Children learn many important life lessons from fairy tales: Cinderella's wicked stepsisters got punished, Little Red Riding Hood presumably never spoke to strangers again, and Goldilocks learned not to enter people's houses without permission. Children are likely to pay attention to the pictures in the large storytime books, and taking time to discuss the pictures will help students cement the details. Afterward, act them out as a group, and then ask students to talk about what they heard. Some of the answers might surprise you.
Have students create classroom wall decorations. Bulletin board murals or finger paintings of the stories make it easier to review the stories at the end of the unit. Have a large supply of material on hand for art projects because Sleeping Beauty might need a cotton ball pillow or Rapunzel might need yarn hair. Allowing the children to choose their own materials also creates variety if you choose to display the art.
Growing sprouts to represent Jack's beanstalk and planting pumpkin seeds when your students learn about Cinderella's coach seamlessly transition into discussions about watering plants and how to care for them. Build Rapunzel's tower out of blocks and use it to illustrate gravity and how to stack larger items at the bottom.
Use a large bag of dried kidney beans and cotton squares to illustrate the Princess and the Pea; ask students how many mattresses they think they would need to not feel the beans and have them count out the beans and the cotton squares. Then bring out a large book of fairy tales and ask the students how many mice were following the Pied Piper. Use river stones as Hansel and Gretel's path and ask the students how many rocks it would take to go from one point to another.
This keepsake is a good Mother's Day gift or end-of-year project if your schedule allows it. As you study each tale, have students dictate their stories to parent volunteers. The students can then illustrate the stories, put them in binders and decorate the covers. If you have additional time, have the students dress up as their favorite characters and take pictures to put on the inside front covers.