Fairy Tales Theme

Pre-K & Preschool theme ideas for learning about fairy tales

Fairy Tale Activities for Preschool, Pre-K

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.

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.

Songs

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.