Make a fairy garden small world play scene in an old drawer, for hours of imaginative play and storytelling fun! Great for preschoolers through to older kids (ok and adults too of course!)

A little while back we made some small world play scenes in an old desk drawer as it seemed the perfect size and depth in which to contain all those loose parts, and turns out to be so easy to store away again for future play!

We just removed the larger items, then pushed it back into the table, ready to bring out any time they’re interested. When you live in a smallish house with a lot of stuff (and people), this is a great solution! It would also work well in classroom spaces where storage can be limited too.

Making a fairy garden small world:

It really was simple and quick to put this together. Miss 4 asked to play with fairies in a garden and could I make her one please. Being a natural hoarder does have its benefits, so we pulled out our jam jars and storage tubs of loose materials and found:

glass gems

pearl necklace strings

pine cones

fabric flowers

toy fairies and unicorns

Cellophane

fabric flower baskets (from Tiger store last year)

and a small Playmobil Fairy set with a pond and adorable little waterlilies! (similar to this)
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I used the cellophane to line the bottom, and we arranged everything else on top, spreading out the necklaces, flowers, pine cones and gems in between all of the larger pieces.

And then of course, she simply played with it! The older girls jumped on this when they got home from school and we placed it up on the table so that they could all stand around it and play together (also out of the way of there roaming baby!)

They told little stories and made up scenarios in some sustained play times. I love the power of small world play for story-telling and language development. It is so often dismissed as something only for the early years whereas it’s actually a very powerful and inspiring literacy tool for much older children too.