Magic Belles

Have you ever spotted a perfect ring of mushrooms growing in a forest or park? These are known as fairy rings and according to fairy folklore they’re special, magical places…

• When it’s damp outside, especially after a rainstorm, lots of mushrooms start popping up out of the ground. Mushrooms come in many sizes, shapes and colours. If you go to a forest or park, you may be lucky enough to spot magical mushrooms growing in a circle!
• In some parts of the world, people call these mushroom circles ‘fairy rings’ and there are stories and legends that tell of fairy folk making the rings grow by dancing around in circles!
• Some fairy folk stories also say that if a human goes into the fairy ring, they will sleep for a hundred years, or even be whisked away to fairyland!
• Some say that the only safe way to explore a fairy ring is to run around the outside of the circle nine times like a fairy. If you do this, apparently you can hear the fairies dancing, too!

• Another story is that the mushrooms are used by fairies as chairs and tables for their fairy tea parties. The Magic Belles love to do this! Others say that the fairies use the mushrooms as parasols and dance around with them.
• There are some fairy rings in France and England that have been there for over 700 years!
• There are 60 different types of mushrooms that can grow into fairy rings, but the most famous is the beautiful red fly agaric mushroom, which has white spots. This is the mushroom that reminds most people of fairyland. Isn’t it lovely? It’s best not to touch these though, as they’re poisonous.

Get outside and go exploring with your little one to see if you can spot a fairy ring or some fly agaric mushrooms. Don’t touch or ingest any, unless you are an expert, of course! Why not make up some fairy stories together if you find some?

With love and magic dust from the Magic Belles in Bellevue xxx

P.S. Butterfly Belle is growing her very own fairy ring! How many mushrooms can you count outside her house?