“When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces
and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies.
And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy.
So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl.”
~Peter Pan
My children know the truth about fairies, but that certainly doesn’t keep us from having fun with some pretending! With the weather warmer and us spending as much time as possible outside before the insufferable heat of the summer sets in, I decided to surprise my children with a few projects related to fairies! I suggest making this a school outside day! Take your child to a park with a walking trail and do school someplace along the trail.
Reading: First of all, you can’t learn about fairies without reading Peter Pan. My younger daughter is crazy about Peter Pan and my eldest loves anything and everything girly so they were more than excited when I announced this book as our read aloud. But, I wanted to do more so a bit of “Googling” gave me the idea of having the girls do fairy houses and a fairy garden! Of course, everything in homeschooling is learning so here are my suggestions on making your fairy day a full on learning experience!
Poetry/Writing: The evening before (or whenever you repack boxes/files) your fairy house project, print out a copy of this poem, Fairy Houses, and stick it into your child’s workbox/file. Have them write their own fairy poem or even do an acrostic using the letters in the word FAIRY.
Getting ready to create fairy houses!
Math: After you read the poem talk about the kinds of things that fairy houses might be made of. You will want to talk about size, scale, and location. Approximate the size of a fairy.
Science: What kind of fairy friendly plants are there where you live? What kind of materials would a fairy house be made of? Would a fairy pick living plants to create their house or would they try to utilize things that were already dead? How would a fairy stay hidden from birds? Since fairy houses often have mushrooms in them, now would also be a good time to talk about safety with plants that could be toxic.
History/Bible: For older children research the history of fairies. Fairies were a part of some pagan cultures so this is also an opportunity to talk about the spiritual aspects of fairy mythology. Have younger children make a list of popular fairies and then research, with them, the history of fairies.
Collecting items to build our fairy houses
Now on to the best part! Head to the park (if you aren’t there already) and find a walking trail. While you are walking, collect the materials you will need for your fairy house so that once you find the perfect spot you can start building. Look for some of the items you talked about when discussing what materials you would use to build a fairy house. Reeds, rocks, mushrooms (be sure they are safe!), moss, and just about anything can be used on a fairy house. Have your child pick a spot to build their house. Take into account that a fairy would want to be hidden, but my children wanted others to be able to see the houses so we picked spots that were out of the way but still noticeable if someone was paying attention. Now that you have the perfect spot, build your house!
Keira's completed fairy house
Fairy houses are a fun way to build a temporary fantasy world, but we wanted to do something a bit more permanent that we could enjoy all the time. So we headed to the local garden center and picked out plants for a fairy garden! This might have been more fun than the fairy houses. We picked out all kinds of fairy looking plants, including grasses and succulents and then we planted them. I used an old sensory table that had been taking up space, but you can use anything you like! The girls go out daily without prompting to check on their garden and I plan on one day sneaking a fairy figurine into it.
Our fairy garden
There are so many fun extras that you can add to your “fairy day”. Design some clothes for your fairy, make a meal that you think fairies would like, or you can even do a Peter Pan Lapbook or or make this fairy in a jar project. No matter how you do it, studying fairies is a “magical” adventure that your children will remember!
About Anna Molder
Great post! We loved making Fairy homes last year. The kids scoured the yard finding pieces that were just right for their house. My 7 year old still goes out every two months or so and builds a new one, so it is definitely a magical lesson that last. : )
This is too much fun Anna. Thank you for sharing these great ideas. Fun + Learning = Happy Students.
This is so fun, Anna! My oldest was really into fairies for several years when younger. One year my mom gave her a box of fairy house supplies from her wooded property as a Christmas gift. She also included some craft store items, like decorative stones. I hadn’t considered turning it into a unit study!