January 2026 - Child's Play

For January, we asked you to send in a picture of children playing or where they might have just been ... basically toys!

Miniature room scene with several figures gathered around a desk, shelves, windows, and plants.

Our challenge sample comes from Terry Unnold who writes: 

This is a Toy Shop I made in 1997 at a workshop with Gail Vaughn. It was my very first workshop at a NAME Convention! As you can see, the children are up to all sorts of mischief.

Miniature toy shop façade with a green door, brick walls, and a bay window display.

From Terry Unnold:

More of Terry's Toy Shop

From Barbara Thornton-Hill:

This is a scene made in my club many years ago when our project was to use a book and make a scene about it. This is from the children’s book “The Day Henry Cleaned His Room” and it looks like my craft room and my son’s room as a child.

Cluttered dollhouse bedroom with scattered toys, a broken chair, and furniture in disarray
Miniature dollhouse bedroom with two colorful beds, a pink desk, and toy shelves on a wooden floor

From Cindy Bottasso:

Here’s a children’s playroom with my kid's guinea pigs on the floor playing.

From Connie Smith:

One picture shows where children played in an early 1900s themed room. Another picture where kids were playing outside.


Miniature dollhouse attic room with table, chairs, toys, books, and a fireplace display
Miniature dollhouse interior with wooden balcony, arched window, and tiny figures in a warmly lit room

From Peggy McLoughlin:

This refurbished house of mine is always open for playtime. Even when it’s supposed to be nap time. Jack is trying to shoot Jill with gummies over the banister while his ‘Lita gets the babies to sleep while she knits.

From Maria Florencia Alecci:

I want to share my tiny doll house from a name kit. In the picture it is also a chair. That chair is from 1996. It was the first miniature kit I ever built.


Floral armchair and small wooden table beside stacked books in a cozy, book-themed display
Miniature bedroom scene on a round base with two dolls, a panda, blue rug, and tiny furniture.

From Sandra Whipple:

This is my Child’s play project. It uses an assortment of items from our Retreat Into Miniatures table gift bag from a couple years ago.

From Julia Greenhalf:

Not sure this counts but the only miniature I’ve got with a child in it!! Loved making this room box.
Miniature dollhouse bedroom with blue bed, window, rug, and small furniture on a wooden shelf.
Victorian-style bedroom with ornate bed, vanity, chairs, and a child sitting on the floor among toys

From Lori Kagan-Moore:

"Bad Kitty" at The Great American Dollhouse Museum in Danville, KY. On this day, Gregory has wreaked havoc on every room in this large dollhouse by artist Liz Le Bosse. Here we see him dying the cat with his Easter egg coloring kit. Boy/Cat/Dye kit-- Alice Zinn, Chests--Tony Jones, Bed--Ruth Bradley, Chair-- Nicole, Walton-Marble, Staging--Lori Kagan-Moore

From Susan Sharratt:

One year, my mini club, Startin' Small decided to make our annual project a "street of shops". We were each to make the shop with a large front window so everyone could peep inside. I was inspired to make a toy shop because I had purchased a Pinocchio on a trip to Italy that year. He sits in front of the shop. When the club had our holiday party in December, everyone knew I was making a toy shop, so in our "swap" I received lots of cute toys, all of which reside in the shop. I don't use people in my projects, but I can imagine a group of children peeking into that window and yearning to enter and shop. 
Toy store display with brick facade, blue window, toy blocks, nutcracker, and wooden fence
Miniature dollhouse scene with green yard, orange roof, table, pink chair, and a seesaw in front

From Ruth Goodger:

Ruth's submissions

From Paula Richards:

The scene on my bookshelf depicts children having played under the kitchen table of my 1940’s kitchen. My great niece and nephew, Sofia and Teo, are pictured peeking through the window.
Miniature green dollhouse room with furniture, table, cabinets, stove, and woven rug beneath a shelf structure
Children playing on a playground with a yellow toy car, slide, and climbing structure.

From Amy White:

Good old-fashioned playtime. Inspired by the January challenge, I assembled a kit that I had for almost 2 years and dressed some dolls that I have had longer than that.

From Lee Weinstein:

Attached are 2 photos of my very first Convention project done in the late 80’s - early 90’s in Chicago. I filled it with stuff I bought in the wondrous sales room. When I found the doll I named it “But there’s nothing to do”!
Decorative miniature storefront with pink flowers, greenery, and a tall arched window in a display case
Cozy dollhouse bedroom with canopy bed, vanity, wardrobe, stool, lamp, and tiny festive decor

From Elizabeth Cockrum:

Attached are 2 photos. Sister is setting up monopoly game waiting for her brother to come play with her. Brother is playing with toy train. 

From Sally Lonn:

From a house party the Thursday night project was a playhouse. I repainted the house in Gabi’s favorite colors of pink and purple. I included lots of toys she loved around five years of age. Gabriella is now 15. She still loves unicorns. pandas, games, art of any kind and loves her American Girl dolls. I included dress up, painting and pretend cooking with a tea party. The puzzle on the table spells out her name. This is now at her house with much love created by Grammy.
Pink dollhouse attic room filled with toys, miniature shelves, and colorful dolls on a sloped ceiling
Miniature dollhouse room with pink furniture, dolls, and a central doorway under a peaked roof.

