Building and Tending a Fairy House

​Posted by Anne McCarthy, Cattails teacher

Where would a fairy like to live? What does a gnome need to feel at home?
Dedicating a spot in your yard (or in a natural area you visit frequently, if a yard is not available) as a place where your child can construct a fairy or gnome home, has many benefits:

• Your child gets to take care of someone littler than them. They practice caretaking by wondering just what a fairy might want or need to be comfortable. Would they want a special chair to watch the moon and stars? How about a bed? What would a gnome eat?
  
• Asking those questions engages their imagination, which in turn cranks up their creativity: how will I make a fairy seat? What natural materials would make for a soft bed? (If I was a fairy, I would most definitely sleep on a Wooly Mullein leaf… have you touched one?) 
  
• Constructing a small home also requires planning and fine motor skills, as well as patience: sometimes it takes just the right piece of wood and the right touch to construct a roof that won’t cave in
  
• Finding the right materials will send your child to wander. They’ll discover all sorts of other interesting things on the way.
  
• Coming back to the same spot frequently, sitting quietly(sit spot) —visiting, checking in and repairing—will allow your child to connect deeply with nature: Birds and other animals will get used to them being in that spot and resume their normal activity; children might notice the subtle seasonal shifts throughout the year by returning to the same spot over and over.

There are no rules to building fairy houses, no right or wrong way. They’re all different, and interesting in their own way. Some might be tall, others underground… You might be surprised what your child will come up with.
So get out there and start building (you might even want to make one yourself, who knows?)