Fairies
To link in with our fairy section, here are some reviews and recommendations for fairy themed items. Below are some ideas of other fairy activities that any fairy loving child will enjoy.
Fairy Activity Books
My Fairy Princess Palace - by Louise Comfort
This book is fantastic, although book isn't really the best way to describe it. From the outside it does look like a thick slightly over sized book, but it's not for reading. When you open it, it's a pop up book, you tie both covers together and you have a great 360º play area. Like a card dolls house, that has 6 lovely rooms, complete with a staircase and a wardrobe. It has lovely attention to detail and comes complete with a variety of paper doll fairies that you can play with in the fairy princess palace. It is great if you have a small room, or for travelling, taking on holiday or on relatives visits, as after it's been played with, you simply untie it and it becomes a book again. Considering it's only made of thick paper, it is surprisingly hard wearing, and good value for money. It also makes a delightful present, ideal for a birthday or Christmas. There are also other books like this by Louise Comfort, which are also great, and they are different enough to have more than one of them. Others in the range include, My fairy funfair, My fairy bridesmaid castle, My fairy magic school, My fairy treehouse, and My fairy showtime. These books are suitable from age 4 upwards, with the ideal age of around 6 or 7, and older girls will enjoy them too.
1001 Things to spot in fairyland by Gill Doherty
This is a lovely book, each page is full of fairy things to spot and find. The pages are labelled with how many of each item there are to spot of each. Most suitable from about age 3 to 5, as it's a good book for observation skills and counting, but older children will still continue to enjoy it as there is so much to spot. Plus the book is great for fairy fans as there is so much to look at, and every time you seem to spot something new you haven't noticed before. Also if you have enjoyed this type of spotting and counting book, there are more 1001 things to spot books too, on other themes. There is also a bumper edition book, Thousands of things to spot, that combines several of these books into 1 book, which makes this great value for money and it contains things to spot in fairyland too.
Sticker dolly dressing - Princesses and fairies by Fiona Watt
If you have a child that likes stickers and fairies this lovely sticker activity book combines the two, plus it contains princesses too for a bit of variety. Ideal for girls both younger and older, from about 3 upwards when they start enjoying using stickers, and up to older girls of 6, 7, 8 where more attention is paid to designing the outfit combinations and rooms. This book has some writing in, which tells you a bit about the princess/fairy/scene that's on that page and then you use the stickers which are colourful, detailed outfits and accessories to dress the girls in the book. It contains over 800 stickers in total, so plenty to keep a child busy. These are useful for travelling too, on planes or trains, they help pass the time very nicely, but are also quite easy to carry.
Fairy Things To Make
Fairies - petal people you make yourself by Klutz
These petal people are great fun to make, it's a perfect set to give as a present, or to have as a rainy day or holiday activity. For a more in depth review of this petal people kit have a look at the review on our blog. http://great-little-minds.blogspot.com/2011/02/fairy-petal-people.html
Hama beads disney fairies gift box
A great combination here of fairies and hama beads. The peg boards in this kit are square, and you make your fairy design on these, rather than them being fairy shaped. Plus they are quite detailed and slightly larger than normal. Due to that, this kit is generally more suitable for slightly older children, approx 6 or 7 years and older, depending on the child obviously, as you need to copy the design off the sheet onto the board using the beads. Plus a longer attention span is needed unless you have somewhere to store it safely half way through. However the end results make it worth it in the end.
Mould and paint glitter fairy plaster kit
This kit comes with a plastic mould to make 6 different fairies, plaster to mix, paint and a small pack of glitter. As this needs to be done in stages you need to have a child that will tolerate the waiting, but it is worth it in the end. First you need to mix the plaster, which some people have found a bit difficult to get the right consistency, but we have always found it to work well. Pour it into the moulds and then you need the patience to let it set. Although this can be relieved a bit if you actually observe the process as much as the end result, this is a great science hands on observation kit too. Mixing the plaster obviously starts as liquid, then it sets to become solid and also heats up in the process as it dries too. Once set simply pop them out, and they are ready to paint. The only thing you need to remember to do is apply the glitter to the painted fairies before the paint dries, so apply as you go seems to work better. Particularly if you have a child that is paying attention to detail, that combined with the quick drying paint, you will find that if you wait till the whole fairy is painted before you add the glitter, where you started has dried already. However saying all that, this kit is definitely worth buying and is good value for money. Plus you get a lovely product at the end of it, fairy badges and fairy magnets.
Fairy Movies
After all these activities, if you are looking for some fairy films to relax with, here are a few recommendations of fairy dvds.
Tinkerbell
Of course Tinkerbell had to get a mention when fairy films are being discussed. There are now 3 of these great films and they are ever popular with fairy loving children and adults alike
If you're looking for a couple of different fairy movies, here are a few more suggestions.
Rainbow Magic - Return to rainspell island
If you have a girl that has read some, or alot of the rainbow magic fairies books, it may be interesting to know that there is a film as well. It isn't based on a particular story from the books, but is a new story for the dvd and it's done in Japanese anime style. A perfect present for any rainbow magic fairy loving girls, if you want an alternative to the books.
Barbie films - Fairytopia
There are several Barbie films that are based on a fairy theme, that can be bought individually or as a delightful dvd box set with four of the films in. With some lovely fairies and good story lines that are interesting to children. They also provide a mixture of laughter, general cuteness, and a good spattering of music, some of which are classical pieces, these films are sure to be a hit. Stereotypically very girly, with everything pink, purple and cute, they are good films for fairy loving girls. If they normally like barbies too you have a winning combination.
The titles in order are,
- Barbie Fairytopia
- Barbie Mermaidia
- Barbie Magic of the Rainbow
- Barbie Mariposa
Also not part of this series, but the other Barbie movie with fairies, that's worth a mention is Thumbelina. Again it's a cute story, with a moral and learning about nature, with some very cute Twillerbee characters.