Fairy Tale Theme Activities and Lesson Plans for Kindergarten and Preschool

The focus for the first week will be the elements of a fairy tale. This is an abstract concept for many young children but using the predictable chart will make this easier to grasp. The children will be exposed to a variety of fairy tales and they will reflect on the similarities of each and the lesson learned. Each day for the first week the predictable chart will be read modeling the reading process and using it as a base reference for discussing elements of a fairy tale.

Note: The fairy tales "The Gingerbread Man", "The Three Little Pigs" and "The Little Red Hen" would not be read this week because these are the focus for weeks 2, 3 and 4. If you should decide to use the predictable chart explained at the end of this page, you may want to read those specific fairy tales.

The predictable chart and the matching emergent reader's story line is as follows:

Page 1 - What will you find in a fairy tale?

Page 2 - You might find a castle (representing a fairy tale takes place long ago).

Page 3 - You might find a fairy (representing the magical events that often occur in a fairy tale).

Page 4 - You might find a dragon (representing the villain or bad person).

Page 5 - You might find a knight (representing the hero or good person).

Page 6 - You might find a frog (representing fantasy, the story couldn't be true because a frog doesn't wear a crown).

Page 7 - You might find a reward (representing the problem was solved and the hero receives a reward).

Page 8 - You will find a happy ending.

Sample Page from the Accompanying Emergent Reader

Sample Page in Black and White

Fairy Tale Craft Activities

Medieval Fairy Tale Characters

This craft offers an opportunity for the children to become fairy tale characters. A great way to introduce the vocabulary word "characters".

Materials

1. king,queen or knight body outlines as seen in the photos

2. felts or paint

3. gold wrapping paper

4. digital camera if you decide to take a picture of the child's face

Instructions

-children color or paint and cut out the body outline (queen, king or knight)

-take a closeup head shot of each child or have them draw their own face to add to the body. If using a photo, it would be a 5X7 size. Ask a photofinishing outlet for assistance.

-add a crown using gold wrapping paper or helmet

Note: Every attempt has been made to make the templates simple for young children to cut.

Preschool and Kindergarten Lesson Plans

Preschool and Kindergarten Activities - Math Centers

Activity One - Counting and Sorting

Children estimate, count and sort princess fruit snacks or other manipulatives. Other fruit snack types can be added to allow for greater sorting opportunities. Different containers could be added to the center with different amounts. Each day different groups of children estimate and count to see how close they were to their estimated guess. The fruit snacks could also be sorted according to color or shapes.

Activity Two - Castle Shape Design and Craft Activity.

Introduce the shapes rectangle, circle and triangle. Explain how these shapes can be found in our surroundings. Look for them. Explain that these shapes are used for building. Together build a castle using them. This would be added to the center after.

Note: these shapes are found in the theme unit.

Procedure

The children could color, cut, assemble and glue the castle together. The template could be copied on cardstock paper, cut and used as tracers.

Younger Children

Shapes would be cut prior to assembling and gluing.

Activity Three - Measuring and Ordering According to Size

Children estimate how many snap cubes tall the giant is. After they can measure to confirm how close their estimation was (other nonstandard units of measurement could be used such as paper clips).

Ordering

There are eight giant templates found in the theme book, these are to be used by the children to order them from the smallest to the largest or vice versa. The children could continue the process of estimating and measuring the different sized giant templates.

Fairy Tales We Have Read - Predictable Chart and Emergent Reader

After reading various fairy tales this week, the following predictable chart could be used as a wrap-up activity.

The text reads as follows.

We read "Little Red Riding Hood."

We read "The Frog Prince."

We read "The Three Bears."

We read "Jack and the Beanstalk"

We read "Cinderella."

We read "The Three Billy Goats Gruff."

Sample Page from the Emergent Reader

LESSON PLAN CONTINUED.... this is a monthly plan and you can view the full lesson by clicking the links under the heading Fairy Tales on the left-hand sidebar.

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