Fairy tales for preschool
Fairy Tales Activities and Centers
It’s time for a fairy tales theme so bring on all the princesses, princes, castles, jewels, bears, billy goats, giants, golden eggs, and dragons! There are endless fairy tale books you can use, which means endless learning activities you can plan. I’m here to share my favorite go-to fairy tales activities my preschool and pre-k students want to play again and again. Make sure you grab the shape crown craft FREEBIE next in this post.
Grab the FREEBIE by entering your email in the box at the bottom of this post. This post contains affiliate links which means I earn a tiny commission when you use my links at no cost to you.
Shape Crown FREEBIE! What’s the first thing you think of when someone says
fairy tales? A princess and prince right? Print the page on yellow paper and set out a tray of paper or foam shapes. I also put out these fancy rhinestone stickers I had (Walmart find) to make the crowns extra sparkly. It’s a fun craft to learn about shapes and strengthen those scissors skills.
>>Grab the FREEBIE by entering your email in the box at the bottom of this blog post!<<
Princess and the Pea Patterns! Cut up pipe cleaners and make giant patterns. Pretend the pipe cleaners are mattresses for the princess and the pea.
Rapunzel Measure! Make braids using various colored yarn. I don’t know why but the brown yarn in my photo below looks black, so know I did include beautiful brown braids! Use colored cubes or any math manipulative to measure the braids and compare the length (non-standard measurement).
Beanstalk Number Match! Jack and the Beanstalk is a favorite every year so make it into a math game. Students can count and match quantities and numbers that are represented in different ways. I added green gems and gold magic beans (not pictured) for added fun. To make gold magic beans, simply paint lima beans with gold acrylic paint.
Fairy Tales Blocks and STEM Ideas! Take the fairy tales theme to the blocks center with my Fairy Tales STEM I Can Build. Add gold cups to build castles with (Party City), moss rocks (Dollar Tree), unicorns or ponies (Dollar Tree), dragons and knights (Toobs figures from Michaels), colored felt, cut-up necklaces, tree logs (Discount School Supply) and mini crowns (party crowns I cut in half from Target), and fake leaves (Dollar Tree). You will be amazed at how excited and engaged your little builders will be with fancy new props for your fairy tale theme.
Look at what this group of ladies built with all of the fairy props….. a magnificent castle!
Fairy Tale Sensory Bin! Put dried peas, shape gems (Michaels), metallic eggs, mini unicorns or fairies, moss rocks (Dollar Tree), and tweezers in your sensory bin for a fun fairy tale themed sensory bin. My students sorted the gems into matching colored eggs (math), sorted the gems by shape (more math), hid the unicorns in the eggs, or just filled the eggs up with tiny treasures.
As they play, they are strengthening those fine motor muscles as they pinch, pick up or open and close the eggs!
Fairy Tale Play Dough Tray! If you read any of my themed center posts, you will likely find a themed play dough tray to match because my kids LOVE play dough trays. They get played with almost EVERY DAY during free choice centers! This fairy tale play dough tray has green gems (Dollar Tree), small pebbles (Dollar Tree), ponies (Dollar Tree), shape gems, cut-up plastic necklaces, dragons (Toob), fairy tale cookie cutters, and play dough. Students can sculpt, poke, hide and smash the play dough as they wish, all while working those fine motor muscles and problem-solving along the way!
Jack and the Beanstalk Letter Match! I took a big egg crate (from Sam’s for free), placed dot stickers in each, and wrapped a green vine (aka beanstalk) around it. I wrote a letter on each dot sticker. Then I wrote letters on some magic gold beans, uppercase letters on one side and lowercase letters on the other side.
I cut white paper clouds to put under it to make it look like the castle in the sky.
This would be fun to make into a counting game by placing number stickers in each, and students count out the corresponding number of magic beans!
To make magic gold beans, just grab some lima beans, place them in a baggie with gold acrylic paint and shake. Then lay out to dry.
Crown Letter Match! Learning letters is HARD, so make it fun with this crown jewel letter match. Students simply match the uppercase and lowercase letters and place them on the crown. This game can also be used to practice sight words and student names.
Red Riding Hood Letter Hop! Get students up and moving with this fun letter hop. I found this picnic basket-looking paper plates at the Dollar Tree and wrote a letter on each one. Students take turns hopping through Red Riding Hood’s letter path, and as they hop over the letter, they say it. Give students a small basket to make it even more like the fairy tale! It’s also an easy way to observe and assess jumping.
