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Friday Fun: Tell a Fairytale Day


The last few weeks of Friday Fun have been very 'science-y' so we're moving away from that with this week's special day - Tell a Fairytale Day (Sunday, February 26th)! We're passionate about reading and creativity here at The Hub and this week's Friday Fun is about just that!


The sharing of magical, otherworldly stories began well before the term ‘fairytale’ was coined in 1697 by Madame d’Aulnoy, it’s likely that some fairy tales originated as early as the bronze age (over 6,000 years ago!) and for most of history, fairytales have been passed on orally (the beautiful books of tales we know and love, a very recent addition to fairytale history).


Each generation added their own spin and dramatization to the tales; captivating the hearts and minds of young and old; and bringing communities together to share stories. By celebrating Tell a Fairytale Day, you’ll continue this magical tradition, ensuring that fairytales (and storytelling) are still very much a part of our lives now and into the future! So, dive into Friday Fun; learn, play and grow!



Why Are Fairytales Important?


Fairytales are incredibly valuable for children (and adults!) when it comes to learning about our world and developing (and extending) our creativity.


It's often claimed that Albert Einstein once said, "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairytales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairytales."


The combination of this kind of statement and world-famous theoretical physicist might seem jarring but we're here to tell you that fairytales are not just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo nonsense; they are actually very valuable tools in your educational toolkit.


Here are eight reasons why:



They Develop Imagination

Stories of all kinds are essential to the development of imagination but fairytales are by far the most compelling. They invite children (and adults) into worlds of wonder - where the real world and the problems there-in collide with fantastical creatures and settings; they are approachable and engaging. These kinds of stories support children to develop bridges between make-believe and reality, and equip them with the tools they need to create tales of their own; representations of their world and their understandings. These story-time adventures and creative outlets allow children to continue to nurture their imaginations and develop their creativity through continually being exposed to new words, new characters, new problems (and solutions) - whole new worlds to test their knowledge, skills, understanding and problem-solving without leaving the comfort and safety of their parents' arms!



They Help Children Become Problem-Solvers

Fairytales usually present some kind of problem or conflict that the characters are trying to solve; we go along for the journey with these characters and learn from their experiences (even as adults!). They support us to become excellent problem-solvers in a couple of key ways:

  1. They help us to make connections between the characters, stories or problems and our own lives, dreams, and anxieties. We are invited to step 'into their shoes', what would we do in this situation?

  2. The characters often make several attempts at a solution before they are successful, creating a fabulous opportunity to explore iterative thinking (prototyping, testing and redesigning) and practicing persistence.

Through these experiences children (and adults) can become masters at problem-solving - they will see that we cannot always solve problems alone; sometimes we might need different tools, resources or approaches; and that it is very rare to find a solution on the first try!



They Support Development of Critical Thinking

This one kind of goes hand-in-hand with problem-solving; if you want your children to become excellent problem-solvers, broad-minded and a rational thinkers - then what you are aiming to do is to improve critical thinking. Everyone thinks, but a lot of our thinking is pretty disorganised, irrational, distorted, or even prejudiced! The aim of developing critical thinking is to become better AT thinking. Fairytales (and other stories) invite people to think for themselves, create their own interpretations, and most importantly, support them with reasons (e.g., Would you have climbed the beanstalk? Why? Why not?). This is nurturing our ability to think critically and re-evaluate our opinions or actions using new knowledge and experiences.



They Build Emotional Resilience

Emotional resilience is a person's ability to adapt to or deal with stressful situations - and we have had some pretty stressful times of late in the world! Instead of bombarding our children with real-world problems that they are not yet equipped to deal with (or may not even understand); we can gently introduce them to difficult situations in a safe environment (our shared story times, our arms and our homes). Fairytales show issues that are very real-world but insert them into a relatable and engaging fantastical scenario where more often than not the hero triumphs or at the very least, learns some important lessons! It is so important that children are learning that no-one in life is immune to challenges, we will all have tough times and problems to solve. And it is equally important for us to learn that we can't protect our children from everything (and why would we want to? Some of the greatest skills we have learned come from being challenged!). Fairytales are the bridge to building up those emotional muscles and increasing emotional resilience. As an added bonus, fairytales allow us to strengthen other emotional capabilities too, like empathy, compassion, kindness and understanding.



