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Hold
Your Own
Fairy
Houses Building Event!
It's easier than you
might think!
See pictures from Kazoodles event in Vancouver, WA!  |
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History
Families have been building fairy houses on islands off the coast of Maine
for decades.
“The Fairy Houses Series” of picture books and video
introduce this enchanting theme and activity, inspiring all generations. |
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Event
types include:
Schools,
Libraries, Retail Stores, Nature Centers, Retirement Communities, Birthday
Parties, Girl Scouts ...
Preparation
for the Event
Announce
you are having "A Day
of Enchantment,"and will be creating a "Fairy Houses Village" on
the grounds or a nearby suitable location. When signing up children/families
for this event, it’s
great to involve parents and grandparents, when possible. Plus they
are very willing and helpful! Encourage
everyone to bring a grocery bag/basket of natural materials to build
with. These
materials could include various sized branches, bark, dry grasses, stones,
pinecones, shells, acorns, feathers, cut lawn grass, etc. With a large
group of 20 to 30 children - it’s advisable to have extra materials;
a couple of bushels of branches for the basic structure, and a bale of
hay provide lovely thatched roofs and soft floors. In the autumn there
is a wealth of dried materials - milkweed pods, colorful leaves, nuts,
dried flowers. Remember, the two critical rules for building materials
is to use only natural materials and not to harm anything that is still
growing, (although garden trimmings from home are great to recycle!)
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At the Event
Read the book “Fairy
Houses” and/or
show the video to your group of children. Schools should show the video “Kristen’s
Fairy House” a couple days before to inspire kids to collect building
materials ahead of
time. Ask the children if they know what the word “artificial” means
and make
sure they can distinguish it from “natural”. Show them the photos
of children with their fairy houses that you can download from this file.
(People love to see the real fairy houses). Point out the different approaches
to building and
the way the materials were used. Before going outside encourage the kids
to partner and share their building materials in creating their houses. |
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Site Location
If
there is an area with bushes and trees, that’s a perfect building
spot. A small courtyard
with plantings or along a pathway is fine too. Fairy houses can be built
up against building
foundations, in planters and window boxes. Ask the children to pick a
spot first for their house and then invite them to share the extra materials,
(which you have provided and placed there ahead of time.) |
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Helpful Hints
It’s
easiest to build your first fairy house against a tree trunk, bush, rocks
or wall. Suggest the children make a path leading to the front door – to
guide the fairies into the house. (The most rustic construction looks like
a home when a walkway is added.)
Acorn caps and small
shell make nice fairy dishes; dried milkweed pods with their fluffy seeds
make lovely soft fairy beds. A large shell can be filled with water for
a fairy bathtub. When the houses are nearly complete it’s time to
leave some food for the fairies. I carry around a small pack with extra shells,
some feathers, a bottle of water and some mixed seeds in a jar. The food
is usually a mixture that can include birdseed, red lentils and dried split
peas,
barley and sometimes cornmeal. About a teaspoonful in a shell or in acorn
caps is perfect! |
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Finish
It’s time
tour the Fairy Village and let the children see each other’s habitats.
This is also an opportunity for each child to say a few words about their
creations. Schools can follow this event up with having the children write
about their fairy houses and who might visit it, and/or
draw pictures about it.
• If this is a Birthday Party or Store event - invite the children to dress
as Fairies, Butterflies or Dragonflies. You can also serve fairy tea cakes and
juice after the activity. And don’t forget your camera – there are
some precious pictures to capture! |
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Click
on me to print large photos of
children building fairy houses to inspire
everyone at your event! |
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