Fairy Tale Writing Center! Place fairy tale word cards, fairy tale paper, and various writing supplies at the table. I added these DIY chalkboards I made using trays from the Dollar Tree for a new way to explore writing.
Magic Wand Word Work! Building words can get boring but spice it up using magic wands. Take some sparkly pipe cleaners and bend the end into a star to create a magic wand. Students lace the uppercase or lowercase letter beads onto the wand to build the word.
Cinderella’s Sound Match (or letter)! Cinderella needs help matching her glass slippers. Use a hole punch so students can link the pairs up together with a chain manipulative. Again, sneaking in more fine motor and eye-hand coordination work. If you have younger students who are not ready to match beginning sounds, this game also comes with uppercase and lowercase letters to match up.
Three Pigs Letter Formation Cards! Make handwriting and letter formation fun with these letter formation cards.
Build letters just like the three little pigs with straw (yellow pipe cleaners), sticks (small popsicle sticks), and bricks (red gems or red brick blocks).
Fairy Tale Books! There are so many amazing fairy tale books; my shelf just isn’t big enough. My new favorites are the board books across the top which are part of the Once Upon a World series. Please remember to have fairy books that look like all your students in your classroom. They will be so excited when they see princesses and princes that look like them.
Three Pigs Art! Put the paintbrushes away and paint like the three little pigs. Paint with straw (twine), sticks (popsicle sticks), and a brick (red block). I love using these plastic food trays from the Dollar Tree for painting projects. If you want to do the activity again the next day, just cover the tray (brushes and all) with plastic wrap.
Fairy Tale Theater Dramatic Play! Transform the dramatic play center into a Fairy Tale Theater for your fairy theme.
Students can retell and act out various fairy tales during play. Students will be building reading comprehension, sense of story, book skills, and fluency each time they act out the book or watch from the audience. Add a concession stand to the theater, and you can sneak in tons of math opportunities like counting money, identifying numbers when they read the snack prices, weighing candy, and sorting the candy by color. I wrote a huge blog post with all the details to help you create a theater in your classroom HERE.
I’m sure you can pack your lesson plans full of fun fairy tale themed activities your kiddos can learn from. Now, if you want to grab my fairy tales printables (so you don’t have to make them yourself), here are all the links you will need!
<< Fairy Tale Math and Literacy Centers CLICK HERE >>
<< Fairy Tales Theater Dramatic Play >>
<< Fairy Tales STEM I Can Build >>
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Fairy Tales Theme - PreKinders
Pre-K & Preschool theme ideas for learning about fairy tales
Find more Fairy Tales Activities for Pre-K
Books
Check here for a complete list of Fairy Tale Books
The Three Little Pigs
Art
We make the houses of the Three Little Pigs by gluing on raffia pieces (straw), toothpicks (sticks), and small rectangles of red foam (bricks).
We talk about the sequence of the story (which house did the wolf come to first, second, third), and make the houses on the paper in that sequence. The children dictate a few sentences to retell the story.
The Three Bears
Math
Add bear family cookie cutters (made by Wilton) to the play dough area. Children use these to cut out the different sizes of bears to make the bear family. (I also use these during my Families Theme, but children enjoy seeing previously used materials get rotated back in to the centers.)
Princess on the Pea
Math
We use two beds from our dollhouse furniture for this game. The children take turns rolling dice and taking that amount of mattresses (cut from craft foam) to put on the bed. When all mattresses are gone, the child with the most mattresses on the bed is the “true princess” or prince.
Jack and the Beanstalk
Science
We grow our own small beanstalks by planting lima beans in a cup.
The Fisherman and His Wife
Math
We use a blue shower liner on the floor for the water. Paper fish have 0-10 dots on them, with a paperclip attached, and are tossed onto the “water”. Children catch a fish with magnetic fishing pole, count the dots, and write or stamp the numeral on a fish cutout. The magnetic fishing poles are made with a magnet wand tied to a rhythm stick (or dowel rod) with string.
Gingerbread Man
See the Gingerbread Unit page for Gingerbread Man activities.
Queen of Hearts Tarts
Cooking
Tarts are often made during the medieval ages. Children make their own tarts with this recipe:
Mix two spoonfuls of cream cheese with two spoonfuls of strawberry preserves in a cup. Spread the mixture onto vanilla wafers, and add a heart-shaped candy (red hots or other candy).
Fairy Tale Art
Gold Crowns
We make crowns out of plain construction paper. We paint them with gold glitter paint, and add some sequins for “jewels”.
Fairy Tale Literacy Activities
Bejeweled Bingo
Use plastic jewels to cover the letter/number/shape on the bingo cards. We use these to play alphabet bingo, number bingo, shape bingo, or rhyming bingo.
