IN THE GARDEN: Sofia Shares her Friendship Fairy Garden

On March 13, 2020 America went into full lockdown. Attending school, going to work and seeing friends would be different. In the first month of lockdown the friendship between my neighbor Gillian and me bloomed. We were two elementary school kids who could only go on walks with a mask. We were always bored and trying to find things to do. One day we went on a walk and passed by a fairy garden which gave us an idea. Why not create a fairy garden to share with the community? It would keep us busy, so we wouldn’t get bored! Creating our fairy garden became our ongoing project. The joy of sharing this creation with my best friend and the community has made me super happy. Over the month our fairy garden was full of leaves, so we found out how to keep it nice and clean. Every week we take out the leaves and spiderwebs that nature sends, then switch all of the positions of our items. Even nature loves our fairy garden a bit too much! We also make sure to update our monthly decorations, which has been very fun! One fun thing about owning a fairy garden is getting new or old items; we get to paint them and find a place for them in our fairy garden.

The thing I enjoy most is knowing that people of all ages are excited to come check out our garden, and to see that our tiny little fairy garden can put smiles on peoples’ faces. I am surprised at how much our small community has contributed to our fairy garden. We are forever grateful! One day Gillian and I went out front to check on our creation and we found a brand new fairy item that was not ours: a mystery giver left it overnight! Little did we know that every day of that week we would receive a surprise item. This gave us an idea. What if we can make items and expand our project every week? Month after month, our fairy garden grew. But our fairy garden was not the only thing that grew. New fairy gardens popped up around town. Now, you can enjoy walking around Coronado spotting new fairy gardens, each unique in their own way.

• Sofia Grace Maggioni is a 10-year-old girl who attends Coronado Village Elementary school and lives in Coronado with her mother and father.

The joy of sharing this creation with my best friend, Gillian, and the community has made me super happy. - Sofia Maggioni

In the beginning, the fairy garden was very simple, and pictured here, has expanded into the bustling little fairy village it is today.