They Help Us to Teach Moral Lessons

One of the cornerstones of fairytales are the moral lessons embedded in the texts, these stories never fail to get values across. However, it is important that we have a solid understanding of the lessons that the tales are trying to teach so that we can have active and informed conversations around them. Not all fairytales teach culturally appropriate or modern values, but this is not a reason to avoid these tales, it is an opportunity for teaching, for building critical thinking and for discussing ideas creatively. Overall though, fairytales are brilliant for supporting children to learn how to deal with basic human conflict, desires, and relationships in healthy ways. By acquiring these skills, future values and beliefs are cemented (or at least the foundations laid) and in conjunction with the other benefits of fairytale stories; children are equipped with appropriate skills and knowledge to navigate their own lives effectively, confidently and happily.



They Give Us a Common Language

Fairytales (and folk tales) are found all over the world, and while each culture and geographic region of the world has its own selection of tales that it considers 'its own' there are certain themes, motifs, and language features that are common. Universal emotions such as love, hate, courage, kindness, and cruelty appear in the repetitive, rhythmic and patterned language of traditional stories all over. Often phrases or expressions are repeated several times - creating emphasis; and strong imagery is always a key component (probably linking back to the fact that fairytales were once purely an oral tradition). Through these features, fairytales give us a common language; one that crosses borders, religions, and cultures to embed within us all certain morals, values and beliefs. Interestingly, one of the most common fairytales is Cinderella. There are over 500 versions of this story worldwide, and unique versions can be found in Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and Asia!



They Expose Children to Different Cultures & Customs

Because fairytales seem to be a universal staple to literature and oral customs around the world; it makes sense to explore and include a variety of tales from all over. Not only will this give your children exposure to different variations of the same stories and morals, but it will also give them opportunities to study differences in language, morals, beliefs, attire, religion, history, and more! People who grow up in a particular culture are literate in it because they are surrounded by it every day (they are culturally literate, they deeply and fluently understand their culture). The ideal is to become "multi-culturally" literate; by finding ways to learn about and integrate new cultures into our own understandings and practices. Now, this doesn't mean adopting cultural beliefs that are not your own (or that aren't relevant and meaningful to you); it is simply developing a greater understanding and respect for cultures other than our own. Fairytales are, again, the perfect bridge - but this time, the bridge between cultures, allowing us to understand our neighbours and interact with them in more sustainable ways.



They Teach Story Structure

Learning how to effectively write stories can be challenging and fairytales give us the opportunity to break stories down (really easily) into their core components or explore the structure of stories. Fairytales have a clear beginning, middle and end; easily identifiable characters (who often physically exhibit personality traits that support us to understand the story); obvious lessons or morals - and generally progress in a familiar pattern (e.g., once upon a time... then... then... then... and they lived happily ever after). There is a reason that teachers use fairytales as a basis for developing narrative writing in the early years - they lend themselves so well to teaching even the very youngest children how to structure a story (plus, they are super fun)!




How to Celebrate Tell a Fairytale Day!


Tell a Fairytale Day is all about reading, sharing and appreciating fairytales and lends itself well to practicing writing and developing our creativity too (think: acting it out or pretend play, reworking or adapting tales, or even creating our own versions of favourite tales will illustrations or photography that represents our imaginings!).


There is so much scope here for addressing curriculum objectives across English and The Arts; but there are also opportunities to dive down rabbit holes for history, geography and lots of other subject areas too (e.g., looking at the social stories behind fairytales, discovering and exploring places and how they have changed over time, exploring how languages have evolved, geology and archaeology - did a belief in dragons originate from some discovered dinosaur bones perhaps?) - the possibilities are endless and only limited by your imagination and creativity around the curriculum benchmarks.


This topic also has the ability to address a lot of the cross-curriculum priorities and general capabilities as well - think: literacy, critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability, ethical and intercultural understanding, and of course diving into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures (although not considered 'fairytales' as such, it is an excellent opportunity to connect traditional storytelling between cultures and develop an appreciation for oral storytelling traditions).


