We are all being delighted by the bounty of flowers in the yard right now! Yet, in all their beauty, it is hard for little ones not to pick them and carry them about. To encourage enjoying the flowers’ beauty without disturbing them, I turn to this story each year. It is easily adaptable to fit any flower in bloom so that I can tell it any time in the spring and summer, keeping the magic alive all through the seasons of flowers. It is a traditional tale that has grown over the years as it has become my own. It is suitable for ages four and older, but with a more brief version it could also be told to three-year-olds that are not new to storytelling. Especially with those young ones, a couple of props (flowers or a “fairy” made of a knotted hankie) and gestures (rocking the babies) will enliven the story and help along their developing imaginations.
The Tulip Fairies Story
Once upon a time there was a sweet old woman who lived in a little house surrounded by flower gardens. She had flowers of every color and size that bloomed from Spring to Autumn, but the flowers she cherished most were her tulips. There were tulips of
many colors: red, purple, yellow and orange. The old woman spent her days tending most carefully for her flower gardens, and at night when she went to bed she stood at her bedroom window admiring them one last time in the moonlight.
One night as she slept, she was awakened by the sounds of sweet singing. But as she sat up in bed, the singing faded and she thought to herself, “Aye, I must have been dreaming,” and so she went back to sleep. The next night, she was awakened again. This time she stepped to her window. The singing seemed to come from her tulip bed, but she could see nothing. After looking out of the window for a few minutes, she decided to go back to bed. All the next day as she tended to her flowers, she thought of the sweet singing. She found no sign of any one having been in the garden the night before.
On the third night she was again awakened by the sweet singing. This time the old woman wrapped herself in a robe and stole quietly into her garden. The moon was full and bright, blanketing the garden with silver light. As she crept to a tree beside her tulip bed the singing grew louder. She quietly peaked around the tree, and there she saw standing by each tulip, a little fairy mother who was singing and rocking the flower like a cradle. Inside each tulip cup lay a little fairy baby laughing happily. It was the most beautiful music the old woman had every heard, and the most wonderful sight. She stood very still, watching the fairies with their babies until her eyes grew heavy with sleep. Then, she returned to bed and slept peacefully til morning.
From that time on, the old woman never picked a tulip, nor did she allow her neighbors to pick the flowers. Her tulips grew brighter and fuller than ever before, and they became the most cherished tulips in all the land. And every night the little fairy mothers sweetly sang as they rocked their babies to sleep in their little flower cups.
Felt Flower Craft
It’s also fun to create some pretty flowers that can be played with. The Magic Onions has a felt flower craft that can be easily customized to create many types of flowers to play with on sticks as wands or stems, and on pins or crowns as costume. With adult guidance to varying degrees, this craft could be completed with most five and six year olds. Some crafty 4 year olds could participate in fringe cutting and sewing.