The Importance of Fairy Tales to Preschool Development (2024)

The Importance of Fairy Tales to Preschool Development (1)

From emotional and moral intelligence to vocab and cultural sensitivity, these stories teach valuable lessons to children.

To Amusem*nt and Beyond

Fairy tales’ rich, imaginative stories for children — involving magical events and places, wondrous tasks or imaginary creatures — offer far more than entertainment and happily ever after. Studies have shown that fairy tales also provide important benefits to the development of young minds.

Fairy Tales Do More

  • Spark imagination and offer moral lessons. Children learn from the mistakes of characters in these stories, which helps them with their critical thinking skills. Fairy tales also model behavior for children and provide a context in which children can evaluate their own emotions and decision making.
  • Aid in emotional resilience by helping children connect stories to real life. Fairy tales show that people face adversity, but, if they believe in themselves, they can overcome obstacles. Stories can help children confront real-life fears and anxieties in a fantastical setting.
  • Expose children to different cultures, as they are often set in different parts of the world. Choosing fairy tales from around the world helps children appreciate the customs and value systems of others.
  • Improve vocabulary, demonstrate the structure of stories, and, most importantly, create a love of reading.

For suggestions of age-appropriate fairy tales for preschoolers, start with the list below and find more at research.fairfaxcounty.gov/early-literacy.

Fairy and Folk Tales for Preschoolers

  • The Emperor’s New Clothes by Marcus Sedgwick
  • Two rascals sell a vain emperor an invisible suit of clothes. Illustrated with animal characters.
  • Goldilocks and Just One Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson
  • Little Bear, all grown up, finds himself lost in a noisy, busy city where he happens to bump into someone with golden hair who remembers exactly how he likes his porridge.
  • Hansel and Gretel by Bethan Woollvin
  • In a fairy tale twist, Hansel and Gretel ransack Willow the good witch's gingerbread cottage and play havoc with her spells, driving the poor witch to her wit's end.
  • Little Roja Riding Hood by Susan Middleton Elya
  • A rhyming twist on the classic fairy tale in which a little girl saves her grandmother from a wolf. Includes a glossary of Spanish words.
  • The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Rachel Isadora
  • A retelling, set in Africa, of the story of twelve princesses who dance secretly all night long and how their secret is eventually discovered.
The Importance of Fairy Tales to Preschool Development (2024)

FAQs

The Importance of Fairy Tales to Preschool Development? ›

Fairy Tales Do More

Why are fairy tales important to preschool development? ›

Fairytales can nurture a child's imagination and teach them about real life. Experts agree their overall effect is positive, but not always. Fairytales — make-believe stories that often reflect reality — give children space to expand their imaginations and teach them how to relate to people in real life.

Why is 3 important in fairy tales? ›

Three is the smallest recognisable pattern, which makes it easy to remember. A plot based on “threes” also creates suspense more effectively than events occurring in twos or fours. Memorable tales were more likely to be repeated from person to person and survive in the oral tradition.

What is the lesson one can learn from the fairy tale? ›

What are some morals in fairy tales? All fairy tales attempt to help people know how to be good people. This can be cautionary like "do not judge a book by its cover" or prescriptive like "be kind to others regardless of who they are."

What was the original purpose of fairy tales? ›

A Late 17th Century Literary Trend

Typical of oral cultures, they probably figure among humanity's earliest stories. As simple folk's alternative to myths and epic poetry, they offered entertaining or terrifying stories that included moral messages to a broad audience.

What is the role of fairy tales in affective learning? ›

Fairy tales naturally reflect the hero narrative quest, wherein the character is challenged, endures conflict, takes action and achieves his/her goal. In this context, fairy tales support the learner in finding new methods of resolving challenges and transforming issues in their everyday lives.

What are the 5 advantages of the fairy tale story? ›

Spark imagination and offer moral lessons.

Fairy tales also model behavior for children and provide a context in which children can evaluate their own emotions and decision making. Aid in emotional resilience by helping children connect stories to real life.

What is the power of fairy tales? ›

Consider this: fairy tales often tap into fundamental human emotions and desires. They whisk us away to worlds where good triumphs over evil, challenges are overcome, and love and justice prevail. These stories touch upon our deepest longings for meaning, hope, and transformation.

Why use fairy tales in the classroom? ›

Another of the many benefits of fairy tales is that they develop children's emotional well-being by teaching them morals in a context that they can understand and easily identify with. They can show them the importance of being kind, supporting friends through hardships as well as the fundamental need to be resilient.

What is the most important part of a fairy tale? ›

While there are many characteristics that make up fairy tales, one of the most important is a wondrous or magical element, usually something that improves the lives of the characters. Beauty, heroism, and virtue are common themes in fairy tales, which often feature poor but virtuous characters.

Why do we absolutely need fairy tales? ›

Fairy tales help develop the imagination, which allow children to see themselves living in the story, going on all sorts of crazy adventures. They begin to understand that they need to have an imagination because it will help them throughout their life.

What makes fairy tales special? ›

An element of magic:

Some characters are able to change shape, such as the frog who is transformed into a prince. Fairy tales often feature characters who are mythical or magical, such as witches, elves, and fairies.

How do fairy tales affect child development? ›

Based on the Jungian interpretation, fairy tales teach children how to deal with basic human conflicts, desires, and relationships in a healthy way; acquiring these skills can ultimately impact a child's health, quality of life, or even influence its values and beliefs in the future.

What is a fairy tale explanation for kids? ›

A fairy tale is a magical story for children, like "Cinderella" or "Rumpelstiltskin." If you read a story that begins, "Once upon a time," chances are it's a fairy tale. A story doesn't have to include any fairies at all to be considered a fairy tale.

What is the main idea of a fairy tale? ›

Fairy tales usually have happy endings � �they all lived happily ever after,� which is usually based on the resolution of the conflict or problem. 10. Fairy tales usually teach a lesson, have an underlying theme or demonstrate values important to a culture.

Why do fairy tales appeal to children? ›

Embodying Hopes and Dreams

Although fairy tales can depict children's deepest fears, they also frequently embody their greatest hopes and dreams. Many of the best fairy tales present wondrous worlds that captivate and inspire readers.

How do fairy tales affect children's perception? ›

Fairy tales teach children how to deal with basic human conflicts, desires, and relationships in a healthy way. They are unable to affect their perception of reality. So, the question is do fairytales affect children's perception of reality. The short answer to this pertinent question is, yes!

Do fairy tales help introduce children to conflict resolution? ›

Fairy Tales are great tools for teaching kids about story development, conflict resolution, the development of characters, heroes and villains and simply broadening their imagination. Furthermore, it helps them differentiate fiction to non-fiction stories.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Msgr. Benton Quitzon

Last Updated:

Views: 6661

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (43 voted)

Reviews: 90% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Msgr. Benton Quitzon

Birthday: 2001-08-13

Address: 96487 Kris Cliff, Teresiafurt, WI 95201

Phone: +9418513585781

Job: Senior Designer

Hobby: Calligraphy, Rowing, Vacation, Geocaching, Web surfing, Electronics, Electronics

Introduction: My name is Msgr. Benton Quitzon, I am a comfortable, charming, thankful, happy, adventurous, handsome, precious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.