Invitation to Play about Fairy Gardens

Just as we got busy playing about fairy tales and getting ready for Purim here, S fell in love with the book Fairy Houses by Tracy Kane. Truly, this book combines two of my greatest loves playing and exploring with young children: whimsical fairies and a reverence for nature. I often have a plan for our mornings and afternoons together here and I thought we would be spending these weeks exploring versions of common fairy tales, incorporating STEM activities, dramatic play and story telling. But sometimes, the kids get hooked on a theme and I love the opportunity to run with it. Tailoring our activities to their specific interests and curiosities really honors their role in navigating their learning and play as well as their equally important role in helping to create our family routine. So we embarked on a whimsical world of fairy play here, concocting potions, planting and playing in fairy gardens and building a tiny world of wonder.

There are ample opportunities in the world of parenting to decide how to handle matters of mythology and imagination. Do we embrace or ignore fairy tales, unicorns, dragons and other matters of imagination? Furthermore, if we do engage in play about superheros, fairies, fictional friends and characters, are we perpetuating a false reality for our children? I believe that in most cases, children--even the very young--are aware and understanding of fact versus fiction. I also believe that having room and space to play about and engage with these ideas, that we also encourage important critical thinking and problem solving skills along with nurturing children's inherent creativity. Y is quite young and mostly plays through mimicking what he sees in real life, be it through daily routines and activities or the way that his older brother plays. S is more abstract in his play schemas now, creating rich stories and talking through characters at this point rather than only about them. He does know fairies are "make-believe" and he enjoys playing about them all the same. He knows, too, that his fictional friends Sally and Jerome are "make-believe" and uses them as well to share stories and experiences. These are valuable play experiences.

After we read Fairy  for the bazillionth time one Shabbos, S and Y both really wanted to make their own. There are great ideas in the back of the book for making fairy houses outdoors in all four seasons using only items gathered from nature. We also love to bring bits of nature indoors--especially in this season, as we begin to transition from winter into spring. I decided the boys would each love to plant and have their own fairy garden indoors and when the weather is warm enough, we will be able to transition them outside. We began by planting wheat grass seeds:

We used some leftover wheat grass seeds from last year, potting soil and a couple of large plastic pots from the dollar tree...

Y felt this activity called for a chef's hat...

We watered and waited, watered and waited...

The waiting part is a little hard. Waiting for spring. Waiting for seeds to sprout. S is so excited to "mow the lawn" (cut the grass) once it is tall enough--this was an activity he did last year when we used wheat grass seeds to plant grass hair on some funny face pots. So rather than simply wait, we engaged in some fairy garden play using the lavender bud playdough we made at our Fairy Potions Creation Station the previous week. The boys loved this activity so much, we did it twice! 

I set out our playdough, a collection of artificial flowers, fairy garden accessories (purchased from Dollar Tree), glass stones and marbles and wooden miniature furniture from a craft supply store (also $1 a piece) for them to design, build and play with. Their playdough fairy gardens were so unique, extending beyond the confines of one space to include flower patches, areas for fairy play and so much more!

The second time we did the activity, I added in some cookie cutters and playdough tools. S ended up baking up a batch of tiny cookies for the fairies and Y brought over a tiny ice cream dish from our kitchen set and made them an ice cream party!

We were so busy playing here that I almost didn't notice that our wheat grass had sprouted up! So one morning while I was able to step out for a bit, I picked up some small flower plants from our Trader Joe's floral department super inexpensively and Y helped me plant them in the pots. That afternoon, S and Y were eager to play outside in our play garden, but landscapers were working out front to trim the hedges. We thought we might go to the backyard, but then I realized it was also under some maintenance and construction as our apartment complex readies for spring, so I quickly set out the growing fairy gardens and our baskets of fairy play accessories and sat next to the boys at our dining room table to watch the fun unfold...

Their fairy gardens extended beyond the gardens themselves and across the table! It was so much fun to watch them build, design, deconstruct, re-construct, play and engage in whimsical fun! Soon enough, the landscapers were done out front and we were able to get our coats [back] on and get outside for a bit of outdoor play before the sun set.

 No, these are not your mother's fairy gardens...these are hands-on and all hands in play gardens. As such, we opted for inexpensive plants (but real ones nonetheless) and accessories that are safe and ok for small hands to handle. We will surely love playing outside with these as well once the weather warms. Fairy Houses can be played about indoors or out, year round, with or without a garden. Small toys and loose parts can be brought outdoors year round to play in nature. We are not rigid about adhering to the "rule" of only using items found in nature, but we are careful about only using items not still growing and not leaving anything outdoors that would be harmful. Here are a few other ways to play...

We used a wooden crate as an outdoor "doll house."

Here's a larger fairy garden from last summer...

We even take small toys and accessories on the go to parks and public gardens...
It's a great way to play or bring life to a great story outside.

We'll be back soon and until then....

Happy Playing!