Why it‘s time for fairy tales again
We are indoors again and cuddle up together - because autumn and winter are fairytale time. Also at globegarden.
“Once upon a time...” no other sentence catches children’s attention faster. Because in a moment their world will revolve around fairy tales again, another journey through worlds full of adventure, magic and talking animals is going to start.
Children love fairy tales ...
... even if adults think they are not up to date. Their heroes fascinate children, their clear messages can be transferred to children’s lives and their magic casts a spell. That is why they work across cultural boundaries and even if today no child is sent alone through the dark forest to their grandmother, as is the case with “Little Red Riding Hood”.
A black and white world offers orientation
What we adults avoid at all costs is good for children. In most fairy tales, the roles between good and evil are clearly distributed. And in the end, good triumphs while evil is defeated. This clear division helps children. It helps them to sort out their own feelings and resolve inner conflicts. Because in the fairy tale it is clear who is good and who is evil. You can be happy about the courage of the good and you don’t have to feel sorry for the fate of the bad.
Children can abstract
Of course, the question arises again and again whether fairy tales convey questionable fantasies to children. The outdated, clichéd role models are also criticized. Not to mention the brutality. Research shows that fairy tales always convey a positive message and values, since good always wins. Ultimately, it can be explained to the child that the witch or the wolf are not real people or animals and thus no pity is necessary.
Reading aloud or retelling? Both stimulate the imagination
Many children want to hear the same fairy tales over and over again - and almost always in the same wording. Thus fairy tales also promote a sense of language and verbal memory and, incidentally, awaken the joy of storytelling.
The advantages of reading aloud:
- The children can follow the story through the illustrations.
- They are introduced to the medium of books and motivated to learn to read themselves.
- Adults who are not so fond of free storytelling feel more comfortable reading aloud.
The advantages of storytelling:
- Narration creates immediate closeness.
- More eye contact is possible, which conveys a feeling of security, especially during scary passages.
- Many emotions can be conveyed through the eyes and you can follow the children’s reactions.
- Storytelling is interactive.
- Fairy tales can be abbreviated or embellished during storytelling.
