Do me a favor: throw away those dang worksheets! (Or rather, please recycle them.) There is nothing enticing, exciting, or enchanting about tracing numbers on a piece of paper. Talk about a fun-killer. And yes, learning can be fun! You just have to make it that way! And when it comes to fairy tales, you don’t have to do much to bring these magical tales to life. Take a look at how easy (and fabulous) it is to set up these math fairy tale activities preschoolers will absolutely find majestic. Trust me, it is totally worth it!
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Fairy Tale Lesson plans
Princess & the Pea Stack
Counting Activity
The counting, the thrill of getting a pea to add to our mattress stacks, and of course, the tumble!
Building and knocking things down is not only for the kids who like destruction. Your perfectionists can learn to let a few things go with activities like this. My daughter used to cry every time her towers fell down, but she actually enjoys it now and understands that we can rebuild from the rubble.
Let’s just stop and let that soak in: We can rebuild from the rubble.
Whatever you are going through, no matter how small or big, you can choose to rebuild.
Well, this Princess and the Pea activity just got deep. 😬
Let’s keep it simple. Help teach your preschoolers to identify numbers shown in different ways such as ten frames, fingers, tally marks, and numerals with this fun fairy tale game!
Materials:
- Princess & the Pea Stack
- dominoes or flat blocks
- tubs (to hold dominoes)
Stone Soup
Counting Sensory Bin
When everyone contributes, we can brew up something great. In fact, you can make soup from just a stone and water.
And that’s exactly what this next activity will do: encourage your preschoolers to work together to make Stone Soup!
The counting, the scooping, the dumping, the singing. This fairy tale activity is simmering full of fun and learning!
Materials:
- Stone Soup Counting Recipe Cards
- large sensory tub
- dried pinto beans
- carrot counters
- onion counters
- stones
- small pot & ladle
Hansel & Gretel Patterns
Fairy Tale Activities for Preschoolers
🧲 Use magnets to add engagement!
We make patterns all the time, so it can get a little repetitive. But just changing a little thing by using these magnetic chips can make it so much fun!
First, my little ones made a trail to the witch’s candy house using those magnetic chips, just like the kids left a trail of breadcrumbs in the book Hansel and Gretel. Then, they pretended the birdies came and ate up the trail of breadcrumbs by swiping the magnet over the chips! Definitely their favorite part!
Materials:
Chicken Little Race
Fairy Tale Game
We have been reading all the fairy tales – including the older version of Chicken Little where the fox ends up gobbling up all of the birds. 😲
But don’t worry. This game is G-rated. We just rolled the rainbow die with the characters from the book and rolled the dot die. This told us which character to move and how many spaces.
Then, we added in some ordinal numbers by placing the characters on the Winner’s Platform as they finished the race.
Lots of counting, subitizing, color recognition, and ordinal numbers with this one!
Tip: Save time with set-up by using a regular die and a colored die.
Materials:
- Chicken Little Race game
- clear packing tape
Rapunzel's Hair
Non-Standard Measurement
I’ve seen Tangled, oh, around 50 times. And can I just say, I wish I could be Rapunzel, with her joyful spirit that is never inhibited by her circumstances?
Her hair, on the other hand, I could definitely live without. Mine is long enough and goes into a ponytail most days.
But Rapunzel’s hair is a fun way to incorporate measurement with these fairy tale activities preschoolers will surely love.
Just hook together linking chains to match the length of her hair. Then, count the links and record the number on the recording sheet. And you will surely love this next part: it’s FREE!
Materials:
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MORE Fairy Tale Activities for Preschoolers
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