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10 Best Classic Fairy Tales For Your Kids
“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 often take people to the sweet memory lane of their childhood. The memories of magic, dragons, and evilness getting defeated never fail to bring a smile to our faces.
Reading or listening to classic tales can help parents bond better with their children and nurture their creativity.
So, if you are looking for the best bedtime stories for your children, this blog will surely help you. Let’s explore some of the fascinating and timeless fairy tales that can bring lots of colors and blooms to your kid’s childhood.
10 Best & Timeless Fairy Tales For Children1. Cinderella
Cinderella is one of the most popular fairy tales of all time. Its story remains an all-time classic and will remain the same for future generations as well.
Cinderella was a young woman who lived with her wicked stepmother and stepsisters. Thanks to her glass slipper, she found her Prince Charming and escaped her difficult life.
Cinderella’s story has been adapted in many variations over history. Cinderella’s popular version “The Brother Grimm” was published in 1812. Recently, in 2021, Disney has released a new Cinderella movie with a modern outlook.
Moral: This story tells kids how they should never stop dreaming despite all the hardships that life presents them with.
2. Beauty and the BeastRelated Reading: Top Reading Apps for Kids: How to Use Screens For Stories
Beauty and the Beast is a fairy tale that celebrates real royalty. In the story, a spoiled prince turns into a beast and imprisons a beautiful young lady named Belle. It’s only when he learns to love Belle that he becomes the prince again.
This fairy tale is assumed to be inspired by a real-life couple who lived in France in the 1500s. The man had a condition called hypertrichosis. This condition causes abnormal hair growth on the body.
So, he was referred to as a wild man and was kept in a cage for a long time. In a surprising turn of events, he married a royal court servant’s daughter, and they had 7 children.
Moral: We should value internal characteristics such as kindness over other superficial or physical qualities.
3. RapunzelRapunzel is a beautiful and motivational fairy tale. The story shows how a poor couple lost their daughter Rapunzel when they stole fruit from their neighbor’s garden. It also focuses on how the angelic voice of Rapunzel reunites her with her lover.
Moral: This story gives two bold messages that one should never steal, and evilness never wins.
4. Snow White and the Seven DwarfsRelated Reading: Best Children’s Books to Stimulate Kids’ Imagination & Creativity
Snow White is a young princess and is defined by her inherent kindness and pure beauty. In the story, an evil queen spends all her life envying Snow White’s beauty.
But, in the end, Snow White finds her happiness by marrying the prince. In contrast, the evil queen loses her peace and leads an unhappy life while chasing meaningless physical beauty.
Moral: This story has an insightful moral — if you lust over physical beauty, you lose your peace in the way. The story also encourages kids to be kind and pure like Snow White.
5. Little Red Riding HoodA rebellious Red sets off alone to meet her grandmother with instructions to never step off the forest path. But she disobeys the instructions and attracts the attention of the bad wolf.
Now, what happens next depends on the version you are reading. In the Charles Perrault version, Red gets gobbled up by the wolf. However, across Europe, North America, and many other tellings, she was saved by her hood or a guy with an ax.
Moral: This fairy tale intends to teach children to follow directions and express their courage at the time of need.
6. Jack and the BeanstalkJack is a rule-breaker and loves to prank. Once, he traded a family cow for a couple of magic beans in the hope of climbing the beanstalk and reaching the giant’s castle to steal his magic possessions.
This story will help you teach your naughty little pranksters that no matter how daring you are, one should never cross certain boundaries in life.
Moral: The story shows that undying greed for more will take away what you already have in your life.
7. Sleeping BeautyRelated Reading: Learning Styles That Make Learning Easy-Peasy For Kids
Sleeping Beauty is slightly similar to Snow White. The story revolves around a Sleeping Beauty who was cursed by a wicked fairy. Beauty spends all her childhood sleeping, but on her 16th birthday, her prince charming finds her and wakes her up after years of slumber.
Like other fairy tales, different interpretations of Sleeping Beauty are also available. However, Disney’s Maleficent in the year 2014 achieved the most success.
Moral: The story shows that growing up has its own hurdles but in the end, love conquers all.
8. Puss in BootsIf you want to raise a little animal helper, this is the perfect story for you. Puss is a bold trickster who masquerades as the servant of a nobleman. His tactics bring him fame, fortune, and a wife at a young age.
The boots in this fairy tale symbolize wealth and wisdom. The story is set back in the 16th century when people used to be barefoot. So, having boots at that time was a significant sign of wealth.
Moral: The story’s moral is simple — your wisdom can help you win wealth.
