Building a Tinkerbell House

Mr A bought Tinkerbell on DVD for Miss L. I expected to be disappointed by girly fairyness but actually Tink turns out to be adventurous, cheeky and fascinated by mechanics. And I had underestimated how much I would be drawn in by the fairy world. I have always loved minature worlds. That's why I love doll's houses, The Borrowers, reading books and writing fiction.

In the film the human girl makes a fairy house which Tinkerbell gets trapped in. Our DVD came with a free mini model of this which we dutifully made. Unfortunately the door was too small for the mini Tink
to fit though, 4yo Miss L was distraught. Instead we got a box and built this:

So far Tink has an egg box bed, a felt duvet, a table, a plate of snacks, toys, pictures of cars and buses (I think because of the scene where Tink gets fascinated about car mechanics) and a rather huge Ikea nightlight. This alone took Miss L a good hour, but I am sure an older child would take the decor and furniture making even further. 

Once when I had lost a tooth and was expecting a tooth fairy visit my mum made a fairy playground out of the objects on my desk.  She also left me a copy of Beatrix Potter's The Fairy Caravan.  It was the closest thing to magic I have ever come across.  I really believed in fairies.

Miss L keeps complaining Tink hasn't been. I am not sure whether to creep in and start creating the magic or whether at 4 she is too young to cope with the disappointment of never actually seeing Tink. I suspect she wants the reality to mirror the film.  A real live fairy. 

Truth, faith or pixie dust?

There are lots more lovely ideas for things to do with children over the weekend over at Thinly Spread, why not have a look. 

Reinventing the Fairy Story

Once upon a Christmas, a Queen bought Mixed Up Fairy Stories for 4yo Princess L:

Make your own fairy story

It's turned out to be brilliant on so many levels. It is really firing her imagination and encouraging her to invent her own stories.  I love it because I struggle with fairy stories that lack girl power.  I'm with Fiona in Shrek 4 who said life isn't a fairytale and that she rescued herself from the tower.   Miss L did get a Rapunzel doll for Christmas, but I don't want her to think life is about sitting in towers waiting for a prince to come and rescue you.  Fairy stories need reinventing.

Best of all it seems to be right on her humour wavelength, I have never seen her laugh so much at the silly scenarios she has created.  However, this was the scenario that made me and Mr A laugh:

Blimey Cinders!



Mixed Up Fairy Stories by Hilary Robinson.  Illustrated by Nick Sharratt.

Anyway is it just me who thinks some fairy stories need mixing up?