Busy Baby Box Farm Activity Cube Finished

I took pictures to send with the box to show what the pockets did, but for my own purposes I also wanted to remember what it looked like not just as individual pieces that I documented as I made them but what the finished product looked like too. This will help if I ever decide I want to go back and do this again. It also sometimes is just nice to be able to look back at completed projects and think wow I did that?

This was especially true for the roof pocket section which doesn't exsist in the pattern but I wanted so the puppets had a home and thuse would be less likely to be lost in the first day of play.

Rooster Finger Puppet

Finally we come to the last finger puppet from Leisure Art's Busy Baby Boxesfarm set.

The only real challenge I had with this project is the wings called for variegated yarn and what I found is most of what I have is actually striped not variegated which made getting consistant coloring challenging.

Cow Finger Puppet

The cow was slightly more complicated to finish in that he required multiple weights of yarn to finish his face. The previous puppets required just a little scap of cotton sport yarn for the details but I found as I tried to make the spot for the cow's face with acrylic worsted yarn it covered his whole face. So I pulled out the cotton sport yarn and made his face and muzzle with cotton sport and DK yarn. By using multiple weights I got the face to fit and all was well in the world.

Horse Finger Puppet

When I reached the last 3 finger puppets of Leisure Arts Busy Baby BoxesI knew I was in the home stretch of this project. I was thrilled because I could see the finish line of what was beginning to feel like an endless project.

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The pattern for all the finger puppets uses the same basic body pattern so I decided I would make all 3 bodies before going to bed one night. That would leave me with just the details of the puppets to finish. Of course then I got distracted adding the pocket to the roof and fixing the fence but that's a whole other story

Other than the black sport cotton yarn scraps I used for the face details this is all made with acrylic worsted weight yarn and a g hook.

Sheep Finger Puppet

I love the design of the puppets from Leisure Arts Busy Baby Boxesbecause they are very different from the traditional in the round style of puppet I normally make. It allows me just a little more access when working on the faces or adding details to the back side of a puppet.

If you've been following this project you might notice some changes to this side of the barn. First I added a pocket to the roof of the house which I'd mentioned I might do to hold the puppets. I contimplated putting a top on it but the puppets stayed in this pocket despite me shaking the block so I though the open pocket would be easier for little hands to get to the puppets without adult help. So I left it open.

The second change you might notice is the fence is a little more saggy than before. I mentioned in the previous post I found the spaces were a bit tight for the puppets to fit in and that kept bothering me. When I was working on the pocket I decided I had to make this project as kid friendly as I could and I made the choice to make the fence wider so the puppets could be placed easily in and out. It looks less like a fence but it is more focused on actual play than looks with this addition.

I took a bunch of pictures when I finally finished this project to send with the cube to demonstrate what all the pockets could do and I'm sure the child will discover even more.

Pig Finger Puppet

Having finished the farm box from Leisure Arts Busy Baby Boxesit is time to make the rest of the finger puppets. I've already completed the chicken, but I put off doing the rest until I finished the box.

Most of the finger puppets I've made have been crocheted in the round. These are made in 2 pieces and sewn together. I found this has made sewing the faces and other details on them slightly easier. Even making two sides they work up rather quickly.

I like the play design of this box which allows children to have the puppets interact with the box or they can tell their own stories with the puppets. As I mentioned in a previous post about the bottom section of the box this has led me to consider adding something to the box for storage of the puppets. I've decided to wait until I complete all the puppets to determine how much storage I need to decide what to add.