Fairy Tale Retelling
A large sheet paper is folded in half, like a story book. The children draw a picture of one of their favorite fairy tale characters on the front. On the inside, they dictate their retelling of the fairy tale.
Fairy Tale Math Activities
Fairy Tale Graph
Each child writes their name on an index card, chooses a favorite fairy tale, and places their card on the pocket chart graph. We count and compare the results: what has the most/least/same? I pick about 5 fairy tales for the children to choose from and place pictures of those fairy tales at the top of the pocket chart.
- Fairy Tale Graph Printable
Musical Jewels Game
We place the classroom chairs (“thrones”) around the circle. I place plastic jewels (from a craft store) only on certain chairs.
Children march around the circle. When the music stops, they must find a throne to sit in. If a jewel is there, they take it. The children keep a count of how many jewels they have collected.
Jewel Strings
Children use strings of plastic “jewels” that have various amounts of jewels on them (1-10 jewels). Children count the jewels on the jewel strings and match them to another string of jewels of the same amount.
Jewel Patterns
Children make patterns on a pattern grid card using plastic jewels from a craft store. You can also use paper crowns from the dollar store and have children place jewels on each point of a paper crown in a pattern. We practice making patterns by size and color.
Crown Grid Game
Read about about print here: Grid Games
Fairy Tale Science Activities
Castles
In the Block Center, the children construct castles with the large and small blocks. I take photos of them to make a book of castle designs.
Fairy Tale Cooking Activities
Medieval Feast
Mead: In the Medieval Ages, people drank mead because the water was unclean.
We made our own mead with this recipe: Mix a spoonful (or more) of honey in a cup of water. Add a few squirts of lemon or orange juice and sprinkle on some nutmeg. Stir and drink.
Medieval Dessert: Sprinkle cinnamon on a pear half. Warm in the microwave.
More
Castle Prop Box
Cone-shaped princess hats (can make with paper and streamers), Crowns, Fancy shoes, Robes (red capes with white fur), Princess dresses, Chair for throne, Cardboard box castle.
Rhymes
Queen of Hearts Nursery Rhyme
The queen of hearts,
She made some tarts
All on a summer’s day.
The knave of hearts,
He stole those tarts
And took them clean away.
Sing a Song of Sixpence
Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocketful of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing.
Wasn’t that a dainty dish
To set before the king?
In My Shop
You might also like these Fairy Tales True/False Cards, available in my shop.
This is a fun story recall game, where you read a card to children and they decide whether the statement is true or false about the fairy tale. Cards are also illustrated.
- Little Red Riding Hood @ Pre-KPages.com
- Jack and the Beanstalk @ Pre-KPages.com
- Goldilocks and the Three Bears @ Pre-KPages.com
Fairy tales for children ✨ - read more than 1500 fairy tales online! 📚
Grade 1New Year's story about how the children made a snowman and sent him to the forest to Santa Claus for a Christmas tree ... Christmas tree to read This morning the guys looked at the calendar, and there was the last leaf left. Tomorrow is the New Year! Tomorrow…
Grade 1A short story about a trusting girl and a cunning gray wolf. Disobeying her mother, the girl turns off the road and talks to a stranger - a gray wolf ... "Little Red Riding Hood" read Once upon a time there was a little girl. Her mother loved her without memory, and her grandmother ...
A story about how before the New Year the Snow Maiden asked Santa Claus to visit her aunt Snow Queen.
But it is difficult for Santa Claus to deliver gifts to children and adults without an assistant, and he chose another assistant for himself ....
The tale of two girls - Needlewoman and Lenivitsa, who lived with a nanny. Once the Needlewoman dropped a bucket into the well, climbed after it and ended up in the realm of Moroz Ivanovich. She lived with her grandfather for three days, did everything...
Grade 2A fairy tale about three brothers-pigs who built houses for themselves. One brother built a house out of straw, another out of twigs and twigs, and a third out of bricks. "Three Little Pigs" read Once upon a time there were three little pigs in the world. Three brothers. All…
The well-known Russian folk tale Morozko tells about an evil and treacherous stepmother who sent her stepdaughter to the forest to certain death. However, the girl did not die, but returned home with generous gifts... There is a fairy tale on our website...
Grade 2-3 Recently, scientists discovered that there are naughty children in the world who do everything the other way around.
They are given useful advice: "Wash in the morning" - they take and do not wash. They are told: "Hello to each other" - they are here ...
