Posted by Rene.Bross on 7. August 2009 17:38
All big bad wolfs aside, building a fairy house out of sticks is a really fun and creative outdoor craft project that kids just love. I first read about this crafty forest find from the Petit Planet blog. I thought this was such an enchanting outdoor project and the best part was that it required no tools or glue or scissors- just an imagination, which is something all children have pretty much anytime anywhere. Our fairy house was built yesterday. Here's our story...
After a swim at our local aquatic park, I decided that we should go in search of a local moose (yes, I said moose!) that was spotted at the Finch Aboretum near our house. I had seen him the morning before and wanted my boys (ages 4 & 6) to see him too. Where else do you get to see a real live moose? So we trekked through the park, up the gravel trail to the back of the park and we saw 1. a dog, 2. a feral cat, 3. lots of birds, 4. a squirrel, and 5. a beautiful doe, but alas, no moose. We were sadly walking back down the trail when I remembered the Petit Planet post as I spied plenty of fairy house supplies- pine cones, small branches, pine sprigs, small pebbles etc. I cheerfully asked the boys if they wanted to build a "Fairy House." (not being quite sure if the word "fairy" would go over well with my rambuncous little guys). They asked, "what's that mommy?" and I explained how you can build a fairy house out of all these things in the park and the fairies will come at night and be so happy that they have a new place to sleep. I said, "quick- grab all the sticks you can hold in your hands. We're going to need lots of sticks." They got very excited and started running around picking sticks up off the ground. Then we found a nice spot at the base of the tree and began our construction. Instantly their little creative juices got flowing and they were aligning pine cones, making a roof out of pine sprigs, making a leaf walkway. It was so fun to see them in action. But the cutest part was when my four year old asked if we could wait in the bushes until dark to see the fairies go into the house. I had to quickly come up with an excuse why we couldn't, "we can't do that this time. Daddy's waiting at home for us and is probably wondering where we are. But let's take a picture to show him what we made." And here it is...
