I’ve never met a play silk that I didn’t like. These lovely, floating silks are a delight to babies, toddlers, preschoolers and beyond. In fact, I just finished dyeing and rolling a few into a bag to give to a little girl for a birthday party tomorrow.
What is a play silk? It’s a square or rectangle or even a veil of Habotai silk, a lovely, floating piece of cloth that you can turn into all sorts of imaginative creations. Large play silks are big enough for older children to turn into slings, skirts, and capes. Really large silks can become part of a play tent or other play structure. Tiny silks are good for fairy houses and napkins for pretend play. Children will think of many, many other ways to use these silks, of course. They’re fabulous toys to bring to a summer beach excursion, and so light to pack and carry!
Babies love these silks too! Of course, always supervise your baby’s use of the silks so that nothing gets stuck on his head. Play silks are wonderful for games of peek a boo! They’re good to rub across baby’s cheek to feel the different textures of the silk. Or put them over his eyes and talk about the colors that he sees. You can even hide under the large ones together and hide from others in the room. Play silks also make a funny toy. Squish one up into a ball and throw it to baby, watching it come apart. Or throw it into the air as a ball and watch it float downwards.
To see what play silks look like, you can visit companies that specialize in cloth or in silk scarves for artists. One such company is Dharma Trading. At these stores, you can purchase silk blanks in black or white. Of course, the white ones don’t need to stay white! Using natural dyes, silk dyes, or even Kool-Aid.
How do you create your own custom play silks for the children in your life? Well, silk dyes are the most color-fast way to do so. I bought a selection of silk dyes in sample size, and this cost under twenty dollars. These have lasted me through at least 20 play silks. I wet the silk and then spray different tones of dye onto different sections of the silk. Then I dampen the silk again, letting the dye flow together. Of course, stronger colors use more dye.
A cheaper, though less colorfast method is to use Kool-Aid. Kool-Aid and other drink mixes come in different colors. These colors are bold and make much stronger tones than the silk method that I mentioned above. Boil a pot of water, then add your silks. Get them completely wet, then add at least two packages of the same color of Kool-Aid. Swish the scarves around to ensure that they get totally covered in dye, and let them sit in the water for a couple of minutes. Remove and dry somewhere where the bright-colored drips won’t matter. I have found that Kool-Aid dyes do come out slightly in the wash, so give these a gentle hand wash and air dry when required.
Open ended toys are a wonderful way for a baby or a toddler to explore their world. Toys like play silks encourage your baby to develop his own imagination, because he chooses how to use the toys. They’re also a good challenge to your imagination as well!
What are your favorite open-ended baby toys?
