My eldest grand-daughter showed me this the other day –
“It’s a fairy house”, she said
Come and look closer
It reminded me of how rich the lives of children can be. What is it that makes such a difference?
Imagination.
What a shame that so many toys these days are manufactured right up to the finish point. Kids can get so much more fun out found objects and daily materials which with imagination become castles, boats, and, yes, fairy houses! If you want to encourage your childrens’ growth and development then encourage their imaginative play.
In fact, I often think adults lead much poorer lives because they’ve lost both childlike wonder and the power of imagination. When was the last time you let your imagination run loose and played?
The fairy house looks like the ordinary, but I know for sure I am gazing at the wonderland. Wow. Your Fairy House is just unforgetable and your question is the key to dreamland.
I am fortunate enough to share my life with two very imaginative little girls. I also read and write (some say to excess), which helps keep my imagination pilot light lit.
We went through a HUGE fairy house building phase here in the Chili household, but my children somehow picked up the notion that fairies won’t live in artificial or killed materials – no flower pots, no PICKED leaves, flowers, or branches (those found on the ground were fair game). I’m certain we’ve got little huts of stone and pine needles all over the yard – our fairies were particularly fond of living under the sugar maple in the front yard, but only after we spoke protective incantations around the huts to keep the cats away…
Thank you Tomas. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
mrschili, see, isn’t it interesting? I find these two opposites everywhere I look – what we have in common (here the child play of imagination about fairies and fairy houses) and what we have that is different (your children’s insistence on no artificial or killed materials). Too often our societies focus only on what is in common, creating “norms” and ruling anything different as “abnormal”. It’s only in the sharing of differences IN THE CONTEXT OF sharing what we have in common that we come to relish and respect uniqueness I think.
This is one of the things I love most about blogging……unique expressions that touch and connect.
Aw, sweet! What a pretty walk up to the house!
I try to play frequently to varying degrees. Sometimes it is making art, other times it is sitting and wondering to myself, “What if favorite character from a book or movie lived in different book, movie, or historical setting how would they affect the world and its history?” I suppose I ought to try to write down my fiights of whimsy someday, but I sort of think it would be lumped with fanfiction. (Even though it isn’t explicit or doesn’t have the classic “Mary Jane” character.) Hopefully I’d be able to recall well enough to write it down if I came up with an idea that was sufficiently non-fannish and could be re-worked with non-proprietary characters and still keep the spirit of the original idea.
I think the main difference between us and our children arise because our different approach towards the faeries (the spiritual world). While children trust what they are reading as the reality, the grown up evaluate that as a fantasy (creativety – the fiction). While children care for what the gnomes are talking and sat back in awe towards the stories of the underground world, the “wise” put their trust in bibliography and thus become deaf to heavenly talks.
Recognition of these differences leads to the discovering of the lost faithfulness and the children become the giants thus.
Children have such great imaginations. Fairy houses are a timeless fun activity that can cross over all generations
Do you have a fairy house, Tess? Tell me more!
i love fairyes thay are so cool.
Once we adopted our cat (Scroggins) all the fairies moved out of our immediate area. Too dangerous I guess.
What a fab fairy home, Bob and a lovely post, thank you!
I think imaginative play is less common today, with so much technological entertainment and i think it’s such a shame.
And adults lose so much when they grow up, their imagination, their curiosity, their sense of playfulness … I refuse ever to grow up!
Childlike wonder … that reminds me of one of my favourite quotes, from the film Joe Versus the Volcano:
“My father says that almost the whole world is asleep – everybody you know, everybody you see, everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake and they live in a state of constant, total amazement”.
:o)
Thank you Dianne
Oh WOW! What a fabulous quote! I don’t know the film Joe Versus the Volcano, but I LOVE that quote