Awakening Your Imagination: Building Fairy Houses with Your Child
It’s a bright, spring day- a Northwest drizzle is falling softly while the sun peeks its head out from behind a nearby maple. The light is magical and you almost see little winged creatures flying from bush to bush, dodging sparkling raindrops. What could they be? Bees? Butterflies? Dragonflies? Or maybe…fairies?
On these spring and early summer days, when the world is starting to awaken and buzz with life, consider embarking on an activity with your child that is a surefire creative outlet for the whole household- building fairy houses. Think you’re not cut out for a career in architecture? Well, making fairy houses is as much imagination as it is construction, nurturing the practice of seeing the world from the perspective of a tiny creature, perhaps no larger than your thumb. As an Environmental Educator with Portland Parks and Recreation, I have honed my skills in fairy house building with help from campers at Summer Nature Day Camp. And I have found that the younger you are, the easier it is to see the world from a fairy’s eye view, so let your child take the lead!
The process begins with an exploratory walk to find a suitable location. Maybe you’ll discover a quiet hollow at the base of a tree, or a gnarled root that is exposed. You may even like the look of a low bush or the backside of a rock. Next, forage for materials – ferns as roofing, dried leaves for flooring, a variety of twigs for fairy furniture, moss for a mattress, flower petals as plates, acorn tops as bowls or cups, and velvety lichen for couch cushions. Other good materials include detached bark, pebbles, nuts, feathers, and cones. Just remember to respect already growing plants, especially in the spring when shoots are so new and when ground nesting birds are collecting materials to build their nests. But take advantage of your current location to find the best treasures, be it forest, meadow, beach, or backyard!
There are many magical spots just waiting to be explored by you and your child. By employing your imagination, you will find that many locations, from your backyard to a quiet sidewalk to your local natural area, are all ideal locations for fairies to find shelter. With the right mix of imagination, ingenuity, and secrecy, your fairy abode may be deemed habitable. And who knows, you may be rewarded with fairy gold upon your next visit!
For further inspiration in fairy lore and culture, you can seek out:
- Fairy Houses, a series by Tracy L. Kane
- The two “Fairy House Box Books” by Portland author Adrienne Keith, illustrated by Wendy Wallin Malinow
