What do we do with all the nature that our kids bring home? (It’s not just my kids, right?) The best stick! A favorite rock! The prettiest leaf! Okay, I’m guilty of it, too. Cue…the building of Fairy Houses.
Our family fun theme this year is Lord of the Rings. My daughter wanted to have an elvish tea party, and from there, it wasn’t a stretch to make fairy houses together.
Could there be any library books out there to inspire us? Oh yes…LOTS of books! I also found beautiful books about fairies which I bought as her gifts from BookOutlet.
Books about Fairies
This gorgeously illustrated book has whimsical doors to open on every page as you read the story. At first, the fairies are elusive and you only catch a fleeting glimpse as you open the doors, but more and more fairies are revealed towards the end. The book finishes with an elaborate, double-door diorama of fairies at play. Very satisfying.
Finding Fairies: Secrets for Attracting Little People from Around the World
Put “Around the World” in any title and I want to read it! This book features fairy legends from around the world, from Asia to Arabia, and Africa to the Arctic. There are recipes, crafts, games, and quotations throughout.
Kristen builds a fairy house in the woods. At the end of the story, she sees fairies who say they “live in the spirits of all the plants and animals in these woods.” Then the fairies turn into monarch butterflies. The book includes tips and illustrations for ideas on how to build your own fairy house in each season.
Owen, his grandfather, and his grandmother create a sailboat and launch it down the river. It encounters many animals on its way to the ocean. Owen imagines it making every turn and navigating the water, all the while accompanied by fairies. Go back through and see how many fairies you can find in the illustrations!
Sarah and Kinsey have a whole village of fairy houses that they call Fairyland. They see butterflies hitching a ride on the milkweed boats that they float down the creek. From there, they learn about the butterfly lifecycle, and write letters to each other all about butterflies.
Books about Fairy Houses
We looked and read a bit from the following books to gather inspiration before building our own fairy houses. I made the point of telling the kids that these were professionally done and not to try to make an exact copy. (A tip for perfectionists or people with perfectionist kids).
I appreciated how the books showed a huge variety of fairy houses, from pumpkins to seashells!