For the Grown-Ups

Of Forests and Fairy Tales – a Child’s True Home

Children are at home in woods, on a farm and in their backyards. We know this is true. We can see it in the the way they wander around trees, the way they bend over to study a stone, the way they smile at a flower or widen their eyes at a mushroom. They are calm, they are inspired – and full of wonder. The outdoors is a healing place, a safe place and a place that is familiar to children.

And it is also where they go when they listen to stories.

When I say “Once upon a time,” their faces relax, their smiles loosen, their shoulders drop and their eyes start to glow – because that means they have been transported home. They can see the sunflower described in the story and feel the warm sun and smell the crisp grass and taste the cold spring water. They recognize the wood elf that stands before his spruce tree because, in many ways, they have seen this wood elf before. The same with a pond sprite, a lilac pixie and a rainbow fairy. Any child that has let her hands graze over a rosemary bush or a boxwood shrub would immediately recognize the fairy character in a Sparkle Story because the natural world and the world of stories… are the same world. It is their world. A world that makes sense to children.

This is also the case for the rest of us – the grown ups. We may love our cars, our phones, our houses and our time-saving gadgets, but our safe place of renewal and inspiration is in the forests and in fairy tales. We grown-ups love our walks in the woods, we love to tidy up our lawns, we love to organize our gardens, and we love a story well told.

So in this age of information, efficiency and growth, it can sometime be difficult to catch our breath and feel grounded. But the answer may be as easy as stepping outside, connecting with friends and listening to tales about their day.

We had a great conversation with Meghan Fitzgerald last week about Nature and Stories and the wonder that connects them. Where we of Sparkle Stories spin wonder in images and narrative, the folks of Tinkergarten see that wonder in pine needles, spring buds and single drops of dew.

If you haven’t already learned about Tinkergarten and their growing movement of outdoor and natural education, do visit them at tinkergarten.com and then try out these activities for winter and the coming spring.

• Make friends with forces as you hunt the wind.
• Turn a classic toy into a super tool—forest putty.
• Embark on a mystery trail walk with your favorite explorers.

Oh yes, and do enjoy the conversation we had with Meghan on SparkleCast.We hope you are as inspired as we were!