When I first started to crochet when Oliver was a baby I remember coming across a pattern for an Island Play Set which I thought he would love. I was still fairly new to crocheting and it took me quite a while to make for him but he really enjoyed playing with it. I was certain that I could probably make it much better if I tried again but I didn't for a while.
When Lily turned 1 last summer in decided to try again but with a woodland theme this time. I used a similar idea crocheting in the round but used 2 strands of Wool together to create a different effect. I also added a couple of trees and mushrooms as well as a bridge and butterflies to make it a bit more interesting for the animals to go on. I much prefered this than the single palm tree on the island. I added 6 animals for the woodland playmat (I prefer even numbers) some I made up as I went along, like the bunny and owl, whilst I used others patterns for the deer, hedgehog, Fox and squirrel.
For Oliver's birthday I made another theme, underwater with a centre of coral. Again I crocheted a large circle of blue and then made up the coral parts in the middle. I added a dolphin, turtle, clown fish, manta ray, seahorse and octopus. I added magnets to the top of the sea creatures so my son could go fishing for them with a magnetic fishing rod we already had. He really loves this aspect!
The final playmat I have made to date was for my niece Holly's second birthday. She had a rectangle jungle playmat with animals from Look What I Made blog. You can find all but the monkey in her blog, the monkey I combined a couple of the patterns to get the effect I wanted. I really enjoyed making these animals and I learnt new techniques and stitches which I have implemented into other areas of my crochet since! This playmat is comprised of three sections, short grass, long grass and sandy area with a winding river across the whole mat plus a few trees. I didn't end up making the trees as sturdy as I would have liked but I can work on that for next time!
One asepct I really liked from the original island playmat was that it folded up to allow storage for the toys although that does unfortunately leave a long cord which meant I couldn't leave the kids alone with it. I therefore tried to add handles and use poppers to fold it up although that wasn't entirely successful. The next playmat I secured it with buttons which was slightly more successful. However, I am most pleased with using zips on the rectangle shape to make it into a bag. They don't come undone like the buttons and poppers and there are no longer and dangerous cords. It was definitely more work but worth it!
Most of these playmats I made up as I went along, but I have tried to work out what I have done for each playmat and written out the instructions as best I can below.
I hope you have enjoyed this week about playmats. I would love to see any that you make!
Vicky x
Coral Playmat
- Materials and Resources
Below is a list of everything you will need to make this playmat
- 2 strands of DK wool held together for mat (suggested colours, blue, green, red, white, yellow, purple)
- 5mm hook
- small amounts of stuffing
- needs to sew in ends
- The animals are not my patterns – I will add links for the patterns I have used that are not my own.
2. Stitch List
Below is a list of all the stitches (and their abbreviations) featured in this series of patterns. All terms used are American.
- sc – single crochet
- sl st – slip stitch
- ch – chain
- sc inc – single crochet increase
- sc dec – single crochet decreasecrab stitch – reverse single crochet
- trc – treble crochet
- HDC – half double crochet
- DC – double crochet
- Sc inc – single crochet increase
- Sc dec – single crochet decrease
- Ch – chain
- b/l – back loops
- f/l – front loops
- Notes
- Coral
For the coral I made various different size and colour ruffle stitch samples and then I randomly folded them up and sewed them in the centre to make to coral patch. Be as creative using different colour combinations I used 2 strands in different colours per piece of coral
- .Flat shells / star fish
I used the individual shells and star fish in this pattern
- Animals
The following animals are not my own patterns – please click on them to find the links to the patterns I used.
