This post was sponsored by the makers of OFF!® Repellents. All opinions shared are my own. I only share resources that I love!
We all grew up reading, watching, and loving fairy tales! Who can forget the magic of Cinderella’s fairy godmother turning a pumpkin into a carriage, or the memorable “Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin!” repetitively declared by the Three Little Pigs when the wolf wants to come in? Personally, my favorite was always Beauty and the Beast, because Belle was a fellow bookworm and I always dreamed of having a library like the one she had in the palace! Serious book goals! Fairy tales are a timeless and treasured part of childhood, which is one of the reasons why I am so drawn to fractured fairy tale books!
What’s a fractured fairy tale, you may ask? Well, it’s a fairy tale story that has been completely reimagined. They often include the same characters, but just put a delightful twist on the plot. I absolutely love using fractured fairy tales in my classroom instruction for several reasons:
- Student’s familiarity with the original storyline allows them to bring so much background knowledge to the text, which ultimately aids in their overall comprehension.
- They’re so fun to read!
- They can be integrated into the curriculum in a variety of ways.
- The twists and unexpected plots that occur in them help even the youngest of readers begin to think and open up their imaginations to the possibility of “what if?”
I’m always on the lookout to add more fractured fairy tales into my book collection, which is why I was so excited to learn about “The Never Starting Tales” stories presented by the makers of OFF!® Repellents.
These fractured fairy tale stories help readers ask and imagine, “What if our favorite fairy tale characters never went outside? How would their stories have been different? What adventures would they have missed out on?” With the increasing use of technology, I truly believe that these stories are so needed as they encourage our kids to unplug from their devices and to get excited to go outside to explore and play right in their backyard! There are so many benefits to our kids being outside more!
The best part is that these Never Starting Tales are free to use! That’s music to every teacher’s ears, right?! Each of the six books in “The Never Starting Tales” are available to be read as an e-book and or listened to as an audiobook. They also have included two of the books on video. With beautiful illustrations and animated audio, the stories are well done and are great for engaging all ages!
Plus, they have partnered with WeAreTeachers to create free downloadable lesson plans with STEAM and language arts activities to go along with the books. With summer quickly approaching, the timeliness of these books and resources is perfect! You can share them with your students and their families to use, and even use them with your own family.
From building and testing houses for the Three Little Pigs to writing and acting out their own version of Peter Pan, the activities that go along with the stories are great for kids and families to do together.
One of the activities included in the lesson plans that I am really excited for is the Backyard Bucket List!
It’s a printable activity that can be done after reading The Never Starting Tale of Cinderella. Which, by the way, is fantastic! Sorry for the spoiler alert on this one, but I was even surprised to find out the twist in the story! In the story Cinderella is too tired from all of her chores and decides to stay home and watch TV instead of going to the ball. As I listened to the story my jaw dropped to the ground when one of the step sisters returned from the ball announcing that she had danced all night with the prince and how he had declared his love for her at the stroke of midnight! What?! Can you even imagine that ending?!
I’m telling you these fractured fairy tales are so good and drive home the importance of unplugging and getting outside to explore!
After reading The Never Starting Tale Of Cinderella, the lesson plan provides a discussion starter for families and encourages them to make their own backyard bucket list.
Our family personally loves using lists for activities that we want to do, because it helps us to be more intentional about spending quality time together. It’s a practice my husband and I started when we were first married, because we found that it was becoming too easy to just turn on the TV and get lost in a show every single evening. Don’t get me wrong we still watch TV and even enjoy a weekly movie night each Friday night. Yet, having something like a bucket list helps us experience new adventures and build memories together as a family that we would have missed out on if we chose to always stay inside on the couch. We like to put ours right on the refrigerator so that we can see it and check it off as we do the activities! As a parent, I think that this is so important to model for our kids and is something we are trying to be intentional with as we raise our son. Our kids need to see us off our screens and engaging with the world around us!
The Backyard Bucket List is just one of the many great activities included to go along with the stories! Be sure to check out all of “The Never Starting Tales” and grab the free lesson plan to go with them to share with your students and their families! I can’t wait for your kids to read them and for all of the play time and adventures that will take place right in their backyards as a result!
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