9. Hansel and GretelThis tale talks about the hunger of the heart and stomach. Hansel and Gretel are abandoned by their stepmother in the forest. Both children can’t resist eating a real gingerbread cottage out of hunger. But they get caught by a cannibal witch who lives there.
In the end, they shove the witch into the fiery oven to escape.
Moral: This story will teach your kids how fortunate they are to have food on their plates. It will help them be grateful in life and never have any egos!
10. Frog PrinceIn this story, a frog helps a princess to find her golden ball in the pond and then invites her to live in the castle. It is then that the frog turns into a prince. The storyline of The Frog Prince is quite similar to Beauty and the Beast.
Moral: The story teaches that it’s important to value kindness and goodness over physical beauty. It also tries to convey the importance of keeping our promises.
Related Reading: Best Riddles for Kids of all Grades (With Answers)!Benefits of Reading Fairy Tales to Your Little Ones
Are you wondering how centuries-old fairy tales can benefit your child in this digital age? Well, no matter how old fairy tales are, they can always make your kid’s childhood happy and memorable.
Be it The Brothers Grimm or Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, all the classic magic stories can benefit your child in a number of ways:
Early developmentStorytelling plays a significant role in a child’s development. That is because 95% of the human brain develops by the age of six. Therefore, reading or listening to fairy tales can build imagination and literacy for your child.
Your child can engage in fantasy land and learn to distinguish the fantasy world from the real world. They can learn to express their thoughts and ideas better.
Some studies even indicate that storytelling helps to improve vocabulary and confidence among children.
Develops problem-solving skillsThrough stories, children and even adults can learn how to handle certain problems. Cinderella’s story fits perfectly in this context. It tells how a young woman escapes her difficult life despite her wicked stepmother and stepsisters’ cruelties.
Stories allow people to step into the character’s shoes and learn how they can easily conquer problems and presents children with an interactive method of learning. This is one of the reasons why SplashLearn creates visually appealing and character-based animated games.
SplashLearn8217s game 8211 with different Oolzoos as charactersSign up & play learning games!
Builds faith in goodnessChildren connect better with the characters in the stories. This helps them learn from their favorite characters’ life stories. The stories can show children how to believe in goodness amidst problems and anxieties.
For example, Beauty and the Beast portray how selfishness can turn a prince into a beast. It also shows how beauty and kindness can turn a beast into a prince again.
Helps to understand cultural literacyFairy tales can bring cultural flavors into your child’s life. Different versions of stories are available today that can help your children interact with different cultures.
Strengthens emotional resiliencyFairy tales show that life isn’t perfect. Children discover that bad things happen to everyone. But if you are emotionally resilient, you can overcome all challenges.
This helps children stay strong during hard times and always believe in the richness of life despite hardships.
Stimulates imaginationExposing your child to the world of fantasy can stimulate their imagination. It might amaze you to see how children can give a spin to traditional stories and interpret them into something completely different.
For instance, the University of Hawai’i conducted a study to evaluate the positive impact of fairy tales on children. In the study, researchers exposed children to different classic stories to understand their impact.
Interestingly, after listening to Little Red Riding Hood, a seven-year-old boy draws the wolf to the size of an ant. He used his imagination to create a funny interpretation of the bad wolf and show his courage.
So, when you introduce a story to your child, you are providing them with an opportunity to think and imagine different scenarios.
Teaches moral lessonsEvery fairy tale is attached to a moral lesson. Fairy tales often leave us with a strong message, whether it is being good or believing in love or friendship.
You might have a hard time making your toddler understand where the difference between good and bad lies. But stories like “The Emperor’s New Clothes” can better show to your kids, the consequences of convincing yourself that something was true when it wasn’t.
Helps parents bond with their kidsThrough classic fairy tales, parents can bond with their children in a great capacity. They can relive their childhood memories with their kids and build some new memories.
Teach, Motivate and Stimulate Imagination with GamesYou can forget anything in your life, but you can never forget all the classic fairy tales that you have heard in your childhood. Have you ever thought, why?
That is mainly because stories capture our interest in a much better way. And once we learn something with an interest, we tend to not forget that information.
SplashLearn creates learning games to spike and capture kids’ interest. The engaging characters and visuals motivate the little ones to learn. Different mediums like games, worksheets and courses on Math and English can help them remember and retain concepts their entire life.
Today, you can try SplashLearn with your kids to see how they actually interact with interesting learning mediums.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Which is the oldest fairy tale?
According to some researchers, The Smith And The Devil is the oldest fairy tale. It goes back by 6,000 years to the Bronze Age.
Do all fairy tales have morals?
