basic frame of the baby play arch

Now it's time to make a play arch yourself from all these great craft materials. Start by building the basic frame from the wooden poles. To do this, take one of the five wooden poles and drill a hole every 20 cm using the drill bit. Then take the sandpaper and carefully smooth the surface.

Pay particular attention to the drill holes to ensure that no fine wood splinters remain. You can now smooth the other wooden poles with the sandpaper as a precaution.

Now join the wooden poles together using the 3-way pipe connectors. If there is too much air and clearance between the metal and wood, simply wrap some adhesive paper around the wooden pole at this point. Then secure the tube connectors with small screws.

4. create the play strings for the baby play arch

Now you can start attaching the craft materials to the strings. It is important to use a little imagination when crafting.

Start with the element that will later hang at the bottom. We recommend using different fabrics for the different ends.

For example, put a little bell on the first string, a fabric star on the second string and a silicone clasp on the last string.

You can make the cords yourself by using different strings and joining them together to form a strand.

You can then add half rings with motif beads or use letter cubes. Make sure that the result is as varied as possible. Once you have finished stringing the cords, all that remains is to attach them to the crossbar.

To do this, thread the cord ends from bottom to top. It is important that the play elements do not hang too low. But they shouldn't be too high either, so that your child can reach them comfortably with their hands. The cords are now secured at the top with a multiple knot on the play arch so that they do not accidentally come loose.

That's it!

Now place the homemade bow on the playmat and let your baby discover the new toy with all their senses. Check regularly to make sure that nothing has come loose from the bow. The strength that a little one can muster should not be underestimated. Of course, you can also provide variety by simply changing the individual elements from time to time. This gives your child lots of exciting opportunities to discover and understand their environment. There are virtually no limits to creativity.

Important: Do not leave the baby unattended

As beautiful as a play arch is. However, you should not leave your child unattended. Even if everything has been made with the utmost care and you have naturally paid meticulous attention to every last detail when making it, it is always better to be nearby.

Do not leave the baby unattended

It's also a wonderful sight to watch your baby's enthusiasm and eagerness for their new toy.

Encourage the play instinct: With a play arch and play blanket

What could be nicer than making gifts for your little one yourself? Especially when you can see how happy they are with their new toy. With motif beads, wooden beads, wooden cubes, crochet beads and grasping toys, there are all kinds of possibilities for crafting.

Babies love to explore the big world in which they have recently found themselves. Even if they are not yet on their own two feet - with a play arch, you can have a lot of fun working on their motor skills and training their senses from a lying position and gather a lot of impressions. It is important that the child is already able to fixate certain objects. This is usually the case from the 3rd or 4th month, which is why such a play structure makes sense from this age.