Hannah's physical therapist came for her regular home visit, and we were brainstorming a simple activity that would entice Hannah to use the stairs repeatedly - preferably outside, because of the weather.
"Let's go build a fairy garden!" suggested Miss Becky.
Since I'm not, by default, interested in fairies, I'd never heard of a fairy garden. The girls' enthusiastic response was immediate, and soon all five of us were scouring the backyard for anything that could be used to build with.
First, we each found as large a leaf as we could for the base of the garden. Then, anything fairies might like was welcomed as decoration!
This was an amazing idea for several reasons:
-It did get Hannah to use the stairs over and over again, getting a good PT workout between the back stoop and the groud.
-It excited her inner outdoorswoman (Hannah loves to explore outside).
-What an incredible impromptu botany lesson - naming each flower, leaf, nut, etc - and a chance to point to the Lord's vibrant and infinite imagination!
-What a chance for E to use her imagination, and for Abby to practice using hers (which is not necessarily a strength)
-It fits really well into the series on Fairy Tales that Hannah is loving (...and her sisters are loving all over again!)
The girls decorated with acorns, dandelions, grass, rocks, butternuts, lichen, bits of bark, some beautiful flowers that went unidentified, bits of ribbon (thanks to our neighbor's outdoor kitty, we think), and pine cones.
Here are the finished results, which I snapped just before the kitty visited us and "played" with the fairy gardens. We pretended she was an enemy of the fairies, because she pretty much crushed everything. [The girls love the kitty, though, so all was instantly forgiven.]
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| Elizabeth's fairy garden |
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| Abby's fairy garden |
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| Hannah's fairy garden |
Since we recently read Thumbelina as part of Hannah's preschool curriculum, I'm sure we'll rebuild more fairy gardens in the near future! I'm really grateful to our beloved Miss Becky for the idea!
For the moms who are uncomfortable with the thought of calling it a 'fairy garden', perhaps pretending it is a home for small woodland creatures would work! I understand that some moms don't want to promote fairies and other mythical beings (especially if a child would get too wrapped up in the fantasy of it to the detriment of their walk with the Lord!). When a child has been given an incredible imagination, though, I believe that we need to encourage it in healthy ways for the Lord's glory!
For the moms who are uncomfortable with the thought of calling it a 'fairy garden', perhaps pretending it is a home for small woodland creatures would work! I understand that some moms don't want to promote fairies and other mythical beings (especially if a child would get too wrapped up in the fantasy of it to the detriment of their walk with the Lord!). When a child has been given an incredible imagination, though, I believe that we need to encourage it in healthy ways for the Lord's glory!
Encouraging a grand imagination,
for His glory!
~Lisha
I may be sharing this post at one of these fun homemaking link-up parties!
[If this post has inspired, encouraged, or blessed you, please leave a comment or share with a friend!]
I loved this. I'm not particularly into fairies either, but I've learned to relax a little as I've had more kids and let their imaginations run w/o crushing it all.
ReplyDeleteI'm the same way! E's imagination is SO big and vivid that if I stifle it too much, it's like sucking the life out of her soul. They've done this outside a number of times already, and E comes up with a different story line for each set. It makes for a pleasant free-play time after school is done :)
DeleteThanks for commenting, Rachel! It means a lot to me :)
~Lisha