The tale about Kolobok is found in Russian and Ukrainian folklore, and also has analogues in the tales of many other peoples. Our site presents a version of a folk tale in the processing of A.N. Tolstoy. "Kolobok" read Once upon a time there was an old man with an old woman. Here ...
Grade 1A Kitten named Gav is a series of short stories about the adventures of Gav the kitten and his friend Sharik the puppy. Ridiculous situations constantly happen to Gav, as soon as he goes out into the yard. Together with his friend, he manages…
Grade 1 The turnip is a famous fairy tale for the little ones with a lot of repetitions. The child quickly remembers the sequence of presentation and a simple plot. “Turnip” read Grandfather planted a turnip and says: “Grow a turnip, sweet, sweet!” Grow big, big! A turnip has grown, sweet and big, big….
Teremok is a short fairy tale for kids about a house that sheltered many animals. However, the tower could not accommodate a huge bear and broke. "Teremok" read There is a teremok in the field. A mouse runs past. She saw the teremok, stopped and asked:—…
A tale about a cowardly hippopotamus who ran away from the clinic because he was afraid of vaccinations. And he got jaundice. Fortunately, he was taken to the hospital and cured. And the hippo was very ashamed of his behavior ... “About the Behemoth, who was afraid ...
Grade 1-2A story about a serious and independent boy named Uncle Fyodor and his friends: the cat Matroskin and the dog Sharik. Uncle Fyodor's mother did not like animals very much and did not want to start them. To live with a cat…
Grade 3 PERSONS Cat; Two kittens; Cat Vasily; Rooks; Goat; Beavers; Goat; Pigs; Rooster; Ram; Chicken; Sheep; Pig; Narrator. Chorus Beam-bom! Tili-bom! Outside is a tall building. Carved shutters, Painted windows.
And on the stairs there is a carpet - ...
A fairy tale about a wooden boy carved from a log by Carlo's father, his adventures in the theater of Karabas Barabas, meeting with scoundrels Alice the Fox and Basilio the Cat, Malvina and Artemon the poodle, Tortila the turtle and Duremar. "Pinocchio" read to the Joiner...
A tale about a hedgehog, a hare and a crow who could not share the last apple among themselves. Everyone wanted to own it. But the fair bear judged their dispute, and each got a piece of goodies ... "Apple" read It was late ...
The story tells about an evil wolf who changed his voice, got into the goat's house and ate the little goats. But the mother goat will be able to save her children and get rid of the wolf. "The Wolf and the Seven Kids" read Once upon a time there was a goat with kids ....
Grade 3 The tale of Tsar Saltan, of his glorious and mighty son Prince Gvidon Saltanovich and the beautiful Swan Princess was created on the basis of the folk tale "Wonderful Sons".
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin enriched the folk work with new plot twists, ...
A story about animals and a young Troubadour who went to the city of Bremen to become street musicians. In the city they stopped in front of the royal castle. The king and the princess came out onto the balcony of the palace, the townspeople came running to the square and it started...
Grade 1A little fairy tale for the little ones about three restless kittens and their funny adventures. Small children love short stories with pictures, that's why Suteev's fairy tales are so popular and loved! “Three kittens” read Three kittens - black, gray and ...
This section of our site presents both Russian folk tales with vivid illustrations, and collections of fairy tales by foreign and Russian authors: Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, Perrault, Pushkin, Tolstoy, Suteev and many others. The site is constantly updated with new authors and works.
For your convenience, we have written a brief description of each fairy tale and developed a system of labels (tags).
Thanks to them, you can easily pick up fairy tales according to age and preferences. To quickly find the desired author, use the menu. Happy reading :)
Fairy tales for children are among the very first literary works that young readers get to know. The roots of these stories go far into antiquity, but they do not lose their relevance today. Children believe in magic, in reincarnation, in the victory of good over evil, in the existence of good wizards, and it is children's fairy tales that give rise to this belief - pure, naive, bright, at the same time instructive and educating. Most often, animals are the main characters, so popular works also instill love for our smaller brothers.
The site mishka-knizhka.ru contains a fabulous collection - a real magical wealth for the children of domestic and foreign authors, Russian folk tales and tales of the peoples of the world, illustrated and printed without abbreviations. Through such works, kids get to know the world and learn to distinguish good from bad, highlight the positive and negative qualities of a person, form their correct position in life.
They learn the rules of conduct, the way of life of their own and other countries. The benefits of a children's fairy tale can hardly be overestimated, and the huge variety and popularity is a direct confirmation of this. The whole section is completely at your service, so you won’t have to look for a long time what to read with your child. A convenient online format will allow you to use the site, read with your child anytime and anywhere, even if you are in transport or waiting in line. Spend time with benefit, plunging into the world of unique reincarnations.
