In Western Australia, tiny doors aim to spark kids’ imaginations

Too often, we look at a lush, lovely nature spot and think about holding some kind of event or function there. But Kerryn Belli, who lives in Western Australia’s Mid West region, had another idea. For years, Belli had been walking along the banks of the Chapman River, which passes through the small city of Geraldton, and the magical charm of the place inspired her to make fairy doors. Belli and her husband Dean installed 10 fairy doors at the roots of trees and nestled among the rocks of the river, so hikers and tourists can find them on their outings. Each of these tiny doors was made by Bill Pike from the Geraldton Men’s Shed and hand-painted by local artists, Belli told reporters. “The idea was to get more children and adults out into nature … because it’s such a beautiful area.” Belli first got the idea when she visited a fairy door trail along the Denmark River in the southwest part of her state. That trail came with a map of coordinates to find the fairy doors. That was convenient, but Belli had something different in mind for the fairy doors in Geraldton. “The drive behind this one was that a child just might come here and climb up this tree, find the door and not even know there are others around. That sparks their imagination to look a little further, connect a little bit more to nature and see if there’s any more around,” she said. The ultimate aim is to raise ecological awareness. For years, Belli had been picking up trash along the Chapman River on her walks, and unfortunately she found a lot of balloons and discarded paraphernalia from birthday parties. “There’s so much we can gain from nature and the doors are your purpose for coming out here to have a look.” It makes a lot of sense. After all, who would want to leave trash in a place where fairies reside? (The Japan Times) This article was provided by The Japan Times Alpha.