Fairies, elves, gnomes, sprites, pixies, leprechauns, and other mythical creatures all live in the heart of nature, so they love fairy nature soup. Let’s make some.
The recipe for fairy nature soup is simple. It starts with something to make the soup in like a bowl, pail, or pot. If there isn’t one available, no worries; kids will make the soup on a stump, piece of wood, log, or rock. They could dig a small hole in the ground or find something in the recycling basket.
Ingredients in fairy nature soup depend on what’s available. Finding items is like a treasure hunt as kids add rocks, leaves, twigs, grass, flower petals, berries, shells, feathers, pinecones, and other objects. Puddles can contribute water. A little water added to dirt makes mud to hold it altogether.
Just like real cooking in the kitchen, fairy nature soup can be different every time. The basic recipe can also be used to make fairy pie, cake, stew, cookies, or whatever else kids imagine. Come to think of it, we could say imagination is a necessary ingredient.
This really short video shares the reaction of prison inmates to the statistic that kids spend less time outdoors each day than prisoners. According to a United Nations mandate, prisoners are allowed an hour outside every day. Many adults spend far less time than both prisoners and kids. How did we end up so divorced from nature?
A special spice in this fairy nature soup is the connection to nature. Like any other relationship, it develops when we spend time together. When we do take the time to look around, nature has such an abundance of gifts in all colors, sizes, and shapes. Gone is the time when we can send our kids outside and call them in for meals. Instead, we have to nurture children’s relationship to nature. Isn’t this simple activity one all kids can do?