Pattern – Beginning with a blue colour mix
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in a magic circle | 6 |
2 | 2 sc in each sc | 12 |
3 | (sc inc, 2 sc) x 6 | 18 |
4 | (sc inc, 3 sc) x6 | 24 |
5 | (sc inc, 4sc) x6 | 30 |
6 | (sc inc, 5sc) | 36 |
7 | (sc inc, 6sc) x6 | 42 |
8 | (sc inc, 7sc) x6 | 48 |
9 | (sc inc, 8sc) x6 | 54 |
10 | (sc inc, 9sc) x6 | 60 |
11 | (sc inc, 10sc) x6 | 66 |
12 | (sc inc, 11sc) x6 | 72 |
13 | (sc inc, 12sc) x6 | 78 |
14 | (sc inc, 13sc) x6 | 84 |
15 | (sc inc, 14sc) x6 | 90 |
16 | (sc inc, 15sc) x6 | 96 |
17 | (sc inc, 16sc) x6 | 102 |
18 | (sc inc, 17sc) x6 | 108 |
19 | (sc inc, 18sc) x6 | 114 |
20 | (sc inc, 19sc) x6 | 120 |
21 | (sc inc, 20sc) x6 | 126 |
22 | (sc inc, 21sc) x6 | 132 |
23 | (sc inc, 22sc) x6 | 138 |
24 | (sc inc, 23sc) x6 | 144 |
25 | (sc inc, 24sc) x6 | 150 |
26 | (sc inc, 25sc) x | 156 |
27 | (sc inc, 26sc) | 162 |
28 | (sc inc, 27sc) x6 | 168 |
29 | (sc inc, 28sc) x6 | 174 |
30 | (sc inc, 29sc) x6 | 180 |
31 | (sc inc, 30sc) x6 – switch colours if you would like a different colour border here | 186 |
32 | 31sc, sc inc, 11sc, ch10, sk10, sc11, sc inc, (31sc, sc inc) x2, 11sc, ch10, sk 10, 11sc, sc inc, 31sc, sc inc | 192 |
33 | (32 sc, sc inc) around with 10sc going into the ch10 gaps | 198 |
34 | (33 sc, sc inc) x 6 | 204 |
35 | crab stitch around | 204 |
Sl st, cast off and sew in ends |
Clam Shell (make 4 – 2 in outer colour and 2 in inner colour)
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in magic circle | 6 |
2 | sc inc x 6 | 12 |
3 | (sc inc, sc) x6 | 18 |
4 | (sc inc, 2 sc) x 6 | 24 |
5 | then take one inner and one outer shell piece and hold them together, sc them together around the edge and lightly stuff as you go | |
attach both shell pieces together sewing about 1/3 of the outsides then sew to the playmat |
Pearl
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in a magic circle | 6 |
2 | 2 sc in each sc | 12 |
3 | sc around stuff at this point lightly | 12 |
4 | sc dec x6 (6) | 6 |
(sew shut and attach pearl to clam |
Woodland Playmat
- Materials and Resources
Below is a list of everything you will need to make this playmat
- 2 strands of DK wool held together for mat (suggested colours, blue, brown, green, red, which, yellow, purple)
- 5mm hook
- small amounts of stuffing
- needs to sew in ends
- not all animals are my pattern – I will add links for the patterns I have used that are not my own.
- Stitch List
Below is a list of all the stitches (and their abbreviations) featured in this series of patterns. All terms used are American.
- sc – single crochet
- sl st – slip stitch
- ch – chain
- sc inc – single crochet increase
- sc dec – single crochet decrease
- crab stitch – reverse single crochet
- trc – treble crochet
- HDC – half double crochet
- DC – double crochet
- Notes
The following animals are not my own patterns – please click on them to find the links to the patterns I used.
Butterfly
As with the flowers make as many as you would like.
I used the small butterfly from this pattern on Little Bird Secrets Blog
4. Pattern – Beginning with a green colour mix
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in a magic circle | 6 |
2 | 2 sc in each sc | 12 |
3 | (sc inc, 2 sc) x 6 | 18 |
4 | (sc inc, 3 sc) x6 | 24 |
5 | (sc inc, 4sc) x6 | 30 |
6 | (sc inc, 5sc) | 36 |
7 | (sc inc, 6sc) x6 | 42 |
8 | (sc inc, 7sc) x6 | 48 |
9 | (sc inc, 8sc) x6 | 54 |
10 | (sc inc, 9sc) x6 | 60 |
11 | (sc inc, 10sc) x6 | 66 |
12 | (sc inc, 11sc) x6 | 72 |
13 | (sc inc, 12sc) x6 | 78 |
14 | (sc inc, 13sc) x6 | 84 |
15 | (sc inc, 14sc) x6 | 90 |
16 | (sc inc, 15sc) x6 | 96 |
17 | (sc inc, 16sc) x6 | 102 |
18 | (sc inc, 17sc) x6 | 108 |
19 | (sc inc, 18sc) x6 | 114 |
20 | (sc inc, 19sc) x6 switch to blue colours | 120 |
21 | (sc inc, 20sc) x6 | 126 |
22 | (sc inc, 21sc) x6 | 132 |
23 | (sc inc, 22sc) x6 | 138 |
24 | (sc inc, 23sc) x6 | 144 |
25 | (sc inc, 24sc) x6 | 150 |
26 | (sc inc, 25sc) x 6 | 156 |
