Everyone has thrown a penny into a wishing well. Wishing wells can be found in malls, carnivals, and tourist destinations, where children and the young-at-heart throw coins into the mouth of a well to make a dream come true. If you plan to build a wishing well of your own, here are some tools and steps to get you started.

What is a Wishing Well?

Back in the days of knights and brutal battles on the field, the custom was for the victor to throw the armor of the vanquished warrior to a river where his god is said to live. The armor was an offering to thank the god for the victory, and to ask for strength and courage for the next battle. The guardians of the river or the well became a source of inspiration and will for many people. Today, many people drop coins into rivers and wishing wells hoping that a most fervent wish can be granted.

What You Need

While there’s no solid proof that wishing wells do grant wishes, they’re a lot of fun for kids and kids-at-heart. You can build your own wishing well as a decorative element on your own property, like the yard or the walkway to the backyard. You’ll need the following tools and materials:

• Shovel (For more information on shovels, read The Guide to Shovels)
• Concrete
• Flat rocks and tiles
• Roofing material (wooden , thatch)
• Bricks
• Paint
• Water

Steps

To make your wishing well, follow these steps:

1. Dig a hole deep enough for the bottom surface of the well. Remember that you don’t have to dig the well deep enough to reach an aquifer or the groundwater underneath the soil. A shallow hole in the ground deep enough to break the first few inches of soil is usually a good enough depth for a wishing well. (Learn how to dig a trench)
2. Build a floor around which the well’s bottom surface can stand using bricks. From here, build the walls of the well (Tips on how to build a brick wall). You can use a conventional circular design structure like in an ordinary well, or you could be more experimental with concrete sculptures.
3. If needed, cover the well with decorative items like flat rocks, tiles, and other waterproof, colorful, textured items. You can even think of a fantasy-inspired design for your wishing well. You may also want to place signs on the wishing well to entice people into making wishes.
4. One way to protect your wishing well and passers-by from the elements is to build a thatched roof or any protective structure over the wishing well. Since you’ll be building a wishing well outside your house, make sure that the roof structure can withstand the elements.
5. Fill the well in with water. People will drop coins into the water, and they may contain contaminants and heavy metals that can harm the body. Water in a wishing well is not fit for human consumption.

Wishing wells are great places to drop a penny for your thoughts and a penny for your dreams. With these steps, you can make a wishing well that will be the stuff that dreams - or hopes for them coming true - are made of.

Watch The Video

How to Build a Wishing Well