Swapping the phone for a fairy garden

Parents coax child off phone by building outdoor paradise.

FAIRY LAND: Abbey Joyce Tydd loves the fairy garden her parents built for her. Picture: Jann Houley

WHEN Abbey's parents realised she's grown a bit screen addicted, they came up with an enchanting way to distract her.

The Berserker couple spent a month transforming an area outside their back door into a fairy garden for Abbey to play with her 'friends'.

"She was better on the phone than we are,” said the three-year old's mothers, Elma Joyce Tydd.

"She would have spent eight hours a day playing games and downloading apps if we'd let her.”

"There's a man up the road who cuts trees gave us some offcuts for her seating,” Mrs Joyce Tydd said.

"And there's a lovely lady in Gracemere who sells concrete ornaments.”

Now Abbey spends her hours making tea for Rainbow the horse whom she hand-painted.

Abbey's parents can't believe how much it's changed her in only a short time.

"She's completely off the phone; she comes out here and chats with her 'friends' all day long.”

Originally published as Swapping the phone for a fairy garden