Not only is Tell a Fairytale Day a great way to tick curriculum boxes in fun and creative ways, it is a fantastic reason to get out and about in our world and connect with others who love stories - perhaps you could attend a local event (or host one), or you might like to join a writer's club or pop into your local library and have a chat with the librarian (or other patrons), or maybe you could even put on a play of your favourite tale!


Use this special day to connect with your children over a shared story (perhaps one of your childhood favourites), as a springboard for new units or explorations, or use it as an excuse to get out into the community exploring, connecting and having fun with others (hunting for fairy houses anyone?).




What Are We Doing?


READ


Of course traditional collections of fairytales are going to feature here for us (I have some beautiful old collections from when I was a child that I think may have even been passed down from a generation or two before me)!


Some of the traditional fairytales can be a little full-on for little ones though, so make sure if you're exploring the originals you pre-read to ensure they're appropriate for your kids' development.


If you want a quick overview of what you might be in for using the original fairytales then head over to YouTube for a quick summary, here, there, or even over here!




Simplified children's versions of traditional tales are probably your best bet for little ones; these can be found cheaply at most department stores or borrowed from the library.


We already have a collection of these tales in our personal library (our little Miss has recently discovered fairytales and is wholeheartedly enjoying them) so will be grabbing a few from our personal collection.


Some of our little ones' favourite tales at the moment are: Frozen, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Rapunzel.


There are also loads of fun books like the one pictured above that have fun features like lift-a-flap or peep-throughs that are super engaging for our very littlest people (and also help them to improve their coordination & fine motor skills)!



For something a bit different and to engage the sporadic interest of our teen we will be looking at some fairytale adaptations (I, personally, really enjoy these)! Some that we already have in our collection are:

  • Disney's Twisted Tales Collection

  • Disney Villains Collection

For more ideas on books for teens, check out these lists:

  • 8 Fairytale Retellings for Teens from Brightly

  • Read Brightly's 14 Fractured Fairy Tales

Plus, for some ideas on multicultural fairytales try here!



WATCH


We'll be raiding our personal movie library for our favourite fairytales. We have loads of Disney movies that the littlest ones absolutely LOVE, like:

  • Frozen

  • Rapunzel (Tangled)

  • Sleeping Beauty

  • Cinderella

  • The Princess & the Frog

But we also have some more complex movies that our teen will enjoy, like:

  • Hook: The Return of Captain Hook (1991)

  • Snow White & the Huntsman (2012)

  • The Brothers Grimm (2005)

  • Alice in Wonderland (2010)

  • The Princess Bride (1987)



The Explained docuseries explores a different topic in each of its short episodes; this episode looks at the origins of fairy tales (how and why they've survived for thousands of years) right up to the more recent Disney retellings - are fairytales as simple and happy as Disney leads us to believe?


This is a fabulous exploration for teens and will have them diving down new rabbit holes and asking all sorts of interesting questions


Fairy Tales Explained (Season 3, Episode 14)



Fixed Fairytales are hilarious adaptations of familiar fairytales that really showcase how you can play with traditional tales to create something totally new, for a new audience (or your own amusement).


These are an excellent resource if you're studying fractured fairytales, or you're just up for a bit of fun.




PLAY


We'll be experimenting with Making Magical Potions.


We love these Emotions Potions from FiddlesticksEd and have been having lots of fun with them already.


Side note: Our teen has been running his own little business for over three years now and makes all sorts of cute things; but something that sprung to mind when we were writing this post was his gorgeous little Fairy Kits (you'll find them if you scroll down to the Stuff We Love section on this post)!


Of course, we can always experiment with 'potions' of a different kind for our older kids too (think: chemistry experiments and making household supplies like cleaners, soaps and lotions).



It's time for a 'home-corner' revamp at our place (to be honest, it all started with a princess birthday party we had in January), but we're going to take it to the next level (using this special day as an excuse 😂).


We're thinking cardboard castles, princess dresses, magic wands, crowns and tiaras, maybe a magic mirror or some fairy houses too!


We'll leave the direction of this one totally up to the kids and just be facilitators; but I have my suspicions that 'home corner' might end up extending all over the house and garden!



