Is Reading Fairy Tales And Scary Stories Harmful To Children?

Yesterday's fairy tales and today's scary books are filled with conflicting vivid imagery of both good and evil. It is no wonder that many parents pause when the wolf is seconds away from making a meal of Little Red Riding Hood or The Magic Treehouse's Jack and Annie are surrounded by circling sharks. Parents can't help but wonder if the scary content is harmful or if children are perceptive enough to internalize any dark meanings. Experts say the answer is no. Children take the stories at face value and nothing more. Well chosen fairy tales can even be learning tools if presented in the right way at the right time. Here is the nutshell version of rules to remember when reading fairy tales to children:

1. Use fairy tales to elicit discussions: Fairy tales often conveniently explore common issues children face as they come of age like the fear of abandonment, vanity, greed, envy and sibling rivalry, leaving those issues wide open for parent discussion.

2. Make sure the fairy tales you are reading aren't encouraging negative stereotypes: Watch for books that imply it pays to be physically pretty. This message can contribute to young women feeling they are inferior if they don't meet unrealistic standards of beauty. Counter any negative stereotypes by initiating frank discussions about any stereotypes a book contains.

3. Chose books which allow your child to witness victory: Pick books in which the main character transcends the events that challenge him to become a stronger person in the end.

4. Never force a book on an apprehensive child: Read any questionable books alone first. If there is any doubt whether the child is ready, wait. Consider forgoing movie versions for the corresponding book. Many book editors will greatly water down or even omit scary parts in collections for younger children.

5. Know that most kids know the difference between fantasy and reality: If your preschooler wants to hear Sleeping Beauty for the one hundredth time, be glad she wants to read. Children know the difference between reality and fantasy and can easily digest the enormity of a character's problem if it is presented in a fantasy-like fashion.

Most adults who read fairy tales and scary stories as children grew up with the full realization that mirrors don't engage in conversation and magic beans don't literally exist, but it can still fun to read about them. Isn't part of the enchantment of childhood believing in a little magic?

Children Need Fairy Tales

Why are fairy tales a necessary part of childhood?

A fairy tale is a little snippet of life. It's a fantasized story portraying the goodness and evil in life. A fairy tale is told in a manner in which a child can relate to and understand. As parents, don't we try to shield our children from the harsh realities of life? Don't we all strive for love and freedom and happiness? For justice and fairness and goodness?

A fairy tale allows your child to think about those realities, but in a manner that feels like play. In the fairy tale, wrongs are righted, injuries are healed. Patience and virtue, love, goodness and happiness triumph. Your child feels good about the outcome and gets the sense that all is right with the world, yet still understands that bad stuff can happen. Most adults have forgotten how to play. We even make it ok to forget by giving it a name: Maturity. There! Now, it's alright.

We've forgotten what it was like to be a child. Grownup life gets in the way of fun and play and imagination. Playfulness is a normal characteristic of our human spirit. When we play we can forget the oppression of work and chores and clocks. It's a freedom we should all be allowed to enjoy, not just our children. Play allows us to be free and creative and joyful. Put self consciousness aside and just have fun.

Fairy tales allow us to freely play with our kids, while teaching at the same time, and all within the confines of a story. Fairy tales charm us as we listen and focus on the hard facts of reality, but result in showing us that the problem can and will be solved. Your child learns that things can and will go wrong, but that there is always a way to conquer the problem. We should allow our kids imaginations to flourish and live without restraint.

Wonderland. Fairy land. Never-never Land. They do exist. And they always will - if you believe! If you allow your imagination to play.

A child's education begins as play. Imagination is part of every game played. Childhood is and always will be a time of endless discoveries. They are, after all, just learning about life. Children believe in the fruits of their imagination. All of it, now matter how fanciful to the adult, is very real to a child. Did you ever sit in the background and just observe your child at play? It is an amazing experience. They are perfectly capable of acting out entire plays and solving most any problem within their own little experience.

Sometimes the solution doesn't make sense to us. That doesn't matter. Your child was exercising his imagination and things were happening within his imaginary world.

