It started with an unfinished leprechaun house sitting on the counter. Mackenzie found it before I was ready—printables still stacked, Dollar Tree finds not yet arranged, very much a work in progress. She walked over with that look. You know the one. “What is THAT?”
I told her we were building a little home for a leprechaun who needed somewhere to stay this month. Did she want to help? She was already grabbing things off the pile. We laid everything out, and she just… went for it. Arranging things, deciding what a leprechaun would actually want in his house, making sure he’d be comfortable.
The map was her favourite—she studied it seriously, traced her finger across it, and used it to figure out where he was coming from and where the gold should go. Very important business.
She played for a full hour, completely on her own. No nudging needed. While she napped, I moved the whole village to its permanent spot for the month, styled it up, and put the leprechaun cut-out on the wall. He had arrived.
She woke up and lost her mind (in the best way). Now she checks on the village every single morning. Sometimes fairies stop through on their travels to rest for a bit—that part is entirely her idea, and I love it.
We did a Christmas village in December that she was equally obsessed with, so honestly, this is just becoming a thing now—seasonal little worlds to play in, with printables that make it feel layered and magical and real to her.
When St Patrick’s Day arrived, Mackenzie was super into everything green that the leprechaun left at our house.
Note from Marie: This has been so thrilling. Seeing my printable play in a home so full of love and joy has inspired me to keep drawing!
This blogpost has been contributed to by Lindsay Howse of @littlesummitcreative