Let your family put the most important places in their lives on a fun-to-use play mat.
Trim the canvas with scissors to 60 by 60 inches square. To create a starting point for laying out the town, we placed an 8 1/2- by 11-inch sheet of paper on the mat at an angle and slightly off-center, then outlined it with chalk. Next, we chalked a line extending out from each corner of the paper as shown.
If you want to include any large landmarks, such as a pond, park, barnyard, or field, use the chalk to outline those shapes now. To make our soccer field, we traced around an 11- by 17-inch sheet of paper.
With the chalk, lightly sketch a centerline for each road. So you can easily draw roads that are a consistent width, push 2 pencils through a Styrofoam block, 2 1/2 inches apart. Then use this tool to outline the roads, straddling the chalk guidelines as shown. (The chalk will easily wear off later.)
Have your child pencil in buildings and other details, such as a garden, animals, or a fence. Keep in mind that you'll be trimming the mat with bias tape, so anything too close to the edge will get covered.
Before continuing, cover your work surface with a plastic tablecloth. Now, with the fabric-paint markers, let your child color in the buildings and other items he's drawn. Once the paint is dry, outline the buildings, roads, and other details with a black fabric-paint marker.
Add grass by sponging on green acrylic paint. When the grass is dry, use a paintbrush or marker to add a few final touches, such as trees and flowers.
Keep the mat from fraying by trimming the edges with bias tape. To do so, apply tacky glue to one side of the inside of a piece of bias tape, a small section at a time, and press the canvas onto the glue, as shown.
Finish sealing the edge by applying glue to a small section of the top of the mat and then folding over and pressing the other side of the bias tape to it. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for the other 3 edges of the play mat. Let it dry flat overnight.