The ability to imagine and believe in a fanciful reality have lead many to a life of creative pursuits which could only have been brought about by a healthy use of the imagination. Formal education trains the eye, trains the hand, teaches the ability to reason and strengthens the power of observation but it is the higher power of the imagination that turns a child with a crayon into an artist, a dreamer into one who reaches for the moon and an early reader into an author or a poet or a Nobel prize winner.

Too often, our educational system focuses on facts. Facts are linear. Don't get me wrong, facts are needed to get to the necessary desired conclusion. Facts get the job done. But, what if?

What if?

Where would we be if Edison had not thought "what if"?
Where would we be if Franklin had not thought "what if"?
What if Newton had ignored that apple?
Would we have ever sent a man to the moon, if we had not thought "what if"?

An imagination is a terrible thing to waste.

The Importance of Reading a Fairy Tale For Children

The presence of fairy tales can be the great interesting thing for many children out there. In this case, there will be many benefits of reading those tales for your children. Perhaps, you still do not understand about the reasons why you should do it and how it will bring such significant effects to your children. Do not worry, since the following explanation will let you to know more about this idea.

Actually, introducing fairy tale to your children is not a complicated task to be done at all. You can either tell to them orally or through reading the books for them. During telling your story, they can improve their imagination and perhaps guess what will happen next. Besides, they will learn more about how to tell something to other people surround them. They will also learn about how to start a story, how to express their feelings and so on.

And then, a fairy tale can make them learn much about morality and start to build the attitude. You can tell them about the simple things reflected in that story, including about the good and bad behaviors, the effects if they conduct those behaviors in their daily life with their friends and so on. Definitely, it is educational and will be quite inspiring for them.

Why should you choose fairy tale instead of the ordinary stories? You know that the first choice will bring them a fun experience. Perhaps, they will find the term such as magic brooms, king and queen, witch, and so on. But, talking about something that they do not find in daily life will bring something new to them. It is entertaining and interesting altogether.

Also, it is important to pay attention to the intonation and mimic. Make sure that you will tell them as you are the great story teller with your best expression and mimic which are different from the way you tell them about the ordinary story. You will see then that children are curious to know more about your story. The last benefit is that you can get closer to your children and understand what they want to do and have.

Choosing Halloween Costumes Young Children Will Love

Halloween costumes are one of the most important parts of Halloween for young children. They love being able to dress up as a fantasy character and to walk around the streets of their neighborhood collecting goodies in their trick or treat bags. This is really exciting for them.

It is very noticeable, by the age of two, sometimes even younger, that boys and girls will start to prefer the stereotypical costumes. Boys want to be brave, fierce or scary, favoring knights, pirates, monsters and superheroes and girls will be drawn to the pretty, cute and sweet costumes such as princesses, strawberry shortcake characters or flower fairy costumes.

From a parents point of view, you can indulge your own childhood fantasies with your baby dressing them as you wish, in furry bear, monkey, ladybugs or cute and funny costumes, but come the age of eighteen months plus, you will start to see these preferences emerge and with it their resistance to your choice.

This is due to a number of factors such as the media, advertising, TV, movies, books, friends and parental influence. Genetics plays a part too, but whatever the reason, this is a force to be reckoned with and almost impossible to avoid.

Trying to persuade your stubborn single minded two year old daughter into wearing funny face pumpkin outfits when she really wants to be wearing pink flower fairy costumes or Cinderella ballgowns is a stress producing recipe for a Halloween disaster.

It is much better to buy an 'evergreen' Halloween outfit suitable for a boy or girl that they will love to wear. You can either ask them outright what do they want to dress up as or show them a picture of some costumes first. This is not guaranteed to be a perfect solution by any means, as children can be very fickle with their choices, but at least you will be on the right track.

For little boys, Superman, Batman or a current movie hero is a good start and for little girls any of the Disney Princesses or pretty colored tinkerbell flower fairy costumes will usually be happily accepted. If you are thinking 'well, that's not very original or unusual!' then of course you are quite right, but there is a good reason why these sell so well every year and that is because these costumes are what children really want.

Halloween is an occasion that should be fun for everyone. By keeping your small child in a good mood, with little effort of your part, it will avoid any Halloween stress and enable Mom and Dad to concentrate on their costumes and hopefully thoroughly enjoy themselves as well!