Get Outside And...Have a Fairy Tea Party

At the most recent meetup of my nature-based playgroup, we hosted a Fairy Tea Party at a local park and sprayground and it was such a hit that I had to share it here. Traveling with my three kids plus materials means that my activities have to be easily transportable. In an effort to preserve the financial accessibility of nature play and parks to families and children of all ages, I keep my events free of charge, so I also have a steadfast rule to use materials I have on hand. And the Fairy Tea Party has it all: the perfect combination of arts & crafts and water play with a fairy-tale theme. It's the perfect way to spend an afternoon in the sprinkler park or to do in your own backyard.

 When I do make & take projects at playgroup meetups, I like to keep them as open-ended (re: low maintenance and minimal directing on my part) as possible. Some activities do require more instruction or involvement, but with three of my own little ones on hand and a park full of attractions, I need to be able to tend to my group and my kids. I found this setup to be one of my most successful in that a certain little Y was feeling quite needy that day and C really wanted to be held, fed or worn the entire time (in 90 degree temps), and at one point I came back to our shaded picnic area to find a group of kids and adults having a great time making peg doll fairies and magic wands! Dream. Come. True!

I had set materials out on the table, a few "examples," for inspiration and our Little Traveling Nature Library was stocked with some themed reading for young readers some nature based resources for the grown ups.

We tested out Y's magic wand to see if it
could get him to stop whining that
afternoon; it didn't work...but I
think he made up for it in cuteness...

Keeping materials at a minimum and able to be used in a multitude of ways allowed for our art activities to be very open ended and independently implemented. To make your own wooden peg doll fairies and magic wands, you might include:

• wooden clothes pins (the old fashioned type, not the type with the spring)
• wooden dowels (I had very thin, short ones, you can choose any size, but I liked these for little hands)
• foam star stickers (easiest to stick onto each other or even layer)
• curling ribbon
• deconstructed artificial flowers & leaves (we have a lot of dollar tree flowers leftover from other crafts and play activities)
• tacky glue or school glue
• floral tape
• markers
• scissors
• masking tape/marker for labeling names 
• sectioned serving tray for displaying materials*

*These items are helpful if you're running a group or party. Most of the items on this list are available at Dollar Tree stores and the rest can be found inexpensively at Walmart or on Amazon.

In my examples, I used leaves as fairy wings on my peg doll and added details with marker and stickers. It was fun to see how the children and other adults got creative with flowers and stickers, etc. Wands were easily constructed with stickers and ribbons or flowers and floral tape or even combinations thereof.

And while the title of my event indicates that we had tea, I keep my public events on a BYO food/drink basis. Nonetheless, a fabulous tea party occurred in the sprinkler pad with children of all ages both from our group and just visiting the park preparing, pouring and playing with toy dishes from our collection at home. All of our play dishes were purchased secondhand at a thrift shop. These types of things make a great take-along to the pool, sprinkler park or even your bathtub. I cannot stress enough the value in having something little hands can hold (fill and pour from) when it comes to waterplay, particularly for those who may be reluctant to get wet. And I found this to be a versatile add in as well in terms of age-range. Children ranging from several months to 7 years old were having a blast!

So, whether you're planning a summer birthday party, a playdate at the park or even your own backyard, consider a Fairy Tea Party of your own. You might even take along a jug of sun tea or brew some homemade peppermint tea from your herb garden to serve along with it. We'll be back with more summer fun in the days to come.

Until then...

Happy Playing!