From Vicki Skidmore:

My first picture is a playhouse for the little girl. The kitchen cabinet is a Hallmark ornament and the various plastic pieces are from a junk box at a doll show. (The mop is from my own childhood toy set, I always have saved mini's!). The second picture is made in a "book" box from a convention. The bed kit and doll in box were prizes from an early fundraiser (rubber duck race maybe). Various toys and accessories have been added over time.

From Dori Allard:

First one is my little girl bedroom in my dollhouse. She can't decide which doll to play with!Second one is her older sister, studying with a friend. Also in my dollhouse.3 and 4 are a Peter Rabbit themed room box!
Miniature dollhouse and dolls in a cozy room, with a blue-roofed house in the foreground.
Red couch with dolls beside a lit Christmas tree and holiday decor

From Kirsten Smolensky:

Below are two pictures, one of Santa‘s workshop where the toys are being made. The second is a small child sitting on the sofa in Santa‘s house.

From Kim Fitzsimmons:

Georgie’s Room (Stephen King House) - Georgie is napping before he heads out in his yellow rain slicker with his paper boat. He will meet Pennywise the clown. Clowns decorate Georgie’s room, including one wearing a paper hat, just like Georgie’s boat. Not the child’s play most will submit. This one has an eerie feel as was intended in my Stephen King House.
Miniature dollhouse room with wooden furniture, yellow figurine, toy table, dresser, and red bike on a brown floor.
Miniature toy room display on a purple base with small figures, furniture, and a crib-like bed

From Carol Shea:

These pictures were the result of an announcement made on Labor Day before we were blessed with triplets.

From Chris Pecherzewski:

“Boys will be boys!” 
Hey, Let’s play !!
Toy dolls and stuffed animals arranged in a dollhouse bedroom with beds, dresser, and scattered toys.
Model biplane on bright green grass with trees in the background, viewed from the front

From Elizabeth Lubera:

For the January 2026 “Child’s Play” challenge, I am submitting a child's airplane that I created in 1997 during a meeting of my WeeBees miniature club. The basic materials for the project came from a class at the 1997 NAME Convention in Kansas City. 
The “airplane” shown here – clearly created by a child for imaginative play – is composed of miniature-sized everyday items that a child might find around the house/backyard. These include: wooden crates (for the body of the airplane), a Radio Flyer wagon (for the wheels), window shutters and a piece of aluminum siding (for the wings), a metal washtub (for the front of the plane) and scrap wood (for the propeller). 
Given that I made the project for my grandson, Steven -- on the occasion of his birth -- I have added other personal touches to the project over the years. These include: a little bear/pilot wearing a purple scarf (the colors of his high school), miniature toys (a hockey stick, car and airplane), and a flag for the Detroit Red Wings (his favorite sports team). The miniature tools reflect his experience in home repair and remodeling. There is even a mini photo of him glued to the "plane"!

From Margaret Gordus:

Toy Shop I remade for my Great Grandson after losing my original in the fire. Many items are donations from" world of miniaturists" {Only through sharing can we really enjoy our treasures)



Cluttered toy room with shelves of stuffed animals, dolls, and miniature furniture, plus a doll in front.
Miniature village scene with dolls at a pink cottage, stone well, and garden path

From Pamela Junk:

"Girls just wanna have fun". These Julie Stevens little girls are enjoying playing together in different activities all around the outside of a house.

From Connie Reagan:

Fun vintage toys and toy box by Grandgirl Miniatures.
Wooden toy shelf labeled “Toys” with small cars and figurines, beside a baby doll and scattered toys on the floor
Miniature dollhouse room with window, shelves, white furniture, pink accents, and stuffed animals

From Elaine Levine:

Attached is a picture of a young girl in her room - the family cat has just presented her with a gift of love -- a mouse!! 
This was one of the first room boxes I made and was made at a St. Louis/Missouri State Day, probably in the 1980s. Most of the things in the box are things I loved to play with as a child.

From Melody Petlock:

Here is my kids' clubhouse from a True to Scale kit with lots of my own landscaping and embellishments.
I'm sending front and back views.
Miniature rustic shed scene with tree, fence, target, barrels, and small black structure on grass.
Miniature dollhouse room with patterned wallpaper, fireplace, piano, and small figurines on display.

From Julia Tchikine:

This is the nursery in my dollhouse, where some small animals are enjoying a tea party together, and one is admiring the view out of the window. This was one of the first rooms I finished in my dollhouse, and I think it looks just as adorable now as it did when I finished it a few years ago!

From Cat Wingler:

Here’s a picture of toys I used to make when I used to make toys.

Miniature haunted house display with ornate decorations, a red toy truck, framed mirror, and tiny figures on a dark backdrop
Children's playroom with crib, rocking chair, toys, and wall letters reading "Eric Luke"

From Julie Stuckmeyer:

I rarely put dolls in my miniatures, but this room could be one of my boy's bedroom when they were little. Eric or Luke could be just around the corner with their toys left scattered about.