[Handmade] A roundup of tool ideas you can use for playing doctor
Make-believe play where you take on a role and pretend to be someone else.
It’s often incorporated into early childhood settings and is also played as an activity to develop communication and creativity.
In this article, we’ve gathered handmade items themed around playing doctor.
We’ll mainly introduce syringes, stethoscopes, and other items that let kids enjoy interactions between patients who come for a checkup and doctors or nurses.
Be sure to check out these play-doctor tools that parents and children, or friends, can enjoy together.
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[Handmade] A roundup of tool ideas for playing doctor (1–10)
nurse cap
Does your child want to pretend to be a nurse? If so, why not make a nurse’s cap? You can easily make one with origami, so give it a try.
First, fold the origami paper into a square, then fold it the same way again to make a crease, and open it.
Fold the top and bottom corners to the crease, then open up the pocketed sections and flatten them.
After that, just keep folding and shaping it into a hat.
When putting it on the head, use hairpins to secure the cap to the hair.
Mask
Here’s a handmade mask idea using a towel.
The example uses a slightly long rectangular towel.
You can make it the same way with a square towel by folding it into a long, narrow shape.
Thread elastic through both sides of the towel, fold the ends inward, and stitch them in place.
That’s all it takes to make the mask! Hook the elastic over your ears to wear it.
If children are making it, fabric double-sided tape works well too.
Try using it for pretend play as a doctor.
stethoscope
A stethoscope—the thing doctors use to listen to heartbeats—is the classic symbol of a doctor, right? You can actually make one easily with a plastic bottle and a headband.
However, this idea uses an iron, so be sure to make it with an adult.
Cut off the mouth of the plastic bottle, then press the cut edge against a hot iron to melt and round it.
Wrap white tape around the headband, then connect the headband and the plastic bottle with yarn.
After that, decorate it however you like and it’s done! Try holding the headband to your ears and play with it.
[Handmade] Ideas for Tools You Can Use for Playing Doctor (11–20)
medicine pouch
Would you like to try making a medicine pouch using felt? Cut a piece of felt into a rectangle, fold it in half, then slide the top layer down slightly and glue it.
The part left unglued will become the flap, so attach hook-and-loop fasteners to keep it closed.
Add a cross mark to the center of the front of the pouch, and you’re done.
This idea uses white felt, but if you’re making it for pretend doctor play, colorful felt works great too.
Try making them in various sizes.
topical medication
@ai_paint_diy Day 3 of the doctor play series! We’re making an ointment container! By stuffing tissues inside, it won’t get crushed even if it’s squeezed hard.work#cardboardEcoRecycleHandmadeHandmade#OuchiMonte#crafts#EducationalPlay#WorkingGirl#HandmadeToys#StayHomeTime#CardboardCraftscardboardRole play#DoctorPlayTopical medication
♬ Una Nota – J Balvin & Sech
When you go to a dermatology clinic and the like, you’re often prescribed tubes of ointment.
Here’s an idea for making that kind of ointment tube out of cardboard.
Peel off the top layer of the cardboard, roll it into a cylinder, and glue it.
Flatten and seal one end, then stuff tissues inside.
Leave the other end unflattened, glue on an oval-shaped piece of cardboard to close it, and attach a cap made by rolling thin cardboard and sticking it onto the oval.
Decorate the tube to look like medicine, and you’re done.
Make various kinds of ointments and prescribe them according to your patients’ symptoms.
Medication Notebook
The medication record booklet you need when receiving medicine.
If you’ve ever been to a hospital, you probably have at least one.
While digitization has been progressing recently, for pretend play it’s better to have a physical booklet.
Prepare a notebook in your preferred size, print the necessary pages found in a real medication record booklet, then enlarge or reduce them to fit your notebook and paste them in.
Finally, write your name, and it’s done! You could also write the names of medicines on label stickers and actually stick them in as you play—that might make it even more fun.
toothbrush
Let’s make a toothbrush out of origami—perfect for when kids want to play dentist! In this origami, creating crease lines is especially important, so take your time with each step.
Once you’ve made the creases, simply fold in the edges, roll it up to make it long and thin, and then form the brush part.
Toward the end the paper will overlap and get stiff, so if a child is trying it, an adult should give them a hand.
To keep the folded parts from coming undone, secure the end with double-sided tape.
You can also make small cuts in the brush section to make it look even more realistic!