To me, fairy gardens are my childhood thoughts of a world of friendly tiny people and creatures, being happily playing around one another. Whether they are set up at the bottom of a tree or planted in pots, these miniature environments promote imagination, creative play and nurturing behaviours.
My basic fairy garden with a fairy door attached to the tree stump.
After I updated my fairy garden, I took a photo and posted it to my friends. One of them, Antoinette asked, " Have your written about your upgraded garden?"
I replied, "Not yet".
She said, " Then you should. Look at the lights and the flowers. They really looked like something fairy's would like to frolic in. So you decide, why not turn it into a fairyland. You never know.... You may see a miracle! "
I have never thought of writing about my little fairy garden π, but she gave the motivation to start on. It was through friends' conversations that always gave me ideas and words to write my stories in my blog. π π€
When I first began my fairy garden, it was meant to amuse my 6 yrs old grandson.
The idea started when I visited one of my friends, it was at Jennifer's home. Her space for a garden was so limited but through her clever and brilliant ideas, she created a very neat and easy to care, garden.
View from the back to the front.
View from the entrance of her home
Different types of Succulents
Varieties of mini catus
Beautiful collections of her Jade plants
Air plants
She has little cute figurines on her plants which made her narrow garden so beautiful and lively.
Cute little monks
This frog which I gave to her as a gift, she brilliantly created a scene of a frog relaxing under the hot sun with a glass of iced lemonade.π
Cute little Shaolin masters with their Kung Fu stance. π
My ex-classmate, Richard gave a nickname to her cute garden, "Japanese garden" because it was such a cute, clean and tidy little precious area with full of little Bonsai and succulent plants.
Whenever I visited her "Japanese garden" I can capture the essence of nature and inspire quiet reflection.
The name "Japanese garden" fits nicely since Japanese garden is a traditional style of landscaping that captures and idealizes nature in a miniature , symbolic form like the plants, rocks, gravel and figurines of monks.
I was so fascinated by it that I too, started to create a little space of my garden calling it, " My cute corners". Jennifer has given me a few succulents plants as a start up with my little corner in the garden.
I started to buy miniature animals like squirrels, frogs, cats, and tortoises.
The beginning of my "Cute Corner" in my garden looked like a tiny magical world.
This video was created by my neighbour, Connie who was captivated by it. Thank You, Connie.π
Then one day, my grandson gave me a present, a cute little elf to place at my cute corner. That's how my idea to turn my little cute corner into a fairy garden!
Then I started adding a few fairies, elves, and gnomes. The fairy garden look more magical and real. It brought pure joy to my grandson.❤️
Bit by bit, my grandson and I added new DIY items such as a little well or climbing ladders to this small spot. We made colourful little doors together, to attach to the trees, as imaginary fairy houses. We collected twigs from the trees and bought hot glue gun to make the miniatures easily. Other low cost items like the thin rustic rope, popsicles sticks, etc, we got them from the stationary shops. The complete set up spark a childhood wonder as he watched a tiny hidden world came to life.
The advantage of Google and U-tube has taught me a lot on how to build those doors, and giving me ideas of how to add more DIY fairy items such as a balcony, bridges, benches and so on.
A penguin, tortoise and squirrel enjoying a swing together.π
Sign post of a Fairy village
This was how my initial fairy garden was born. But due to heavy rainfall, some of the miniatures were destroyed.
So I relocated my fairy garden to my so called bonsai Feng Sui tree, the Chinese Bayan tree.
Relocate fairy's home to a coconut tree trunkπ
Another at the bottom of the Chinese Bayan Bonsaiπ
Relocated blue fairy sitting between our DIY mushrooms π
While yellow fairy was relocated to the branches of the Chinese Bayan Bonsai.
A balcony with table and chairs for tea!π
As time went by, a fairy wonderland was created.
Each morning, my grandson would take a peek to see any signs of fairy frolicking in the fairyland. I noticed that creating a "small world" allows children ( including me!π ) to engage in open ended pretend play and build endless narrative stories.
Actually, we are never too old or too young to set up a fairy garden. They are great for all ages.π For the children, small figurines are fun for playing pretend in the garden while to the adults like me, it provides a peaceful connection to nature and brings joy to our life.
Once upon a time, there was a machine called "ice kacang" machine. This machine can make children and adults of all age happy just with a simple dessert, shaved ice with syrup, that cost only 5 cents in the 1950's and 60's and those with more ingredients ( jelly, red beans and evaporated milk) was 10 cents per bowl .
