Kindergarten Fairy Tale Unit

The kindergarten fairy tale unit of study lends itself nicely to an integrated approach to learning and the creation of projects. Children are asked to share what they already know about fairy tales, and what they would like to know.  Each class reads many classic fairy tales and cultural folk tales and tests comprehension skills as they compare the story elements of similar stories. We discuss multiple perspectives as well. The children identify the main idea, sequence of events, and characters in each story.  Each child writes a letter to a favorite fairy tale character and eagerly awaits a letter in return.  Our science teacher introduces a series of experiments asking “Is it magic or is it science?” We completed several STEM challenges related to particular tales.  Some of the classes took groups of children to our woods to lay and follow Hansel and Gretel trails using natural objects to create a path.  Gingerbread boats were built from a variety of materials and tested in our water tables.  Classes study maps and create a map of their vision of fairy tale land measuring the distance from place to place such as how far it would be from the Giant’s castle to the Three Bears Cottage.  Artistic crests are designed by the children to represent their families, and these are used to help decorate classrooms and bulletin boards as classrooms were transformed into castles. It is very easy to integrate other subjects into this unit of study. The culminating event for the fairy tale unit is a child driven production in the theater for families and friends complete with costumes, scenery and sometimes original music.