Yes. Fairy tales are written with a motive to teach a lesson to children via interesting characters and a storyline
How do fairy tales affect child development?
When children listen to fairy tales often, it affects their imagination and helps them to think about new things. The fairy tales affect the emotional, physical, and mental development of a child.
Do fairy tales have the truth?
Fairy tales have been passed down from many generations and cultures. However, today there’s no solid source from where these tales come from, but they have been inspired from somewhere. So, we can say that some fairy tales are adaptations of real-life events.
Are fairy tales timeless?
Yes. The storyline might have changed in many tales with time, but the central idea has always been the same.
What is the right time to read fairy tales to your child?
There’s no specific time to read stories to your kids. However, most parents prefer to read stories before bedtime. But you can read them to your child anytime as soon as they turn two.
11 Lesser-Known Fairy Tales | Mental Floss
Generations of parents have told their children fairy tales—stories imparting moral lessons that are easier to remember when a princess or evil ogre is involved. The Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and other folklorists dedicated their lives to collecting these tales. Some of these stories became common household names, like Snow White and Cinderella. But there are many weird, quirky, and sometimes incredibly dark stories you may not know. Here are 11 of the lesser-known ones.
1.
The Three Spinning WomenThis Brothers Grimm tale stars a lazy girl who doesn’t want to work on her spinning wheel. Her mother punishes her. The queen happens to be passing by their home and asks why the girl is crying. The mother says it's because she actually loves spinning but is too poor to afford flax. The queen, who happens to have a houseful of flax, says the girl can marry her oldest son if she can spin it all in three days. Three old crones decide to help the girl, who still refuses to work, and in exchange, she invites them to the wedding. This lighthearted tale shows that, sometimes, laziness does pay off.
2.
Hans-My-HedgehogA couple wants a child so badly they'd settle for a hedgehog in this Grimm tale. They soon learn to be careful what they wish for: They have a half-human, half-hedgehog son they name Hans-My-Hedgehog, and, disturbed by his appearance, make him sleep behind the stove for years. One day, the child asks for bagpipes and a rooster, promising he will leave and never return if he can have them. When his father acquiesces, the boy goes to live in the forest, playing his bagpipes and tending to his animals. Soon a king, who is lost, comes across the boy; Hans-My-Hedgehog promises to show the king his way back home in exchange for his daughter. The king agrees, but has no intention of following through on the promise. Eventually, Hans-My-Hedgehog takes bloody revenge on the deceitful king. Then another king comes across the boy and the same offer is given. This king is honorable and sends his daughter, who is frightened by the boy’s appearance. But on their wedding night, Hans sheds his hedgehog skin and becomes a handsome prince.
3.
The Ungrateful SonThis short Grimm story teaches the dangers of selfishness when a man decides to hide a giant roasted chicken from view when his elderly father visits his house. After his father departs, the man attempts to resume eating the chicken, but it turns into a giant toad and latches onto his head. He spends the rest of his days feeding the toad so it won't devour his face.
4.
Cat and Mouse in PartnershipAn extremely dark Grimm tale in which a cat and a mouse decide to live together for the winter. They buy a pot of fat to share and leave it in a safe place—behind the alter of a church. But throughout the winter, the cat lies to the mouse and claims that he must attend to his godchildren. He goes to the church and eats the fat. The mouse finally realizes the cat's game, and just as she is about to reprimand him, the cat eats the mouse—for that is how nature works.
5.
The Girl Without HandsThis truly Grimm story is, um, a handful, so stay with us. The devil, apparently feeling super-bored, decides to trick a poor miller. He offers him riches for the whatever is behind his mill. The miller, thinking he means a large apple tree, agrees to the request. However, the devil actually means the miller’s daughter, who's sweeping the floor there. Three years later, the devil comes to collect the daughter—but because she's so pious, he can’t appropriate her.
So, he demands that she stop washing herself, to reach a state of filth suitable for the devil's girlfriend, but she cries in her hands, keeping them too clean. The devil tells the miller to put a stop to this by chopping off her hands. The miller, not wanting to be further harassed, chops them off. The girl leaves home (who can blame her) and soon comes across the king, who marries her even though she doesn’t have hands. They have a child, and the devil, annoyed at her good fortune, makes everyone think the king wants her and the son dead. The king’s mother sends them away for their own safety. She finds a small house and lives there for seven years, and her piety causes her hands to grow back. Eventually, the king finds them again, and they live happily ever after.
6.
