Fairy Tales and Fables

by Judy Press

Do you know the difference between a fairy tale and a fable? I didn't, until I looked up the definition. A fable is, " a short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point and often employing as characters animals that speak and act like human beings, or a story about legendary persons or exploits." A fairy tale is, "a fanciful tale of legendary deeds and creatures, or a fictious, highly fanciful story or explanation." Following are examples of popular fairy tales and fables:
Fairy tales : Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel & Gretel, The Gingerbread Man, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Ugly Duckling, The Sleeping Beauty, Snow White.
Fables: The Three Little Pigs, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Tortoise and the Hare, Alice In Wonderland, The Lion and the Mouse, Peter Pan, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.
Thanks to Walt Disney, these stories have taken on a life of their own and provided children and adults with a "Disney-fied" version. My local library has a whole section dedicated to fairy tales and fables and in re-reading several of these classic stories I realized how timeless they are.
On a recent visit to my granddaughter's preschool I read her class the story of the Three Little Pigs. My initial concern was that it might be too frightening for them to handle, but the version I read glossed over the fact that the wolf ended up in a pot of boiling water. However unfortunate it may be,  kids nowadays are exposed to a great deal of violence which unfortunately doesn't always have a happy ending like they do in fairy tales.
Below is a craft I did with the children in Hudson's class that the children really enjoyed!

Three Little Pigs Puppets

Here's What You Need:
3 Paper lunch bags (white or brown)
3 White paper plates
Construction paper  (including pink and red)
Crumpled strips of brown paper or Easter grass (for straw)
Popsicle sticks or toothpicks (for wood)
Child safety scissors
Glue stick
Markers
Wiggly eyes (optional)

Here's What You Do:
1. Cut out the center of the white paper plates. Glue one onto each bag's flap for the pig's face.
2.. Cut out a small circle from pink paper for pig's nose. Cut out pig's ears from pink paper. Glue ears and nose onto face.
3. Cut strips of construction paper and accordion fold. Glue onto bag for pig's arms.
4. Glue sticks onto one pig, straw on the other. Draw brick pattern on red paper and glue onto third pig.