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Monday, May 23, 2011

Backyard Fairies

My daughter loves fairies.  I love fairies.  And every year we attend a Fairy Festival at a local garden.  It's free, it's beautiful, and it's outdoors!
Ariel also has a small fairy garden she tends; adding and taking away gifts and toys for her fairies and trimming the succulents which make-up her garden.  Recently though, my backyard had become a jungle.  My kids were outside playing with a garden sensory tub I'd put together filled with green and yellow split peas, dry kidney beans, small flowerpots, faux flowers, bugs, and snakes.  It became quiet, so of course that was my cue to check-up on them.  I discovered some delightful imaginary fairy play....

The first thing I noticed were all the missing sensory items...
 The kids, still in their jammies, had found a tuff of grass to create their fairy world.  Michael was sprinkling peas around the grassy forest while Ariel was lost in creative thought.
 First she arranged some of the fake flowers to her liking.
 Uggghhhh!  Snakes and lizards in the grass!  
 Then the bugs and flowerpots were arranged.  Doesn't that spider look real?
 Close-up of our lizard friend.
 If you look closely, you can see that my daughter even created a path from some of the peas and beans.
 And of course, our fairy...
 This fairy reminds me of Miss Muffet   
 Ariel adjusting her work.  

I left the play area alone for a few days, but eventually I had to mow the lawn.  I was disappointed as I loved looking at it whenever I went outside.  My son moved a few things around, as he does with Ariel's regular fairy garden, so it was changed slightly every time I took a look.  Even though we had to remove it, I know it gives the kids a chance to create something new next time.    

A fairy garden is a magical creation and can contain whatever elements you and your child chooses.  It can be a play garden that constantly changes or a flower garden with added imagination and flair.  Get creative and try using items you already have: old barbie toys, a flower pot for the fairies house, sticks, etc.  For some great ideas check out these sites:




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8 comments:

  1. SOooooo sweet! I love that they were playing together too. I wish we had a fairy festival near us!

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  2. Great minds - I have a post on fairy gardens tomorrow. Fairy gardens are just irresistible for little girls (all I had at our house was superheros, trucks and lego!).

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  3. I love how your backyard fairies enjoy playing throughout your yard. What fun for the kiddos! Thanks so much for the shout out.

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  4. I love how they moved the items and made a place of their own! I have had a fairy garden on my list of things to do for quite some time.... Hoping to make it happen this summer!

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  5. Just gorgeous... my kids would love to be out there playing too. Perhaps you need to grow a tray of grass so they can have a mobile garden?

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  6. Fairies are so enchanting. I love how the snakes, spiders and fairies live together!!

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  7. This is just adorable! Would love it if you'd come link this up to the Outdoor Play linky/hop!

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