Make Your Own Fairy Tale

What You Need:

• Paper
• Crayons

What You Do: 

1. Encourage your child to tell you her favorite fairy tale. Don’t correct her if she gets some of the details wrong. Let this be her version. As she tells the story, ask her how she would draw various scenes or details. How do you show porridge is hot, or cold, or just right?
2. When she is done telling the story, give her the paper and crayons and encourage her to draw something that you talked about. Is this enough for someone else to know the story? Probably not, so help her fill in the details.
3. Start with the characters. Who is this story about? Who is the “good guy,” or hero, and who is the “bad guy,” or villain? Draw your own pictures while she draws her version.
4. Where does this story take place? Encourage her to draw a scene that shows the setting – Goldilocks peeking into the bear’s house or Jack climbing up the beanstalk.
5. As she draws, lay the pictures out in the order they occur in the story. While she's developing this sequence, she'll see that pieces are still missing. Time for more drawing!
6. After your child has completed her drawings, bind them together in a notebook or simply staple them together.

Start a fairy tale library of stories retold and illustrated by members of your family. Draw each other’s favorites to compare and contrast your versions of each tale. After everyone has done their favorite stories, you can explore other fairy tales at the library.