An Invitation to Play: Creating Sparkling Fairy Worlds
For more than two years now Immy has been fairy mad! She has quite the collection of fairy figurines, of the Disney, Papo and Schleich varieties, and I thought it would be fun to set out a sparkly invitation to create a magical water world for the fairies.
On our outdoor table I laid down a towel and plastic tray. To a plastic tray I added a clear, plastic salad bowl, a collection of coloured fairy rocks, flowers and petals, sequins, glitter, a fake flower lily pad, mini paper umbrella and a collection of small, plastic lids. Alongside the tray I placed a small jug of water, a metal soup spoon and three fairy figurines.
Starting out with glitter…that I could have guessed as we are a totally glitterific household! Lots of glitter…
The lilypad and umbrella were added and then some water.
Flowers next and then came the question…
“Can I make the whole tray a fairy world?” Of course!
Sparkles, water and fairies are three of Immy’s favourite things and I cannot tell you how much joy, engagement and dedicated time of focused play have resulted from this invitation. And it is ongoing. Plus a freshen up of the tray (with permission, of course) and a new jug of water and the play can start all over again.
And Tinkerbell and her fairy friends seem to like it too!
I find that small world play and invitations like this are a fabulous way to engage children with their interests. What are your children currently interested in? Would a small world or invitation to play help to extend their interest?
Related Posts
- Find all of our Invitation to Play posts here
- Elements for Creating Invitations to Play: What You Can Use
- Play Date Preparation
