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.
Why fairy tales prove to be a greatness guide for your Toddler
1. Brain development:
The clear imagery of fantastic creatures takes the children by surprise. They learn to imagine how the characters would look, move, talk or act and thus, build new neural pathways. With this advancement in their ability to imagine, the child’s brain develops and matures physically.
2. Understanding human nature:
The usage of metaphors and similes in a fairy tale helps children compare the traits of different characters in the story and come to a conclusion about the nature of those characters. If your children want you to narrate the same fairy tale over and over again, it’s a sign that the richness of the story has moved them subconsciously and they have developed a taste for similar storylines. Appreciate their eagerness.
3. Vocabulary through context:
Often children stumble at difficult words whose meaning they don’t know. You can either tell them what the word means or prompt them to guess its meaning by explaining the context, the tone of narration and the flow of the story. Through this process of contextual clues, children increase their vocabulary out of sheer intuition.
4. Life lessons:
The presentation of fairy tales, through attractive and fearful characters, serves to convey a particular message. The morale of the story is not just presented at the end of the story but through the twists and turns of the plot. The lessons take root deep into the minds of the children and influence their ideas and approach towards society as they grow up.
5. Informal Education:
The virtues of the heroes, the struggles of the villains and the difficulties in reaching a goal exemplify the truth that there are hurdles in life that have to be overcome with confidence and strength of character. These lessons automatically strengthen children and they who keep doing well at school
6. Logical Thinking:
Listening to fairy tales regularly helps children create a perception about life in general and links actions with results. For instance, they’d try to put themselves in the shoes of the protagonist and predict results. This also helps them interpret real life actions logically and predict results.
7. Cultural diversity:
The tales talk of faraway lands and in the process, intrigue children about different cultures, physical appearances and human behaviour. As children like listening to unusual stories about magical tribes, they develop an interest in human geography, that is, the way humans live.
8. Fighting anxiety:
Children struggling to make friends or expressing themselves often confide in heartwarming fairy tales.
10. Empathy for Animals:
Most fairy tales have animal characters. Imagining themselves as the heroes of the story, children realize that animals can be very friendly too. This creates a soft corner for domestic or wild animals in the hearts of children since the start.
11. 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.
12. 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.
And before you wake one morning, battered and bruised following a night spent on a mile-high stack of mattresses, consider these expert fairy tale tips:
- Spend time reading the same stories over and over. Children will get more and more out of these tales over time.
- Although there are some delightful, illustrated fairy tale books out there, don’t be afraid to read illustration-free versions as well. These stories are so vivid; your child will likely paint a much richer picture in his or her mind to match the text than anything that can be seen on the page.
- Variations are fine, but the original versions of these stories are best. If you find the original to be too gruesome, consider waiting until your child is older to read that particular tale.
- Don’t choose these stories for bedtime. Even if you bypass the possibly gruesome original for a tamer version, the issues dealt with in these stories might cause your little one to have a stressful sleep. Save these tales for daytime!
Fairy Tales are the stories that we play, that we keep in our hearts and imaginations. All stories allow us the chance to escape, to be someone else for a while. To live through another’s feelings, thoughts, actions. Fairy Tales help keep that magic of imagination alive in a way that all of us who share the common stories can hook into.