Theme Day:

Fairytales

Download the PDF

ONCE UPON A TIME...

What is a fairytale? Which characters do we see pop-up in fairytales: animals, princes/princesses, witches, knights, dragons...
True/False icebreaker: see how much your kids remember from fairytales you've read with a quick game e.g. 'The Wolf in Red Riding Hood ended up at the police station' - true or false? It's a great way to warm up to the theme!
Over a breakfast of Porridge, reread Goldilocks and The Three Bears: if the bears had been able to cross the river they reached, maybe they wouldn't have come back and found Goldilocks asleep?
STEM activity: Build The Bears A Bridge: using bricks, magnatiles & household items, get them to work together to build a bridge over a blue river (carpet/towel/plastic)
STEM activity for Three Little Pigs: Can You Build A House the Wolf CAN'T Blow Down? Using: toothpicks, q-tips, playdough, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners. Take out a hairdryer and see if they can withstand the wolf’s huffs and puffs!
Bake: The Gingerbread Man dough! #1 Make people, houses, shoes, dresses, swords or #2: Construct a gingerbread house, a la Hansel and Gretel.
Hansel & Gretel activity sheet: Writing practice for letters 'H', 'G' & 'W' for witch OR; Fairytale Mad-Libs for older kids! Invent your own fairytale by passing around a fairytale with gaps in the story & words to be filled in: guaranteed giggles.
Snow White: jewelled cardboard "mirror mirror" craft! Spray paint hand-mirror shape card in silver or grey, use tin foil/shiny takeaway tray lids for center mirror section, decorate with jewels or buttons. Now hold it up and find out who really is the fairest in the land....

Session 1

Indoor Active

Fairytale Movement! Think up some fun movement based on characters from stories:

Swim like a mermaid, hi-ho like a dwarf, jump like a frog, fly like a fairy, stand tall like a castle, prance or trot like a unicorn, stomp like a giant, kneel like a knight, twirl like a fairy godmother!

Bonus: Raid the dress-up box and become witches, knights, horses, princes and dragons for this activity!

Session 2

Storytime: There's No Dragon In This Story, by Lou Carter
Dragon Eggs: fill a few small bowls with water, drop a different food colour or dye in each. Kids can lightly tap the shells of cooled, hardboiled eggs - enough to make a pattern. Drop an egg in each small bowl of food colouring, leave for 3 hours.
Dragon egg crate craft
Sensory activity: Fairy Dough - 1 cup hair conditioner, 2.5 cups cornstarch, purple/blue/food colour your kids prefers & glitter! Fairy playdough, super soft and malleable.
Painting castles - outline in black oil pastel, teaches: watercolor technique, geometry for castle shapes - rectangles, triangles, ovals.

Outdoor Active

Session 3

Jack and The Beanstalk: 1) 'Measuring Center' for 5+: Print images of giant, beanstalk, harp, goose. Measure width & height! 2) Construct: Beanstalks! Chairs, toilet paper stacks - who can build the highest stalk?! 3) Grow Your Own Beanstalk: place damp cotton wool in a glass jar, add any dry bean & water. Observe over the next few days, add water as needed.
Princess and The Pea: 1) Sorting 'peas' - green pompoms - into big, medium & small, 2) Sensory box with dried peas - add letters & numbers! Older kids can do both of these activities blindfolded! 3) How Many Mattresses? Patterned paper, cut up into 'mattresses' & glue down. Stick on a dried pea or draw one on. Numbers practice & scissor skills.

Inspiration Gallery

Screen Time

Classic fairytale movies: Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella - go back in time with Disney and a classic fairytale situation. Prefer your modern heroines? Try Tangled (Rapunzel) or Brave (Scottish legend)!

For shorter viewing and 5+ kids, 'Fixed Fairytales' on YouTube is a funny, animated retelling of some of the classic fairytales and how they should've/could've ended!