Such a simple desert brings pleasurable memories to our generation, and even up to this new era they still make the younger generation feel good and happy, especially on a hot day like these days where weather temperature is about 32 degrees Celsius, but including the heat factor, it feels more like 42 degrees C. Except nowadays there are more varieties and more expensive compared to our era in the 50's and 60's.
When I saw this machine posted in Heritage SG memories by Kevin Khoo, I remembered my late father used to own one too in his coffee shop. The shop was just right in front of the High Court in town along the walk way from kampong Air to Gaya street.
When I was young, I used to help my parents look after the shop as early as 11 years old. I recall my father would put a block of ice on the shaver and then he clamped the block of ice tightly at the base plate of the machine before rotating the handle like wheel, which was on the right side of the machine to produce shaved ice, that ice was collected on the base plate. That time the shaver could only be performed manually.
Due to those fond memories and experiences I had, I decided to buy this toy ice shaver gadget online for Rm23.50 π
And started to make my DIY (Do it yourself) ice kacangπ
Red beans and jelly like I used to have in my younger days.
And covered with shaved iced made from my toy ice shaver. Honestly, I was so excited to see the shaved ice coming out from my toy ice shaverπ. Then I drizzle the shave ice with syrup and evaporated milk and start digging.π I finished it within minutesπ and went for 2nd roundπ
Hubby didn't want to be left out, so he created his dessert too, Vanilla Ice cream with chocolate kit kat and biscuits.
When we asked our grandson which would he prefer, he opted for the ice kacang π and hubby's face went ☹️ hahahaha... π€
Ice kacang without shaved ice, just ice cube taste equally yummy but with shaved ice its more prettier and exciting to dive in forππ
Transferring my childhood beloved nostalgic treat of ice kacang to my 6 yrs old grandson π
Even in this high tech era, where the younger generation like my grandson, are still keen to learn some of our old ways and skills. I was surprised that when I bought this toy shaved iced gadget, it lit up the eyes of my grandson, making him so excited and happy and what more, looking forward for another session of ice kacang activity π€
Grandson concentrating seriously on his task to get shaved iceπ
But he preferred ice balls more, which was just shaved ice and red syrup. He too had his 2nd round of ice ballsπ
While me, I preferred the original ice kacang that consisted of shaved ice, red beans, jellies and drizzle with red syrup and evaporated milk π
When I posted this to my friends, many started to reminisce about this popular dessert in our era of the 50's and 60's.
One of my friends Peter, reminisced about his fond memories of buying a small bowl of ice kacang in Gaya street market stall for 10 cents in the 60's. A simple ice kacang in a small bowl that has sweetened red beans and jelly, covered with shaved ice and drizzled with red syrup.
I shared the same fond memories of these dessert , probably we had bought from the same stall. I remember there was an old lady who sold these sweets helpings in her small stall at the Gaya Street wet market.
Again when i was young, I walked to this market which took me about 7-10 mins. Towards the end of the walkway there was a Cathay cinema of the left side and facing the cinema was the big Gaya Street Market.
Memory map of my morning walks to Gaya Street Wet Market to help my parents do the marketing errands each morning during school holidaysπ
Another friend Christine, shared her childhood experiences of buying ice-baΔΊl for 5 cents from a stall on the street before cycling to her school. It was just a simple impacted shaved ice with additional red syrup all over it.
I was pleasantly surprised that my grandson showed an interest in helping me make the various varieties of this old dessert, he enjoyed eating it as much as I did.
One Saturday morning, my youngest, 6 yrs old grandson asked me, " Ah mah (means Grandma in Hokkien), when are you going to start gardening again?"
He was asking me this question because on that day, I was busy cleaning my little studio home instead of doing my routine gardening tasks. He was hoping I would do some gardening so that he can "help" this was his word, i.e. digging and playing with soil, using his toy gardening tools without any disapproving looks from his parents. π€ When he showed me his little gardening tools which he had prepared in a little basket, I was trying so hard not to laugh. I must admit, they were so cute. π€£
Such an enthusiastic gesture from him, motivated me to get him involved in my gardening tasks. It also gives me the opportunity to encourage him to learn about gardening while having fun. I hope to instill his love in nature and gardening at his young age.π
At the moment, his brain is full of natural disasters and dinosaurs as I often hear him talk about tsunami's, earthquakes, floods and landslides π. So a diversion from natural disasters to the beauty of nature is good for his mind.
Nowadays children are so into ipads, computers, tablets, mostly social media, that they have forgotten about simple and educational outdoor activities, and hands-on experiences which are healthier for the body and mind.
My hard working Little gardener π Gardening with grandchildren, is a joy as well as a lesson taught, whether it's about planting seeds, watering the plants or learning different kinds of plants and many more, that needs creativity, patience, care and responsibility.
He believes that showering the fruits is "helping me".π
Anyway, whatever his method was, seeing him so happy with this task is what counts.π It is very rewarding to see happy faces of our grandchildren, who look forward to their gardening activities and their excited expressions, especially when the seeds which they planted have successfully sprouted from the soil. The fun of watering the plants with a garden hose or using his own cute watering can is satisfying. These activities with him are priceless times, the happiness that it gives to us π.
My 3 gardening tools on the left and his 3 little colorful ones on the rightπ
Our watering cans, you just have to smile π€
Our gardening boots π
Our gardening gloves
His pull-cart versus my wheelbarrowπ€
My grandson told me about the cucumber seed he grew in school ( he is in kindergarten grade nowπ). Unfortunately his plant died but he didn't know why.
I decided to teach him about gardening under my supervision, in my garden to build back his confidence.π
There was an article written by NanaJill in Sept 2022 about gardening with kids she said , "All goods things in life start with a good foundation." It's true to some point such as a need for good soil, good seeds, adequate watering, plenty of sunshine and right guidance to help plants grow successfully.
I used this π short video clip as his 1st lesson for the bitter gourd planting.
I don't want to disappoint my grandson based on his previous experience with his failed cucumber plant in school. So, I choose to plant bitter gourd which I have planted before that has never failed. Moreover, those seeds were from my over-ripe bitter gourd so it's sort of free seeds for him to try on.
In the process, he could observe how long it took for the 1st leaf to appear, then the 2nd leaf and so on.
To the kids, the first sprout from the seeds is a good start in life which can bring encouragement and confidence for them to carry on to the next step.
During gardening, endorphins, dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin are released which are the "feel good hormones" that will keep our spirits high all year round. If you have read my previous article "A garden" (click π "A garden" will lead you to the page) about the 4 hormones which make us happy during gardening, you will understand why.
Lesson 1:
1. Getting ready the gardening items for him to start his class π .
2. Grandson's first gardening lesson:
Mixing soil (top soil + peat moss ) with his gardening tools!
His parents love to take him to the beach often, where he would dig and play with sand using his tools at the beach.
Now, he is playing with soil in my garden.
3. Filling his pot with soil and planting a bitter gourd seed into the soil.
4. Filling his watering can with rain water.
5.Watering session ,looked more like drowning!π.
Good job!
One of the greatest shared gardening activities is growing a plant in a pot, nurturing it, watering and feeding it and simply watching it grow. It's a great gift for children
Leaving the pot on a sunny spot where he agrees to take responsibility of watering it everyday with his cute watering can until the seed sprouts.π.
The next morning, his mom told me, the first thing he did when he woke up was to water the seed! He excitedly told his mom that the seed will sprout in 6 days time! π .
Lesson 2:
A Compost Bin
He was already full of enthusiasm for the next step.π I decided to teach him how to make a compost bin out of an empty plastic bottle. This lesson helps to teach him household waste, recycling, sustainability and enriching the soil.
He was so excited creating a container for compost under my supervision π€£.
Look at him!
So excited to help me to hold the DIY (do it yourself) compost container in place while I filled in soil to anchor it.
Open ceremony
Filling the compost bin, it's 1st feed, banana peels! π
Lesson 3
Priceless "Treasure hunt" in the garden.
1. Earthworms!
Earthworms are best friends for gardenersπ
Teaching my grandson about these slimy creatures.π
Showing grandson how to handle these slimy creatures, gently with gloves.
Short video clip of us exploring the worms together in the garden.☺️
Digging and looking for worms with his little gardening tools in the garden while explaining to him how earthworms make the soil healthy by increasing nutrients after leaving its poo as a natural fertiliser and how they create tunnels by wiggling in the soil for better drainage and soil structure.
2. Bird's nest & eggs.
Short video of a bird nest with eggs! πΉ
While exploring the garden together, we found a bird's nest with 2 white eggs in a tree. It was like a treasure because it is a rare, exciting discovery and a valuable life lesson, for my grandson. Such a discovery brings joy and curiosity to him which evokes a sense of wonder and respect for nature.
Lessons on what to touch and what NOT to touch!
Watching from afar at the mother bird, protecting and incubating her eggs.
After sharing these photos of bird nest and the eggs to my friends, one of my former classmate Richard also shared the most beautiful moments of bird nest in his garden.
Video sent by Richard, who found a bird nest among the shrubs in his garden, with the baby bird just out of it's egg shell! Thank you Richard for sharing this rare experience of nature to us.❤️ Not everyone is lucky to witness these " newly born birdie" in a direct close-up view.π
10 days later after the egg hatched
Video sent by Richard. 10 days after he found the bird's nest.
Birdie has grown well, soon it will be getting ready to fly and leave the nest.
We also found 2 beautiful butterflies hanging onto our Lemon plant.
We were actually witnessing the most beautiful moment - the butterflies grand debut into the world!
Such lovely nature moment watching these 2 newly born butterflies.
And grandson gets the opportunity to see the pupa up close, a tiny lesson from nature he will remember for life.
My little grandson is in for a treat. It's like having a live nature show right at homeπ€£
4. Dragonfly
As we were putting our gardening tools back in place, we saw a dragonfly hanging onto the side of the wall of my little garden home. It was indeed a surprise as dragonflies are hardly seen in my garden nowadays.
They are at the risk of extinction due to climate change and loss of wetland habitat.
Dragonflies has amazing big eyes that makes them, earth's most successful predators!
Teaching my grandson how to differentiate a dragonfly and damselfly. They are both predatory insects but they differ greatly in appearance and behavior.
Dragonfly vs Damselfly
Dragonflies are larger, sturdier and rest with wing spread flat (as shown in the photo taken)
while damselflies are smaller, slender, and hold their wings together at rest.
Lesson 4
From germination of seeds to harvest :
Day 6
Hooray! Bitter gourd seed sprouted.π
Day 7
1st leaf is out! π
The first leaf from the seed is often called the seed leaf which gives nourishment to the seedling before photosynthesis begins.
Day10
The 2nd leaf is out!
From the 2nd leaf onwards, they are called the true leaves which are important leaves because they are responsible for photosynthesis, providing food for the plant to grow.
Day 12
3rd leaf is visible.
Day 15
Tendril is visible!
Once the plant is about 1 foot tall or starting to have 4 or 6 leaves, the vines will start producing tendrils for climbing.
By Day 15, the bitter gourd plant with tendrils were transplanted into a bigger pot for more space for it to grow.
Setting up trellis for the plants to climb.
My little gardener loves building this trellis on his own by tying a cable tie to secure the trellis.
Another good job done.
Day 35
The vines had reached the top of the trellis. This is where the tip of the vines were pinched off, mainly to encourage more side branching and fruit production.
Day 40
Bitter gourd plants began to produce flowers and fruits
My grandson was so excited to see the first fruit and said, " Oh, so tiny !"π This is the right moment to teach him what "patience" means which will take roughly about 2 to 3 weeks more to mature before harvest.
Imagination is the ability to create mental images and concept that are not present to the senses (something that's not real into reality) while Creativity is the process of turning those imaginative ideas into something new and valuable such as the original product or concept.
Since we also planted long bean, I made a Teepee Trellis for the plants to climb while creating a hidey-hole for my grandson as his own private space in the garden. π€
DIY Teepee trellis using 3 PVC poles and 3 pots of bean plants.
Day 45
The Bean plant has climbed vigorously, forming a perfect green hidey hole and little long beans hanging all over the pole .π
Little Man's cave.π
Cozy shade under the teepee trellis π
He's so contented to be inside this green hidey-hole, he's catching up on his Biology . It was also a great place for story telling. π€£.
At his age of 6, he has already knows the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.
It was hilarious to watch how the bean stalk, little house, "Jack", and the giant, sparks imaginations in his mind π€£
Jack and the bean stalk:
The story goes like this.....Once upon a time...
That's Jack's house.
But where is Jack?
Oh there he is!
Climbing up the bean stalkπ€
Let's see what's on top of the bean stalk?
Oh No! That's Wilson, the giant Monkey! π±
My grandson screamed and ran into the house to hide inside his "Pillow-fort", giggling and laughing at the same time.π€£
Short video of Grandson's Pillow-Fort π
Lesson 6
Harvesting sessions ❤️
Digging up troubles and treasureπ
Harvest simply means the time when you reap what you sow. When the fruits or vegetables are matured, they are ready to be plucked or picked.
Harvesting long beans
Not only my little grandson has learnt to harvest the bitter gourd and long beans which he planted, he was also able to pluck other ripen fruits from the garden such as.....
Tomato picking
Fleshy red calyces of Roselle plants to make candies.π
Red sugar apple fruit
Harvesting ripen passion fruit from the garden.
After plucking the ripen passion fruit for the first time, he ran looking for his mom excitedly with the fruit in his hands to show her, his achievements.π
Chok Anan mangoes, which he was so curious about. He asked, " Ah mah, why are your mangoes hanging on the tree for so long and still not yellow (ripe) yet?" This is where I again, emphasized the meaning of "patience" for the fruit to mature before it can be plucked .π
Showing my grandson, how the initial appearance of Banana fruits looked like.
Covering his mouth with his hands, he exclaimed, "oh my!" π€
Harvesting fruits and vegetables can be a delightful experience for kids. It gives them the sense of accomplishment and connection to nature.
Whether it's a success or failure in gardening, it's a learning experiment and experiences with hands-on for children.
Despite, whatever our age is, we learn from our 5 senses skills i.e. see, hear, smell, touch and taste every day without realising it, and through these senses, we learn how to apply into our daily practical life. Same goes for gardening. Teaching our grandkids to apply our 5 senses into gardening has a beneficial development to their critical thinking.
Even if we won't last being together forever as children grow up fast but
it will definitely create fond memories for them when they grow up.
Out door activities can make everyone from young to old, happyπ.
Finale lesson:
" A garden for kids"
My little garden is a magical place for my grandson. Whenever there isn't any gardening task to be done, he's having his happy hours in the garden such as....
Bubble blowing just for funπ
Zooming on his scooter
Riding his bicycle
Playing on his swing
Flying a kite on a windy day.
I bought this cheap kite for Rm2 and taught him how to fly a kite for the first time.
Since it was a cheap kite, it didn't last long but enough to make him happy and screaming with joy as the kite soared higher and higher, up in the sky.
Later, we decided to make a kite together, using used plastic bag, adding facial expression emoji to make the kite looked more lively and fun.
Basically it's a free of charge, home made kite. Here, he's learning creativity, patience and the joy of making fun things with Ah Mah(granny).
Riding on a wheelbarrow was also one of his happy moments in the garden.π
He said his daddy loves to push the wheelbarrow with him in it and running around the garden since he was 3 yrs old and it was fun! That's his comment. π€£
My grandson enjoying his ride in the wheelbarrow as I was pushing it with him in it.
Even though I couldn't run fast like my son did, but it's good enough to fill his day with smiles and giggles.π€£
End of the joyful wheelbarrow ride in the garden π I was exhausted pushing him in the wheelbarrow but he ain't had enough yet! Well, his daddy can carry on doing this job!π
On one occasion as I was watering the plants in the garden, I would purposely aimed the garden hose at him, drenching him head to toe and he would scream, dodge, run and laughing aloud. π€£
In the garden, I had made this simple mini fish pond to amuse my grandson. Children at this age finds it fascinating especially with little fishes swimming around and a little water fountain in itπ.
Fond memories of my daughter in law and her son (my grandson π) at my little fish pondπ
Old unwanted keys to make wind chime for the garden with my grandson π€.
He woke up as early as 6am in the morning, waiting excitedly for his wind chime project π€
Funny faces drawn by little Zeb,
One of a kind wind chimeπ€πππ€£
Team work of Ah Mah and Little Zeb: A wind chime using old keys tied in colourful strings to an unwanted kid's basketball stand holderπ€£π
Imagination is one of the powerful tools in our life.
When I created a fairy garden with fairies and fairy homes, my grandson's imagination soar!π
It's so beautiful and magical ✨️
Home of the Fairies π§♂️
All these activities are great ways to keep him entertained. However, I am sure it will be a happy memory he will look back on fondly for the rest of his life.
It's a Life lesson which will help develop his appreciation of nature, and the simple pleasures of life.
For grandparents like us, it's an opportunity not only for bonding or creating memories with them but transferring our life experiences and skills to them by sharing stories and our wisdom and knowledge.
We both looked very cute hereπ, in our matching gardening dungarees π
Sometimes the most comfortable and well-loved gardening clothes carried the happiest memories.
Who knows, one day our gardening dungarees might become a "legendary Ah Mah's outfit " in the family. π€π
And all this joy started with just a simple question from a grandson to a grandmother: "Ah Mah ( means Grandma in Hokkien), when are you going to start gardening again?" π€£
I give thanks to my son and his wife for bringing this boy into our lives.❤️
Story written by "Ah Mah" and edited by Grandpa StanππΉ
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