Project: Fairy House

Yesterday morning Cordelia asked me if I thought fairies were real. These kind of questions are tricky for me. On the one hand I do not want to lie to my children. I want them to know that I will always be honest with them. This is why we have never done the Santa gig. On the other hand I do not want to take away the fun of imaginative play and the wonder of possibilities. Also, it is tricky when asked if unicorns are real...I mean a narwhal is definitely a sea unicorn.

My response was vague enough that I didn't squelch imagination. I said something like,"Well I have never ever seen a fairy." She took that and thought for a moment. She then said,"I have decided to believe that fairies might be real." Then she asked if she could build a fairy house. I agreed to the project.

So after lunch we set up on the back porch with a box that had previously held soy milk. We had some glue and a few soy yogurt cups (emptied and cleaned). I also grabbed some burlap type fabric and a hunk of wood.

The girls gathered grasses and leaves and sticks. Cordelia wanted to make sure the fairy house was camouflaged. She guided the project while Elise and I followed her lead. Elise spent a lot of time playing her own thing when the making process became too dull.

Cordelia in the process of making.

I cut out a door and windows, removed the flaps of the box. Grass was glued to the sides of the box, leaves to the top. Sticks were made into a fence. The yogurt cups and burlap were made into beds. I used the wood chuck to fashion a porch. 

One of two beds.

The whole project took a couple of hours. Once the house was made each girl dug little underground shelters for fairies in case of winter or tornadoes. Fun was had, imagination and innovation happened. It was a good afternoon outside.

Ha ha, this was Elise when I asked her to smile.

Proud of her creation.

Betty Spinkles laid on top of the fence, but the girls decided she was the protector of the fairy house.