As always for us, no 'playtime' is complete with boardgames! WE love our games and we have loads to choose from on just about any topic that you can imagine. A few that we'll pull out of the 'library' for this special day are:

  • Once Upon a Time (8+)

  • Dragonwood (8+)

  • Dragonrealm (10+)

Some other games we are keen to try are:

  • Familiar Tales (8+)

  • Cauldron Quest (6+)

  • Fairy Trails (8+)

  • Everdell (13+) - note there are also more games in the Everdell series.

Plus there are loads of free or low cost printable/DIY games - grab some ideas from Pinterest.



CREATE


We're going to be planting 'Magic Beans' - these beans aren't from a fairytale book but they create a bridge back to reality from the fairytale stories we have enjoyed!


These regular beans will seem magical to your little ones (and maybe even your bigger kids too!) because there is magic in nature - how excited do we still get when our garden projects go well, when those first new shoots appear, or our trees begin to fruit!


This activity is as simple as getting some bean seeds, potting them up (indoors or out), watering them and waiting and watching them grow! You could also use this as an opportunity to keep a science/nature journal or compare different growing conditions or different species of bean plant!


We're also going to try out this Magic Jumping Beans experiment!



Baking is something that we enjoy at our house and our kitchen is one of the rooms that we spend a lot of time in.


A few years ago, we had this beautiful, whimsical woodland birthday party and you could see the delight in all the children's (and adult's faces) - so we want to recreate that vibe with some whimsical Toadstool Cupcakes.


We found this easy-to-follow guide to creating them at Hobby Craft but I imagine that the creative flare all of our children have will create some more unique and magical cupcakes (who wants uniformity when you're exploring fairytale worlds!).


But I think the most magical part of this experience is all of the kids working together and then sharing their special treats with each other - we might even have a storytime picnic and enjoy another beautiful fairytale!



We attended a pop culture convention a few years ago and since then our Pinterest boards and minds have been occupied with all things Cosplay.


Of course, we have more ideas than we have capability to execute at any given moment but this is something that our teen is really into and is always pottering around creating (usually an assortment of Cosplay weapons and armour).


We also have a passion for all things magical, fantasy and sci-fi - so this influences our creative pursuits too.


We're going to do our very best to stay on track and actually complete a single project before our short attention spans side-track us, but there's no guarantees.


Wands, swords, robes and fake fire are all on the cards, hopefully we'll get to share some of our creations with you over in Little Sprouts Homeschooling.




Stuff We Love!


Fairy Kits (paid)

For a little bit of whimsical fun, grab yourself a Fairy Kit from The Woodmason.


Our teen son has been running his own 'business' since eleven and we have seen his skills grow and develop, along with his creativity.


These Fairy Kits were designed as a special treat for his sister and he has since 'rehomed' quite a few to other little Misses and Misters looking for their own fairy fun!


They are handcrafted in our family workshop, using natural materials (including: local stone, wood, and leaves).


You can grab one for yourself by placing an order through his Facebook page, The Woodmason.



Growth Mindset Resources (paid)

Whimsy Workshop Teaching's Growth Mindset STEM Bundles.


Yes, yes, it's becoming obvious that I have a weak point for STEM - but hey, what's not to love about integrating multiple subjects with fun, hands-on learning activities!?


The Fairytale Growth Mindset STEM Bundles are an excellent way to address multiple subject areas while having loads of fun BUT they also add in something a bit extra and unique.


The idea is for students to work through a problem in a familiar tale, design a solution, and test it out (all the while, learning important growth mindset skills - we can't always get it right on the first try!)


Definitely worth the dollars in my opinion if you're looking for resources to extend your fairytale adventures.



Fairy Tale I Spy Game (free)

We stumbled across these I Spy games a few years ago and the little ones have been having loads of fun.


There are so many different themes to choose from and we often print and laminate them for car rides (good at keeping little hands and minds busy on those long road trips!).


This fairy tale themed version was just too cute not to share and I'm sure that we'll get hours of fun out of it (and hope you do too!).


Grab yours here!



Reader's Theatre Resources (paid)

Whimsy Workshop Teaching's Fairytale Reader's Theatre.


The Fairytale Reader's Theatre is a fun way to get your children up and moving while learning, it also gives them opportunities to collaborate (maybe with your local homeschool group or co-op), and practice those all important oral storytelling traditions!