27 | (sc inc, 26sc) x 6 switch to brown/grey mix | 162 |
28 | (sc inc, 27sc) x6 | 168 |
29 | (sc inc, 28sc) x6 | 174 |
30 | (sc inc, 29sc) x6 switch to brown colours | 180 |
31 | (sc inc, 30sc) x6 | 186 |
32 | 31sc, sc inc, 11sc, ch10, sk10, sc11, sc inc, (31sc, sc inc) x2, 11sc, ch10, sk 10, 11sc, sc inc, 31sc, sc inc | 192 |
33 | (32 sc, sc inc) around with 10sc going into the ch10 gaps | 198 |
34 | (33 sc, sc inc) x 6 | 204 |
35 | crab stitch around | 204 |
sl st and cast off and sew in ends |
Large Tree – starting with green
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in a magic circle | 6 |
2 | 2 sc in each sc | 12 |
3 | (sc inc, 2 sc) x 6 | 18 |
4 | (sc inc, 3 sc) x6 | 24 |
5 | (sc inc, 4sc) x6 | 30 |
6-11 | Sc around | 30 |
12 | (sc dec, 2sc) x6 | 24 |
13 | (sc dec, sc) x6 | 18 |
14 | sc dec around, switch to brown | 12 |
15-23 | Sc around | 12 |
24 | (sc inc) x 12 | 24 |
25-28 | Sc around | 24 |
st and cast off. stuff and attach to play mat |
Small Tree starting with green
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in a magic circle | 6 |
2 | 2 sc in each sc | 12 |
3 | (sc inc, 2 sc) x 6 | 18 |
4 | (sc inc, 3 sc) x6 | 24 |
5-10 | Sc around | 24 |
11 | (sc dec) x 12 switch to brown | 12 |
12-18 | Sc around | 12 |
19 | (sc inc, 2 sc) x 4 | 16 |
20-22 | Sc around | 16 |
st and cast off. stuff and attach to play mat |
Mushrooms – make 2 using red
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in a magic circle | 6 |
2 | 2 sc in each sc | 12 |
3 | (sc inc, 2 sc) x 6 | 18 |
4 | (sc inc, 3 sc) x6 | 24 |
5-7 | Sc around | 24 |
8-9 | In which sc around | 24 |
10 | (2sc dec, sc) x 6 | 18 |
11 | (sc, sc dec) x 6 | 12 |
12-18 | Sc around | 12 |
sc around, sl st cast off. Stuff, sew white spots on and sew to playmat |
Bridge Base – Make 2 using brown
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
ch 21 | ||
1 | HDC in 2nd ch from hook and then in every ch there after, ch1 turn | 20 |
2-8 | HDC in each st, ch1 turn | 20 |
placing both base pieces together, sc around and lightly stuff just before finishing the sc rows sl st to finish |
Bridge sides – Make 2 using brown
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
ch 21 | ||
1 | HDC in 2nd ch from hook and then in every ch there after, ch1 turn | 20 |
2 | sl st in next 2 st, sc in next 2 st, HDC in next 2 st, DC in next 2 st, trc in next 4 st, DC in next 2 st, HDC in next 2 st, sc in next 2 st, sl st in last 2 st, ch 1 turn | 20 |
3 | sc across and cast off | 20 |
sc sides to the base of the bridge (curved part goes at the top) | ||
sew bridge either side of the river so it curves slightly. |
Flowers – Make as many flowers in as many colours as you would like
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 5 sc in magic ring | 5 |
2 | sc inc in each st | 10 |
3 | *(sc, HDC, DC, ch1) in first st, (DC, HDC, sc)* in next st, rep from * to * 4 more times |
Owl Body – Using Brown
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in a magic circle | 6 |
2 | 2 sc in each sc | 12 |
3 | (sc inc, 2 sc) x 6 | 18 |
4 | (sc inc, 3 sc) x6 | 24 |
5-10 | Sc around | 24 |
11 | (2 sc, sc dec) x6 | 18 |
12 | (sc, sc dec) x 6 | 12 |
Stuff | ||
13 | sc dec x6 | 6 |
cast off and sew shut |
Wings (make 2) in brown
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in a magic circle | 6 |
2-6 | Sc around | 6 |
sl st and cast off and sew to owl |
Feet and Beak (make 3) Using yellow
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in a magic circle | 6 |
2-3 | Sc around | 6 |
sl st and cast off and sew to owl |
Eyes (make 2) using white
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in a magic circle | 6 |
2 | sc inc in each st | 12 |
sew a black dot in the centre of each eye and sew to owl |
Bunny Head and Body Using White
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in a magic circle | 6 |
2 | 2 sc in each sc | 12 |
3 | (sc inc, 2 sc) x 6 | 18 |
4 | (sc inc, 3 sc) x6 | 24 |
5-6 | Sc around | 24 |
