National Tell A Fairy Tale Day
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ― Albert Einstein
Fairy tales are full of concepts essential for early childhood development as well as teachable moments for social-emotional development. Fairy tales should be a part of the curriculum in your class, but National Tell a Fairy Tale Day is a day to celebrate all of the benefits of fairy tales for children.
Fairy tales can:
- Enrich vocabulary development and background knowledge.
- Build early literacy skills (e.g., identifying rhyming words, storytelling, basic components of a story, story development, character development, an initial understanding of fiction and non-fiction stories, etc.).
- Teach children social-emotional skills like problem solving, conflict resolution, teamwork, and helping others.
- Build an initial understanding of diversity and acceptance.
- Teach life lessons and encourage self-acceptance and empowerment.
- Foster the development of imagination and creativity.
The NEW Get Set for School Pre-K curriculum now offers read aloud books! Here are a few classic fairy tale books in our collection that embody teachable moments to share with the children in your class for National Tell a Fairy Tale Day:
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
by Parragon Books
The Three Little Pigs/ Los Tres Cerditos
by Mercè Escardó i Bas
The Tortoise and the Hare
by Janet Stevens
The Gingerbread Man
by Catherine McCafferty
Writing activity: Have a discussion about fairy tales. Ask your students "What is your favorite fairy tale and why?" Have your students make a list of characters for their own fairy tale. Then give them a writing prompt for the setting, such as in a castle, in the woods, in a cave, in a ship, in a meadow. Then, have them draw or dictate their own tale!
