Where Do The Fairies Live?

Fairies have been of great importance to our class since the beginning of the year. I shared a story with the children about a nature walk I took in Awenda Provincial Park. The story began by sharing about the winding paths and large tree roots that I crawled over to reach a mysterious lake that lay in the middle of the forest. Somewhere in my enchanting, dramatized story I spoke about the different coloured mushrooms I saw… some orange, some pink, some white. They were so beautiful with their bright colours and interesting spots, and just then a child blurts out “Fairies live under mushrooms”. Before I knew it the conversation was buzzing with excitement and life about fairies, pixie dust and magical forests. I pulled a tiny acorn lid out of my pocket and showed them how to use it as a whistle, this obviously became the way to contact the fairies. The buzz in the class lasted for a week as we researched, drew, wrote and wondered about fairies, and apparently just in time for our class award party. We took a survey of what type of party we wanted to have. We graphed the results and to a big surprise to my partner and I, 25 of our 29 students wanted a fairy party.

As a group, we decided to make our very own class fairy garden so Rosealea (our personal class fairy) had a place to live and visit. We used our tinker tray to bring a variety of materials in. The children used the materials to explore different ways to create their own little fairies. The children brought in the most beautiful fairy and nature inspired costumes, it was an enlightening experience.

We now are in April and although our fairy party seems so long ago, the buzz and love for fairies has never left. I decided to seek out something new for the children. I have seen the most precious little fairy doors on Pinterest and began to look locally. I came across a company called Sugar Bush Fairies in Horseshoe Valley, Ontario, that hand craft precious little fairy doors. I sent Sugar Bush Fairies a message sharing with them the excitement of fairies in our class, and asking if they would be interested in donating. I was blown away with the generosity of the company; they were not only thrilled to donate but offered a choice of doors to choose from and hand delivered the door to the school. It is so refreshing to find partners in the community who support the journey of the children.

I really hoped we could place the fairy door in our base camp in the forest across the street, but because it is public I was worried it might disappear. Instead we attached it to the wooden stumps in our classroom that surround the fairy garden. Monday morning it took the children about two minutes before their eyes found the fairy door, the room was instantly filled with energy. Where did this come from? Why doesn’t it open? Does Rosealea sleep in the stump? Do fairies live in here? Where are the windows? How is it attached? Can she hear me if I knock? The children investigated every inch of every stump and began writing questions and letters to Rosealea. She has written back to them twice this week, we are now right back into our fairy inquiry that we started in November. I will continue to share pictures of our adventures with the fairies through my Instagram account. Wishing everyone a Happy Friday!