How to craft a ''pretend'' pond for doll play . . .

Finished paper mache pond.

       Our pretend pond is made using paper mache techniques. This kind of pond may be any size you wish to make it. Depending on the size of your dolls, it could be as large as a yard across or as small as four or five inches in diameter. 

       This example made for our posting here is to be played with at an American Girl doll camp. It is relatively small for 18 inch dolls but quite large for our 5 to 6 inch dollhouse dolls, who will likely inherit it after this summer of doll camps. 

       Although camps teaching Earth science or environmental science are considered 'old school', there is greater need than ever to educate our children on these particular topics. Changes in the planet will affect generations to come for certain and the more young students know about the maintenance of our world, the quicker they will be at adapting appropriate living spaces during times of struggle.

       Ask yourself, what information might a parent or teacher incorporate into this ''pond'' learning activity? Ponds are shallow water homes for many living organisms and in order for these to support life, there must be an abundance of water, space, shelter and food. 

       The first step in teaching about ponds is in the general study of how these water environments occur in nature or how people successfully build a pond habitat. Little children can pretend do this by example with their own art supplies. Copying good habits in play, of course, can and will inspire children to grow into these productive pursuits as they age.

       While you are teaching children about ponds, you can talk about: how deep water looks different from shallow water and how the wind moves across the pond surface to make ripples. 

       As the project progresses, talk about the creatures, both big and microscopic that eat, drink and live in a pond. I will include projects after this one that show children how to make wildlife for their ponds.

 

Left and right, see how I cut and layered cardboard for the sample pretend pond. I also used
crushed aluminum kitchen foil to shape into boulders.

Left, cover all of the pretend pond surfaces with masking tape. Masking tape speeds up the process
 of making paper mache items. Tape also creates a waterproof barrier for those fragile materials as
 you work to shape them and paint on them. Right, see how the surface of the pond looks once I
have layered the tissue paper on top of the Mod Podge. This procedure creates a 'rippled' effect
similar to wind on water!

See the ripples in the tissue details.

Supply List:

• scrap cardboard
• aluminum kitchen grade foil
• masking tape
• white school glue
• toilet paper roll or tissue paper
• acrylic paints: choose ''pond'' colors
• Mod Podge
• brown paper bags

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut the first piece of cardboard to the size that you want your pretend play pond to be.
2. Using white school glue layer multiple pieces of the cardboard to build up the outside edges and several areas of ground within the play pond.
3. Now cover the entire surface of cardboard with a masking tape layer.
4. Crush a variety of small and large stones using kitchen grade foil. 
5. Layer masking around these rocks/boulders and compress the foil on the bottom sides only where these will be glued to the surface areas of the pond.
6. Glue the boulders to the pond wherever you would like these to be. Let dry.
7. Crush and tear brown paper bags; brush sections of the pond with Mod Podge or white school glue and layer on the brown paper. Work your way all over the pond surface. Let dry.
8. An optional step would be to hot glue on any real rocks or plastic plants to the surface areas prior to painting everything.
9. Wherever there are flat surface areas, cover with a coat of Mod Podge and toilet paper. Gently push the toilet paper down on top of the glue until you see it's surface ''ripple.'' Let these surface areas dry and harden and apply a second coat of Mod Podge.
10. Now paint some areas of your toy pond with deep colors like blue and green or maybe even a dark brown. These are the places in a pond where the depth of the water is greater.
11. Paint some of the areas of the water with lighter colors. These areas should be closer to the edges of the pond. This is where to water is shallow and where the small creatures wade into the pond from the shore.
12. Paint some of the rippled areas near the edges with pale whites and yellows to emphasize the movement of the water. Some areas in your pond could have small ''rapids.'' Wild ponds often have a small stream or underground supply feeding them so that the water is moving at all times

The pond was then painted using acrylics and sealed with Mod Podge.

Watch the following video to see how ponds are made in real life, via man or beaver:

• A mini pond tutorial for parents to teach their children using real life items by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust
• Making a small wildlife pond timelapse by Wild Your Garden with Joel Ashton
• Natural pools and swim ponds in California - no chlorine or chemicals - aquascape system
• How Farmers Reshaped a Region and Solved Drought - reshaping environments with small bodies of water...
• How beavers are restoring wetlands in North American deserts! - Beavers don't need to be paid for their industry and they can change barren landscapes into wetlands.