“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”  ~Norman Vincent Peale

The Christmas season is in full swing here at Small Potatoes, and it’s only the 5th of December! We just can’t help ourselves. Everything is just so jingly and sparkly, and joyful during this season!

We’ve built a CandyLand Village in our sensory table, and though there is glittery fake snow EVERYWHERE in our playroom, the smalls absolutely love the village. It was very simple to put together, and didn’t cost a whole bunch. Everything in it was either re-used, thrifted, or purchased at the dollar store!

Here is a general overview of supplies and materials you may want to consider when building your own candy village…The rice is simply that…just plain white rice (Which we borrowed from our Japan in a Box bin. I gave it a snowy sparkle with decorative fake snow which I thrifted, but you can find at dollar stores…I didn’t add the whole container, just enough to give it a bit of a sparkle when the sun hits it just right…just like real snow! You can scent your rice with peppermint oil or any other “candy-ish” scent if you’d like. Just make sure you add the oil with the rice BEFORE adding the fake snow.

The plastic candies are ornaments I found at the dollar store. I removed the hooks and thread loops and added them to the village. The snowflakes are plastic and bendy, which is fantastic for the smalls, as they can’t break them. I found these at the dollar store also. The white stones are also from the dollar store. All of these supplies cost me less than $10…The little wooden characters are from the thrift store. I found a whole set for $3! I pulled off all the hooks and thread loops and now they are safe for the children to play with in their village…The gingerbread houses are little cardboard gift boxes that I found at the dollar store for $1 each. I used an exacto knife on the doors so the children could put their little people inside the houses.The roofs also come off, allowing the children to fill them up or arrange their little village characters in them…I always like to add scoops of some sort in our sensory bins, as children like to hide things in them or scoop and pour. I got the little metal cups at an antique sale. You could use any kind of cup or scoop you have around the house…

And that’s it! Now it’s time to play!

The smalls created scenes of their own, paving sidewalks with white stones, lining them with the candies, and arranging their little candy houses as they pleased…

Thanks for stopping by!

~Arlee, Small Potatoes