Nursery World - Traditional tales

Traditional tales are often grisly, but many lend themselves to a topic on homes, and practitioners shouldn't shy away from including them in their project. Such stories have the advantage that children will probably already be familiar with them. Favourites such as 'The Three Little Pigs' and 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' offer lots of opportunities for mathematical development. And all offer opportunities to explore strong feelings and emotions.

Such stories have the advantage that children will probably already be familiar with them. Favourites such as 'The Three Little Pigs' and 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' offer lots of opportunities for mathematical development. And all offer opportunities to explore strong feelings and emotions.

The tales have a long, possibly ancient, history with their roots in oral tradition and were probably written not for children but as powerful allegories for the problems that face humankind.

This is particularly true of the stories that deal with difficulties in family life, such as the loss of a parent and sibling rivalry in Cinderella, or the powerful, contradictory feelings of love and hate that a child can feel towards a parent, as typified by 'good' mothers (who are usually dead) and 'wicked' stepmothers, as in Hansel and Gretel.

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