Craft, STEPS, Sharing
Toy Tripod
Craft tutorial provided courtesy of Meghan Hicks, At Home With Montessori
What you will need:
-
three 19mm dowels that are 1.2m long
-
three end caps (the kind you put on the bottom of chair legs)
-
three rubber chair protectors (also to go on the bottom of chair legs, but these are to stop them from slipping)
-
2m of thin rope
-
6 rubber o-rings
-
approx 2.5m of fabric
-
enough batting to cut a circle 1m in diameter
-
a sewing machine
- one cute baby
So first of all you make the mat that your baby will lie on…
- Cut out two circles of fabric 1m in diameter
- Cut out one circle of batting 1m in diameter
- Pin one of the fabric circles to the batting, with the right side facing away from the batting
- Stitch across the two layers in random lines and curves, loosely quilting the fabric – this will be the top of the mat
- Now cut 6 rectangular strips 25cm long and 4cm wide
- Fold 1cm of one short end of each strip in and stitch to hem the rough edge
- Fold each strip in half lengthwise and stitch 5mm from the edge all the way down the length
- Turn the strip inside out and press so that the seam lies flat – these are the ties to tie the tripod to the mat
- Lay the quilted fabric face-up and mark three equidistant points on its circumference – they will be approximately 90cms apart, no need to get too technical
- Pin two ties at each point, with the hemmed ends pointing inwards
- Lay the other fabric circle face down on top of the whole lot and pin
- Stitch around the circumference of the circle, making sure you stitch through all the layers. Leave a small opening to turn the whole thing the right way
- Turn and then stitch the opening closed, or top stitch the whole way round, closing the opening as you go
- Press so that it all lays nice and flat




Now lash the three poles together after watching this video and channelling your inner scout. Roll an o-ring onto the poles at either end of the lashings to prevent the rope from slipping up or down the pole.

Pop a cap on the top of each pole and a rubber foot on the bottom of each pole. Stand the tripod up and secure to the mat with the little ties and make a hanging ring with the left-over rope which should be hanging down from the centre of the tripod.


Place your cute baby on the mat, hang a little toy from a piece of hat elastic (although please don’t leave a long loop of elastic like the one in my photos – a very dangerous strangulation hazard which I have since remedied)

You can find another great craft tutorial by Meghan Hicks here and I encourage you to visit Meghan’s wonderful website, At Home with Montessori for further great ideas and products relating to Montessori style parenting for the very young.