HARVARD — This Labor Day the Fruitlands Museum is sure to attract anyone with interest in woodlands fairies or gnomes – and building houses for them – during the return of a much-loved event. While living at Fruitlands, 10-year-old Louisa May Alcott wrote in her diary that she “had a lovely time in the woods with Anna and Lizzie. We were fairies, and made gowns and paper wings. I ‘flied’ the highest of all.”
Well, don your wings, grab your crowns and head to the Fruitlands woods where Louisa and her sisters once played for a family Labor Day event on Saturday, Sept. 2.
Called Fruitlands Fairy Forest, they encourage all visitors to their grounds and trails to build fairy and gnome houses around the Willard Archeological site, located along the yellow trail at Fruitlands Museum. Collect natural materials and build a house for the Fruitlands fairies and gnomes, then leave your house for the sprites to enjoy and other guests to see as the fairy forest grows.
Register online to receive a digital DIY Fruitlands Fairy Forest activity kit, including map, fairy wand, craft tutorial, storytime reading, and more, prior to your visit. Be sure to scroll through your confirmation email below the tickets for visitor info and how to access your activity kit.
Registration includes access to digital activity kit and admission on the grounds for the day, open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekends.
Fruitlands Museum has a diverse collection of art and material culture on 210 acres of land, stunning views, and miles of walking trails.
In 1843, Amos Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane turned a swath of Harvard farmland into a transcendentalist experiment in subsistence farming and Emersonian self-reliance, named Fruitlands, which ultimately disbanded after only seven months. In 1914, Clara Endicott Sears opened the grounds to the public, establishing a museum in the property’s 1820 farmhouse.
(COURTESY FRUITLANDS MUSEUM)