7 | (sc dec, 2 sc) x 6 | 18 |
8 | (sc dec, sc) x 6 | 12 |
9 | Sc around | 12 |
10 | (sc inc, 2sc) x6 | 18 |
11 | (sc inc, 3sc) x6 | 24 |
12 | (sc inc, 4 sc) x6 | 30 |
13-16 | Sc around | 30 |
17 | (sc dec, 3sc) x6 | 24 |
18 | (sc dec, 2sc) x6 | 18 |
19 | (sc dec, sc) x6 | 12 |
Stuff bunny | ||
20 | sc dec x6 | 6 |
Sl st, cast off and sew shut | ||
Sew black eyes and nose on bunny |
Arms and Legs (make 4)
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in a magic circle | 6 |
2 | sc inc in each st | 12 |
3-7 | Sc around | 12 |
sl st to close, stuff and sew to body |
Tail
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | 6 sc in a magic circle | 6 |
2 | sc inc in each st | 12 |
3 | Sc around | 12 |
4 | Sc dec in each stitch | 6 |
sew shut and attach to bunny |
Ears (make 2)
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | ch5, 2 sc in 2nd ch from hook, 2 sc, 3 sc in last ch, 2 sc in other side of chains, 1 sc in starting ch where you have 2 sc already, sl st, ch 1 | 10 |
2 | 2 sc in same st, sc in next 4 st, 2 sc in next 2 st, sc in next 4 st, 2 sc in final st | 16 |
st, sl st to finish and sew ears to bunny |
Jungle Playmat
1. Materials and Resources
Below is a list of everything you will need to make this playmat
- 5mm hook
- 2 strands of DK wool held together (I’m not sure on amounts as I used mostly scraps – it doesnt matter if you run out of a colour a similar one can just be added and it wont affect the look of the playmat!)
- Needle to sew in ends
- 2 Zips that fully open (jacket style)
- Stitch List
Below is a list of all the stitches (and their abbreviations) featured in this series of patterns. All terms used are American.
- sc – single crochet
- loop stitch
- ripple stitch
- ch- chain
- Notes
- Please note that this is a very rough pattern for the actual playmat. I did not write down what I did as I went so I have tried to reconstruct it from looking at the playmat. It is therefore likely that it may not be 100% accurate but it should give you some help towards making it, and I am always happy for you to contact me with any questions. If I have some time I might remake it and write down a more detailed pattern. The animals are not my pattern but you can get them from Look What I Made Blog
- River – I used the ripple stitch for this and did 8 rows and 6 ripple repeats then sewed it to the playmat.
- Trees – Finally I added trees although I can’t quite remember what I did for those, although one is loop stitch, one is popcorn stitch and the final tree uses sc.
3. Pattern – starting at sandy end
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | Ch 51, sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch to end | 50 |
2-38 | Sc across | 50 |
Switch to green and brown mix for long grass | ||
39 | Loop stitch in each sc (make a large loop | 50 |
40 | Sc across | 50 |
41-58 | Repeat rows 39 and 40 | 50 |
Switch to 2 strands of green for grass | ||
59 | Short loop stitch in each sc | 50 |
60 | Sc across | 50 |
61-88 | Repeat rows 59 and 60 |
Border – hold a blue, green and yellow mix
Row | Instruction | Stitches |
1 | Starting at a corner 3sc in corner, sc around in each st and 3 sc in each corner | |
2 | Sc around for next row but on short sides sc 24, ch10 and sk 10, sc 24 and 3 sc in each corner. Long sides as sc across | |
3 | Sc around in last row with 10sc in ch 10 sp to create handles. Attach the zip to this row. I sc the zip on and then added a row of sc on the opposite side of the zip to hide the inside. |
© All patterns on this page
belong to www.cosycrochet.co.uk You may not sell this pattern. Please feel free
to sell the items you make using this pattern, however please acknowledge me in
your listing.
© All patterns on this page
belong to www.cosycrochet.co.uk You may not sell this pattern. Please feel free
to sell the items you make using this pattern, however please acknowledge me in
your listing.
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