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This activity is pure magic.✨ Children will be filled with wonder as they prepare their special fairy houses and adults will be transported to the joy of being a child again.

Build a Fairy House

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Build a Fairy House

Image of the forest floor with pine needles, moss, and wet leaves (materials needed for this summer nature activity).

Ready

A collection of natural materials:

  • Sticks
  • Pebbles/Stones
  • Bits of tree bark
  • Leaves
  • Grass
  • Dried flowers
  • Moss
Image of a small girl seen from behind, walking through the grass near a tree to find the perfect spot for a summer nature activity.

Set

  • Gather all of your found natural materials and choose the perfect place to build your fairy house.

We recommend building against a natural structure such as a rock or tree. This will help support your house and also look amazing.

Image of a summer nature activity for kids: A small fairy house made from sticks, stones, and bark.

Play!

Be the architect of your fairy house:

  • Create a structure that is sturdy using your larger natural parts. 
  • Embellish your fairy house with doors made of bark, a tiny stone pathway, a bed of moss or a roof made of flower petals. Your only limit is your imagination.

Play your way! What else can you do with these open-ended natural materials?

 

Why Play This Way?

This is good old fashioned play at its finest. Spending time in nature (and with natural materials) nurtures cognitive, social, emotional, and physical growth. This nature play is also sure to invite a sense of wonder, foster strength and kindness, encourage curiosity, and promote self-esteem. Best of all, you will have a magical time stepping out into nature and imagining the infinite possibilities of a tiny hidden world while working together to build an eco-friendly, whimsical little home.

Discover the book that
inspired this play

Read While You Play & Play While You Read

Image of The Tree Keepers: Flock book cover to accompany these summer nature activities for kids.

“The Tree Keepers: Flock,” by Gemma Koomen

Book Summary

At the edge of the woods, there is a great tree. Peep through the branches and you might just see some little people who stand as tall as your thumb and have heads the size of hazelnuts. One of them is Sylvia who prefers to be alone rather than play noisy games with the other Tree Keepers. But one day, she finds a baby bird in her favorite hiding place. As Sylvia and the bird become friends, she learns that sometimes, life is better when you have someone to share it with.

Why We Love It

Anyone who has ever felt a little shy will see themselves in Sylvia who loves her alone time… until she doesn’t. There are all kinds of magical moments in this story. Gemma Koomen’s tiny whimsical drawings give the reader the feeling that they are peeking into one of those very special and secret places that can only be found by children.

Learn & Play with

“The Tree Keepers” by Gemma Koomen

Extension Activities

Choose your own adventure! Select any of the extension activities or resources below and see where your play takes you next. They are all inspired by the featured book to invite deeper connections to stories through play. 

Don’t have the book? No worries! All of our activities can be enjoyed with or without a book in hand.

Button for summer nature activity for kids: Make your private space (Your dream oasis)
Button for summer nature activity for kids: Learn the Letter F with PomPom
Button for summer nature activity for kids: Penpal with a fairy (Letter to a little)
Button for summer nature activity for kids: Spotify playlist featuring magical songs to inspire your fairy play
Button for summer nature activity for kids: Bring the Book to Life (Fairy Detectives)
Button for summer nature activity for kids: Related Books & Materials

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This activity is pure magic.✨ Children will be filled with wonder as they prepare their special fairy houses and adults will be transported to the joy of being a child again.

Build a Fairy House

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What’s Black & White All Over?

keep playing

more fun activities

Whoever said work isn’t fun?! These activities, inspired by Joan Heilbroner’s marvelous book “Robert the Rose Horse”, reinforce the notion that “Play is the work of childhood!” Explore countless opportunities to notice the important jobs and workers around you. Then, discover the ways that even the youngest among us can be workers too!

Get to Work!

Splish, Splash I’m not takin’ a bath…I’m just playing with water! These activities are designed to delight your little one with all the sensory fun of water while also delivering the soothing social and emotional benefits inherent in this type of play. Discover ways to play with water in all kinds of places and with unexpected materials.

Test the Water

Make math time happy with these fun counting activities. #1: Create your own abacus. #2: Count and play all day! These activity ideas provide a playful introduction to counting and the many ways that we encounter and use math in everyday life.

Count on It

Roll on into fruit play! Have a blast experiencing fruit in new and hilarious ways that will get you moving and laughing. Get your muscles ready, but be prepared! These activities might make you hungry and ready to quickly transition from playing to eating!

Let the Fruit Times Roll

This game brings all the creative fun of printmaking to the sensory goodness of dough play and then adds a clever twist! You make the prints, and your friend guesses what you used to make them. But watch out…it’s simple to make a mark, but easy to be fooled when you are the guesser. When you’re done with the game, keep playing with The Dough Project’s super, all natural, dough.

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Play ideas for all those times you need a little gentle, quiet fun. Reach for these activities whenever you are looking for ways to create a soothing environment or bring calm to your mind and body.

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This activity is pure magic.✨ Children will be filled with wonder as they prepare their special fairy houses and adults will be transported to the joy of being a child again.

Build a Fairy House

You will be naturally drawn to this beautiful illuminated play. As soothing as it is exciting, your little one will be filled with wonder as they explore the many items that you place on your new favorite learning platform. We are so happy that you decided to put a spotlight on this magical play.

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What’s Black & White All Over?

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