Hans, Who Made the Princess LaughIn this Norwegian tale recorded by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, a beautiful princess never laughs and is uninterested in every man who asks for her hand. The king declares that anyone who can make his daughter laugh will get her hand in marriage and half of the kingdom. Many try and fail. A man who lives near the castle decides that his three sons will try their luck, but the first two strike out. Hans, the youngest, then goes to the castle, but instead of attempting to make the princess laugh, he obtains a golden goose. If anyone touches the goose, they stick to it. Numerous passers-by get stuck, and finally Hans arrives at the princess's window with a trail of unfortunate hangers-on covered in goose feathers. The princess laughs for the first time and Hans inherits half the kingdom.
7.
The Story of a Boy Who Went Forth to Learn FearA man has two sons, according to the Grimms. The older one is smart and skilled; the younger is a burden and unable to learn anything. The father sends his younger son out to learn a trade. He decides to learn how to shudder because he has never been afraid before. As people try to scare him, he gets more annoyed, complaining that no one is teaching him how to shudder. The king of the land has a haunted castle and promises his daughter’s hand in marriage to the man who stays in the castle for three nights. The boy takes him up on it, hoping to get the heebie- jeebies, but just gets upset that his sleep is being interrupted. After the third night, the king lets him marry the princess. At this point the poor guy still is fixated on learning fear, so a maid pours a bucket of cold water and wriggling minnows over him while he sleeps. He wakes up, shuddering for the first time in his life.
8.
The Death of the Little Red HenIn this Grimmly depressing tale, a hen is choking on a nut and her rooster friend goes to a well to get her a drink of water. But the well demands that the rooster get a piece of red silk from a young woman. The woman will only give up the silk if the rooster gets her a wreath from a willow. Thanks to this convoluted quest, the hen dies waiting for the water. Sad at the lost of his friend, the rooster sobs and all the nearby animals hear it. They try to help the rooster bury her across the river. Then everyone but the rooster dies trying to cross the river. And once the rooster buries the hen, he is alone and cries until he too dies. But hey, the well got its red silk and lived happily ever after, we guess.
9.
The ShadowImagine if, one day, your shadow asks you to take its place and then convinces the whole world that you’ve lost your marbles. That’s exactly what happens in this whirlwind Hans Christian Andersen tale. A man’s shadow disappears, and he begins to grow a new one. Then years later, his old shadow shows up as an actual person of flesh and blood. The shadow is the opposite of the man, only seeing the bad in the world instead of the good. After a while the man begins to fall ill and the shadow offers to send him to a pond that will cure him, but only if the man becomes the shadow’s shadow for some time. The man agrees, but then the shadow meets a princess and becomes engaged. The man is upset and the shadow tries to bribe him into being the shadow forever. The man refuses, so the shadow convinces everyone that the man is a shadow that has gone crazy believing he is actually a real man. The princess executes the man, thinking he is really a shadow, and the shadow marries the princess. Moral of the story? Never be a shadow of yourself.
10.
The Red ShoesIn this Hans Christian Andersen story, a little girl named Karen is so poor she walks around barefoot. One day a lady in the village gives Karen a pair of red shoes. Soon, Karen’s mother dies and another villager takes Karen in; she assumes it's because of her red shoes. Instead, she learns the lady hates them and has them destroyed. Years later, the lady buys Karen new red shoes, thinking they are black thanks to her poor eyesight. Karen becomes obsessed with her bright red shoes, continuously wearing them to church even thought she isn’t supposed to. A mysterious old soldier calls them “pretty dancing shoes,” and forever after, Karen cannot stop dancing when she wears them. But eventually, Karen becomes desperate to escape the red shoes, which cleave to her feet and can't be removed. An angel tells Karen that she’s a lesson for other vain children. At wit's end, Karen convinces the town executioner to cut off her feet. She spends the rest of her life repenting her vanity, while working as a servant for a clergyman. Right before she dies, the angel returns to let her know she’s been forgiven.
11.
The Enchanted MaidenThis Portuguese story from Zófimo Consiglieri Pedroso involves three beautiful daughters. The first two marry rich princes, but the youngest marries a poor man, and the older sisters shun her because of it. As the youngest daughter is giving birth, fairies in the vicinity bless her baby with beauty and riches. The child grows up, and her beauty catches the eye of a prince who's already engaged to a daughter of the mean older sisters. His fiancée, in a fit of rage, blinds the enchanted maiden and assumes her identity. But she gives her rival her eyes back in exchange for flowers for the wedding. The enchanted maiden visits the prince and begs him not to go through with the marriage. The prince weighs his options and puts the question to his wedding guests. “I lost something, and instead I bought another. I have now recovered that which I lost. Which ought I to make use of—that which I lost, or what I bought?” When all the guest vote for that which he's recovered, he marries the enchanted maiden.