Crafty Chic: City Road Map Mat

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City Road Maps

My nephew Joseph just turned one this month. We thought of many ideas for his present, but we knew something from the store wouldn't be as personal as something we could make ourselves.

One of our favorite things our mother made us when we were little was a city road map made out of a blanket. We would lay it on the floor and run our cars and trucks around the streets and play for hours. It was great fun, and it was also meaningful to us because it was personalized by our mother.

Our revised version of this childhood favorite was easy and fun to make. With just a little bit of effort, a little bit of creativity, and a little bit of organization, we came up with something our nephew will have fun with for years to come. Join us this month as we make a city road map.

By Lori Garcia, editor-in-chief

SUPPLIES:

- 1 yard lighter cotton fabric for front

- 1 yard darker, heavy-duty, cotton fabric for back

- Your choice of colored PERMANENT markers

- pencil

STEP BY STEP:

1. Make a simple baby's size blanket. (We used about 1 yard of fabric. Learn more about making a basic baby blanket) Make one side of the blanket a lighter color, so you're drawings will show-up. The other side can be any color you want. We chose a heavy duty cotton with a stripe. My hopes were to find a fabric that wouldn't show dirt too much.

2. Once the blanket is complete, use a pencil to draw the road map of the city. First I drew the roads, and then added other elements. NOTE: YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN ARTIST--Obviously, I am not one! Just do your best and have fun. Your kids will love it no matter if your house is a bit lop-sided.

Once you've finished the pencil sketch, use PERMANENT markers to add color to the city. (We used rainbow colored permanent markers from Sharpie.) In this example, (LEFT) we drew a simple home with a pool and bushes.

3. Here is another variation of a house. Since we were making this road map for my nephew, we included houses for all of our family: both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.

4. Don't forget to add other elements to your community. Especially important--add a ward house.

5. Our nephew's only one, but we thought it's never too early to think about going to school. We added one to our city---complete with flag.

6. My husband, the golfer, said we had to add a few holes of golf to our city.

Other elements to add: park, lake, boat, trees, traffic signs, people, stores, etc. Once you've finished your map of the city, you can play with it and even wash it, and it will last forever....or at least as long as your kids will play with it.