For this post in the The Little Things series, we made something I think every little boy or girl will love: a doll hospital!
This is such a fun project to make, and it’s really quite simple. Also, most of the materials we’ve used are recycled!
A trip to the local greengrocer provided us with the (future) hospital beds. With simple white paint (I used primer which was left over from our house renovation) I painted the vegetable boxes, and with red acrylic paint from the children’s craft box, I made a red cross on each bed.
From old pillowcases I made white mattresses, sheets and pillows for the beds. And I couldn’t resist painting a red cross on the sheets with fabric paint.
And then — how ADORABLE are these free downloads for a DIY nurse cap and doctor’s prescriptions? Sara from SakaDesign made them for us again. She’s so talented!
I painted a similar red cross on a simple white suitcase (which we bought), to create a doctor’s case. And, of course, every respectable doctor’s case needs some serious doctor’s necessities!
The pharmacy around the corner kindly gave us a syringe, some plastic containers, a measuring spoon and cup. The simple bandages and plasters came from our first aid kit. We glued a strip of paper in the lid of the doctor’s case to hold the prescriptions, and filled the plastic containers with colourful ‘pills’ (M&Ms!!). We also put a thermometer, a scissors and a stethoscope in the case.
And here are Doctor Ava and Doctor Juul, ready to heal some very sick baby dolls! As you can see, they take their task rather seriously. ; )
The girls played for hours with the doll hospital. It was such a huge succes! (And I’m thinking, wouldn’t it make a very sweet holiday gift as well?)
xxx Esther
PS – This is the newest post in a series which is called ‘The Little Things’. Thank you Maud Fontein for taking these beautiful photos, and Sara Musch for the adorable download. The girls’ outfits are from Mabo Kids!
Comments (26)
Such a great idea!!!! And it looks soooo much nicer than all the “ready-made” games you can buy!!! A great inspiration! Thank you!!!
How adorable, Esther! You’re really talented, I LOVE this series. Thank you!
SImply amazing! You really are super talented and keep this blog alive and relevant. Your children are so lucky to have such a creative and inspiring mother. Photos captured are just gorgeous. x
Thank you girls. xxx
so sweet! my girls would adore this – I’ve got a wooden doctor’s set lined up for christmas, but the little sickbeds might need to be made to go with them!
You know how much I love babyccino – for years now. but THIS! THIS is the best thing you have ever written about. What a brilliant idea. I wonder if I have time to make one for Lioba for Christmas? So so cool.
Oh, sweet Mo, this is the biggest compliment coming from you!! xxxx
PS You can easily do it before Xmas — it takes just half a day!! x
I just love this whole concept! My girls 2 & 4 play with their dolls constantly at the moment and this is just a great way to keep the role play happening. Beautifully made too!
So, SO cute and clever!!! Playing with the real plasters, etc. is what every kid really wants!
This is a fantastic idea for a role play area in a reception or nursery class. Thank you so much for sharing.
Great idea and love Ava’s smile on the last picture–she is having the time of her life!
Love this. I wish I had this when I was their age.
Such a great idea! Beautiful photos and such happy girls! Bravo !!
[…] you want to see this darling idea, packed with every detail on Babyccino Kids: The Little Things – How to create a doll hospital. I see a ward of teddy bears coming in to […]
I’m sorry but this is incredibly creepy. The whole thing just looks so… sterile (pun intended), and not what you would imagine a children’s play time to be. Also, why are you encouraging kids to pretend play with “pills”? I would imagine this may cause problems in the future when they see your prescription pills laying around and decide to have some fun with them.
Gorgeous, imaginative idea! Thank you. Quick question – where did you source your little suitcases from?
We got them at a shop here in Amsterdam, the Kinderfeestwinkel: http://kinderfeestwinkel.nl x
Absolutely darling! The entire post reminds me of the classic Golden Book, Nurse Nancy. If you haven’t read it, Ava would probably enjoy it :). Here’s a link to it:
http://www.amazon.com/Nurse-Nancy-Little-Golden-Book/dp/0375832629
Thank you, it looks darling!! Just ordered it for her for Christmas 🙂 xxx
[…] Bild und Anleitung babyccinokids.com […]
[…] bed: a simple fruit crate with some small towels will do, but a baby needs a bed, of […]
[…] the playhouse and the wigwam, and also created some other spaces using sticks and fabric. We made a dolls’ hospital, a dolls’ kitchen (using our wooden toy kitchen), a dolls’ dressing room and bedroom […]
Great idea agreed with comment about being natural, when children create any object they are more inclined to take care of it, for me running a setting in Early Years it certainly ticks all the boxes.
[…] wear micropore when she has it on. Perhaps I need to add it to a first aid kit with Esther’s Doll Hospital ideas she shared a few years ago — so […]
I love this idea, please be careful using candy as medicine.