- pretzels
- container for each attendee (something 3-4 inches deep and 10-12 inches wide. I found seasonal plastic serving bowls for $.98/each)
- potting soil
- small plants (flowers, succulents, decorative grass, ivy)
- Decoration for the fairy garden- be creative and thrifty!
- river rocks, glass stones, seashells
- color craft sticks
- small seasonal decor
- mini birds, frogs, animal figurines
- small trinket houses, garden figurines, containers
- rice krispy treats
- discussion questions printable
- matching game printable
- 3 book choices with a blurb from each
Our theme was about fairies, from our book Ella Enchanted. The gathering activity was a matching game about fairies from books and movies. Some kids were stumped!
Book discussion: This was fantastic! The questions sparked a lot of conversation and the girls were very thoughtful in their answers. Luckily everyone had finished the book, so we had ideas from everybody. Taking turns asking the questions worked really well.
The next 3 book choices were all funny ones: Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Almost Super, and Frindle. After reading a bit about each one, they voted and chose Almost Super.
Fairy gardens were the main event and I wanted to have plenty of time. The prep for this activity involved trips to thrift stores and dollar stores to find little interesting pieces. I had enough large figurines (either houses or garden figurines) and enough small animals (frog or turtle) that every girl could have one of each. Then plenty smaller stones and rocks and colored sticks that it was a free for all.
In the garage (outside was rainy) I had the containers pre-filled with soil and set out with the flowers ready to plant. I taught the girls how to dig a hole, release the plant from it's container, and replant it firmly in their garden. After they were all planted and watered, we washed hands and brought them inside to decorate.
I put several small containers of each decoration, rather than one big one, to minimize the need to pass back and forth. We drew straws if 2 girls wanted the same thing, and (I think!) there were no hard feelings. Everyone was very creative and purposeful in how they used the supplies.
We cleaned everything up and washed hands again. Our treat was star shaped rice krispy treats, half dipped in chocolate. YUM!
As they were eating I queued up the beginning of the movie, Ella Enchanted, for the girls to watch a short clip as our closing activity. Success!