We came across these purely by accident while looking at other resources for STEM and I can honestly say that I adore Reader's Theatre; it's engaging and motivates students to read, allows them to practice fluency, increase their comprehension, provide opportunities for cooperative learning, and builds confidence - what's not to love!


Again, well worth the dollars if you're looking to build skills and extend your fairytale adventures!



Fairy Tale STEM (free)

These Fairy Tale Stem Challenges from Math Geek Mama!


What I absolutely adore about these is that they are literature-based - they use gorgeous picture books to explore mathematical concepts (something that we have been using in our homeschool since I discovered the Sir Cumference series a few years ago!).


They combine two of my most favourite things - books and hands-on activities - to tackle one of my least favourite subjects, Math! I call this a win-win!


Not only are you reading, exploring, having loads of hands-on fun, and ticking of those Math boxes - you are also giving your children an introduction into Design Technologies - talk about integration & multi-tasking!


Grab yours here!



Story Stone Sets (paid)

It was really hard to choose just a few things to share with you from our long list of things we love; but we just had to squeeze these in here too!


Our son a.k.a. The Woodmason makes all sorts of beautiful, nature-spired products and one of our favourites was when we started using story stones and he offered to make some sets for his little sister!


We have all kinds of story stones now from Peter Rabbit through to Aboriginal Symbols, we have ones that explore Weather and some whimsical storytelling ones (our youngest has been carrying the treasure chest rock all around the yard with him while he plays)!


Story stones are a delightful resource, and if you haven't heard about them or used them before we highly recommend finding out more and grabbing or making some of your own.


You can grab a set for yourself by ordering through The Woodmason Facebook page, he has lots of themes available but if there's something you are looking for he is happy to try to accommodate your requests (best part of this product is that you're supporting a youth artisan too!)!



Storytime Puppets (free)

We recently attended a local author event where she was reading a children's book to the group and used a puppet. This was super engaging for all of the kids and there was not a face in the crowd that wasn't plastered in a smile.


We have also used puppets to support storytime in the classroom and in our book clubs; and the kids have so much fun during reading but also have a great time using the puppets afterward and incorporating them into their play!


We came across these lovely Little Red Riding Hood printables for FREE and thought they'd get you off to a great start using puppets at storytime (but don't be shy about creating your own - some card, a paper bag or a wooden spoon are all excellent starting points too!).


Grab your free printable here!



Small World Play (paid)

There are loads of absolutely stunning small world play resources out there and heaps of Aussie small businesses doing amazing things but we just couldn't resist putting our own spin on small world play and have thoroughly enjoyed putting our Little Earth Small World Play Subscriptions together!


What we enjoyed more though, was testing them out with the kids! Their eyes shone and there were all kinds of incredible, creative games and stories happening (and still happening) using these beautiful, natural and sustainable props.


They have been heading out to homes all over for the last twelve months and I can just imagine the delightful playtimes that are being had with them; it makes my heart sing to know something we made with our own hands is out there bringing joy to kids and families!


If you're keen to join in the fun, then you can find out more about Little Earth Subscriptions here!




FREEBIES!



If you're thinking about exploring creating your own fairytales (or fractured fairytales) this freebie might be for you - it is part of a larger unit currently in development (I know! Sneak peaks are so fun!) and it walks you through the Elements of Plot (sometimes known as the Story Arc).






If you're not quite at a whole English unit or at at the pre-writing (or reluctant writer) stage; then this freebie might be for you! Fractured Fairy Tales - Story Stone Mapping Resource steps you through the story arc using hands-on resources.


If you don't have any Story Stones then you can make your own OR you can pop on over to The Woodmason to grab one of the themed sets available!








We hope that this has given you lots of fun ways to celebrate Tell a Fairytale Day and get you actively sharing, telling and creating stories! Friday Fun at The Hub is all about connecting homeschoolers with fun learning experiences that enrich every homeschool; and providing families with fabulous freebies to support learning, playing and growing at home!



If you've got some suggestions for other great ideas or would like to share your adventures, please visit our private group on Facebook - Little Sprouts Homeschooling and join a community of homeschoolers just like you!




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