My younger kids don’t really get the concept of seasons in more than a very broad way, so we’ve been working on that. For instance, they are convinced winter is ALWAYS cold and snowy; not always true here in Georgia! They’ve got the summer-is-hot concept pretty well, but what about spring? That gets confusing: one day it’s cold enough for coats, the next we may be playing outside in short sleeves!

Getting back into nature study is a priority for me, and it’s been a long time since I earned any Fun Mama points — so we’ll be spending the next few weeks doing a few fun things to help them pay attention to the signs we see in nature to know that spring is here.

Make a Miniature “Fairy” Garden!

We’ve been talking about what we’ll plant in our vegetable garden this year, but it’s not warm enough for that yet. I wanted something the kids could plant now, so a container garden of some sort fit the bill. Inspired by this fairy garden, we took a trip to the plant nursery. Picking plants was hard; most weren’t small enough. But it was a good chance to talk about different kinds of plants while we were there.

Finally, we chose two little plants. And I bought myself a rockin’ garden cart. Told you I was getting serious about gardening this year! This little cart dumps, too, so it’s like a little wagon plus wheel barrow all in one. {I think I’m going to become a garden geek.}

Back home, we started assembling the fairy garden in a pot I already had. Kathryn transplanted one of the maple seedling she grew last year from a seed, but it doesn’t have any outward branches yet so we cut a couple of small branches from big trees to function as fairy trees until the maple, now nestled up next to one of our branch-trees, gets bigger.

We scavenged the yard for more to plant in our fairy garden. I wanted moss but couldn’t find any. However, I did find some tiny short clumps of grass; it’s probably a weed but it works! Jem helped me dig up some of it and plant it in our pot.

Meanwhile, the girls went to the neighborhood lake to find little rocks so they could make a fairy-sized pathway.

Fairy-sized furniture!

Then, our fairy garden needed furniture. Kathryn gathered sticks and made a tiny bench. SO stinking CUTE. She says now that she’s learned how to use the hot glue gun, she’ll be dangerously crafty!

She was on a roll, so she made a fairy swing, too!

I have a feeling this is a project we’ll keep working on, changing around, and adding to as the spring and summer goes on.

See? I can be fun!

This was fun for all of us — and that’s exactly what I need to get my you-know-what in gear and make nature-related fun a more frequent thing going forward!

For more fairy-themed adventure, the all-new Tinker Bell move The Pirate Fairy is coming out on Blu-ray™ and Digital HD. It will be available April 1; you can purchase it or follow the Disney Fairies Facebook page for more info and fun.

Check out Disney’s The Pirate Fairy Pinterest board for more fun ideas!