Reading is an important stage of learning. At an early age, children can listen to adults and look at illustrations, imagining unprecedented colorful pictures, empathizing with the characters, trying to find clues, draw logical chains and draw conclusions. Looking at the pictures, the child is transferred to a magical world and imagines himself as a part of what is happening. We have selected the brightest and kindest illustrations that will appeal to both children and adults.
Reading fairy tales will definitely benefit. Looking at our site, you will see a huge variety of works, among which there are sure to be the most beloved and interesting for the child. Every evening you can choose any, listen and fall asleep with a good mood and positive emotions. Over time, the baby himself will certainly begin to compose and tell fairy tales, this will allow him to develop his vocabulary and mental activity to the maximum. The longer a person reads fairy tales, the more he will remain a child, see everything in a rainbow light, believe in a better future and treat people kindly.
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Bedtime stories for children. ⭐😴Read online with pictures.
In this section we have collected interesting fairy tales from all over the world that are suitable for reading before bed. You can read them online and completely free. These small instructive and kind stories will help children calm down after a stormy day and tune in to rest.
In bedtime stories you will not find cruelty and frightening characters. Only light plots and pleasant characters.
At the bottom of each fairy tale there is a hint for what age it is intended for, as well as other tags. Be sure to pay attention to them when choosing a product! You do not have to spend time reading a fairy tale to find out if it suits your child or not. We have already read everything, sorted and compiled short descriptions of fairy tales.
Enjoy reading and good dreams :)
An interesting fairy tale is that part of childhood that stays with us forever, even when childhood is gone. This is a magical world that is wide open in front of the baby, and acquaintance with it begins with a short and sweet bedtime story.
At what age to read fairy tales to a child
There is no strict age limit in reading fairy tales to a child. Reading for a child is primarily an opportunity for emotional intimacy with an adult. Even if not a word is clear yet, the familiar timbre of the voice, the measured rhythm soothe the baby and stimulate its development.
That is why psychologists recommend reading fairy tales even to babies. The main condition: the process should bring pleasure to both the adult and the baby.
The benefits of reading fairy tales
A bedtime story read by a parent is a powerful stimulus for the development of the child, the child has ample opportunities in the following areas:
- imagination;
- fantasy;
- creative thinking;
- speech skills;
- emotional development;
- the ability to find a way out of problem situations.
Unlike cartoons, a fairy tale does not present the child with ready-made images and the world invented by the artist, but invites him to think, think out and imagine what is not in the illustrations.
Simply put, we read to children at night and at the same time unleash their creativity. The next step is the first children's tests of themselves as an author and artist, but that will come later. And now such familiar and at the same time amazing short bedtime stories come to the aid of parents.
Bedtime stories - what should they be?
It often happens that every day a baby asks for the hundredth time to read a familiar fairy tale to him, not wanting to listen to any others.
Do not argue and try to read something new - a bedtime story exists for this, to cradle and give pleasant dreams. So, it should be:
- short;
- calm;
- kind;
- without dynamic details in the plot, but with a happy ending.
The repeated repetition of the same situation (a familiar room, a favorite blanket and a soft toy, next to it is a mother reading a familiar fairy tale) turns into a kind of ritual for the baby, which has a calming effect. It helps relieve the emotional stress that has accumulated over a long day.
Short fairy tales on our website
The Short Bedtime Stories section presents famous works by Russian and foreign authors that have become favorites for children all over the world.
Magic little men created by Astrid Lindgren, Donald Bisset's kind tigers, Sergey Kozlov's inseparable Hedgehog and Bear cub - these and other characters are looking forward to meeting young readers.
Here you will also find folk tales and illustrated works by Vladimir Suteev. Kids will be delighted with simple instructive stories and colorful pictures created by a real Master.
Hints on the website
The free bedtime stories presented on our website are so diverse that sometimes it can be difficult to find the right one. To help parents, we have developed a convenient search engine that allows you to view the parameters of a fairy tale without opening it:
- readers' age;
- reading time;
- short description;
- popularity indicator;
- illustration.
Secrets of reading bedtime stories
In order to replace the evening fairy tale with a sweet dream, it should be a short fairy tale, which should be read online in a calm and familiar environment.
Read in a low voice, without haste. Remember, we read to children at night not to give them new knowledge - there is daytime for this. In the evening, it is important to create a relaxing atmosphere and a sense of peace.
