DIY: Fairy Houses For Your Garden
In the dark and drizzle of winter we long for warm sunny days and the freedom to enjoy them but few of us are fortunate enough to be able to do so for more than a week or two. Summer holidays can mean very different things to the various members of the family. For adults it's escape from the routine of work; for school age children the escape from the routine of school. But what about the pre-schoolers and young children for whom school is not a burden but an adventure in learning? When school terms end, learners need new adventures and pre-schoolers need something to lure them away from the television. The past twenty years have seen the re-kindling of an interest that occupied the summers of children in the age of Victoria through to about 1950 or so when TV began to take the place of outdoor play. That pastime involves adventures in the Realm of Faery. Most children are curious about the hidden worlds from whence come their favourite stories and fantasy characters, the world of Faery.
Psychic Adventure DIY Fairy Houses
In the last weeks of summer when they are running out of ideas to keep themselves busy and
entertained, children are especially prone to boredom with all of its attendant ills: quarrelsomeness, dangerous pranks, etc. But the last weeks of summer also offer a wonderful opportunity for total engagement. As unpicked berries begin to shrivel and fall from the vines, dry leaves drift to the ground, flowers need to be 'dead- headed', pine cones drop onto forest floors, birds lose feathers and squirrels knock nuts out of trees onto the ground, a whole new world of possibilities opens up: the chance for families to build houses for the fairy guardians of the wild places to rest and refresh themselves in the cold months ahead. The enormous popularity of photo-essay books documenting fairy houses that dot parks and woodlands in the state of Maine has drawn thousands of tourists every summer and spread the idea of building fairy houses as a family acitvity around the globe.
entertained, children are especially prone to boredom with all of its attendant ills: quarrelsomeness, dangerous pranks, etc. But the last weeks of summer also offer a wonderful opportunity for total engagement. As unpicked berries begin to shrivel and fall from the vines, dry leaves drift to the ground, flowers need to be 'dead- headed', pine cones drop onto forest floors, birds lose feathers and squirrels knock nuts out of trees onto the ground, a whole new world of possibilities opens up: the chance for families to build houses for the fairy guardians of the wild places to rest and refresh themselves in the cold months ahead. The enormous popularity of photo-essay books documenting fairy houses that dot parks and woodlands in the state of Maine has drawn thousands of tourists every summer and spread the idea of building fairy houses as a family acitvity around the globe.Psychic Adventure DIY Fairy Houses
Introducing the idea of creating fairy houses by reading a story about fairies with your children leads naturally to the question of who can guess how to make houses to draw fairies into the garden. Kids rise to the challenge instantly with all kinds of suggestions. Explaining that only natural materials will
do and that those items must be already on the ground can get children interested in really looking at the natural world around them. This is also a good time to introduce the idea of asking permission of the natural world before picking anything up and carrying it off. Fairies are very respectful of the territories of creatures in the wild and we need to follow their example by seeking permission from the trees, plants, and fallen natural elements before we begin to collect them. The process of collecting these elements can be presented as an expedition. This phase can also include a trip to the library to see if the kids can find any books about fairy houses and how others have made them, or books about the local trees and plants so that the children can learn the names of the species from the types of leaves and nuts or berries they bear and which animals eat those things. If you are fortunate enough to live near a beach, the children can bring a little shovel and buckets to collect some sand, bits of driftwood, sea glass or dried seaweed, shells (if it is permitted to remove them), pebbles, etc. The sand can be used to line the "floor" of the faery house where fairies can take naps when they are tired. Children can be encouraged to thank the spirits of the sea and sand for letting them remove things to use in the fairy house.
do and that those items must be already on the ground can get children interested in really looking at the natural world around them. This is also a good time to introduce the idea of asking permission of the natural world before picking anything up and carrying it off. Fairies are very respectful of the territories of creatures in the wild and we need to follow their example by seeking permission from the trees, plants, and fallen natural elements before we begin to collect them. The process of collecting these elements can be presented as an expedition. This phase can also include a trip to the library to see if the kids can find any books about fairy houses and how others have made them, or books about the local trees and plants so that the children can learn the names of the species from the types of leaves and nuts or berries they bear and which animals eat those things. If you are fortunate enough to live near a beach, the children can bring a little shovel and buckets to collect some sand, bits of driftwood, sea glass or dried seaweed, shells (if it is permitted to remove them), pebbles, etc. The sand can be used to line the "floor" of the faery house where fairies can take naps when they are tired. Children can be encouraged to thank the spirits of the sea and sand for letting them remove things to use in the fairy house.Fairy House Utopia
Some parks may even provide areas where children can build their fairy houses. The Isle of
the Shoals and Monhegan Island off the coast of the American state of Maine have set aside areas where children are welcome to build fairy houses using only materials they find on the ground. This means no plastic or resin items, nothing that comes from outside of the island site. The result is a veritable colony of fairy dwellings including little fairy theatres, fairy swings, even fairy bath tubs (large sea shells that catch rainwater. The popularity of this venue for families on holiday in the area as well as year-round residents of Maine, is largely down to the success of books by local author Tracy Kane. Fairy Houses Everywhere! is a compendium of the best and most interesting structures created by children and families. The photographs are stunning in their clarity and detail and kids can spend hours just studying the images to find all the treasures hidden in each Fairy House. One thing is certain: there is nothing boring about these amazing fairy dwellings and if fairy etiquette is observed you may even be rewarded by a glimpse of the fairy world just the other side of ours.
the Shoals and Monhegan Island off the coast of the American state of Maine have set aside areas where children are welcome to build fairy houses using only materials they find on the ground. This means no plastic or resin items, nothing that comes from outside of the island site. The result is a veritable colony of fairy dwellings including little fairy theatres, fairy swings, even fairy bath tubs (large sea shells that catch rainwater. The popularity of this venue for families on holiday in the area as well as year-round residents of Maine, is largely down to the success of books by local author Tracy Kane. Fairy Houses Everywhere! is a compendium of the best and most interesting structures created by children and families. The photographs are stunning in their clarity and detail and kids can spend hours just studying the images to find all the treasures hidden in each Fairy House. One thing is certain: there is nothing boring about these amazing fairy dwellings and if fairy etiquette is observed you may even be rewarded by a glimpse of the fairy world just the other side of ours.
© Delia O' Riordan 2012
The media cited in this post can be found HERE. in the Fantasy Section.
Image credit: Arthur Rackham's Fairy Ring courtesy of Wikimedia Creative Commons.
Online Resources for building fairy houses:
