Fairy doors make ordinary walks into magic

TakingÂ a walk outdoors consistently offers mood-changing vibes to cranky little people, even from their earliest days on this planet.

Toddlers who can do their own walking do so with more pride outdoors. But at some point, children are not as easily manipulated into going on something as vague as a walk and they want to know why, or what the payoff will be.

Fairy doors are kid-friendly payoff for taking a stroll outdoors

Fairy doors are tiny entry ways that have been architected in all manner of styles to imply that a fairy might live on the other side of the door. Generous souls have either crafted or purchased and installed these doors to bring a moment of wonder to those who pass by.

I’m sort of obsessed with fairy doors and if I wasn’t running this website and this one already, I might want to create an online registry for Fairy Doors where folks can log their locations, so those of us who need daily therapeutic walks could hunt them down.

For now, you’ll have to use Google and hope that a local journalist has covered the topic in your area. Search “fairy door (your city)” to see if there’s information you can use.

Finding a fairy door is an opportunity to talk about what magical land might be on the other side of the door.

Making your own Fairy Doors

Last summer I wanted to make a fairy door with my daughter, but I worried that her high expectations would make it disappointing, so I put the project on the back burner. But here’s what I learned:

Popsicle sticks make a gate-style door that you can paint and embellish. I’ve learned the hard way that a pair of pruning shears is the best tool for cutting popsicle sticks if you want different sizes.Â Buy a rainbow pack of craft sticks to skip the painting process.
Plain wooden mintature doors are available on Amazon.
You’ll want tiny door hinges and a little lock and key set to make your basic door come to life.

Shortcut: This Fairy Door kit on Etsy has everything you need to be successful. It’s actually positioned as a Tooth Fairy Door. Cute idea.

Where to buy pre-made Fairy Doors

Michael’s arts and craft stores has miniatures at reasonable prices. On their website, I see complete fairy doors, but I think in the store I’ve seen ones that you’d want to paint, like the ones above.