Introducing Children to Folklore

Introducing Children to Folklore

Saptak Ganguly/Stocksy United

We are fast approaching the end of the school year, with many restrictions still in place. If you are looking for ways to engage your children while also providing cultural learning experiences we have some great ways you can introduce them to folklore while also getting them active.

Embrace Folk Art

Folk art has inspired many modern artists and often can be replicated with things found around the house saving the expenses of buy new crafting supplies. How about making a mini maypole with colorful, flowing ribbons, or some shadow puppets that tell the tale of Baba Yaga? Have a look around Pinterest for thousands of craft ideas and pick one to learn about and create together.

Follow a Fairy Trail

Introduce them to the origins of fairies and then go explore a local forest looking for signs of the fae. As you walk through the forest look for cobwebs (sewn by fairies), feathers (fairy sweeping brushes), and mushrooms (fairy chairs, of course!) See if there is a local fairy tree, where people often leave gifts and flowers for the fairy folk. If you don’t have an adopted or communal place to visit the fairies, you can always create a fairy trail in your garden adorned with solar fairy lights, or even in your home by investing in your own fairy door.

Culinary Explorations

Most families will have at least one recipe that has been passed down through the generations. Share these recipes together and reminisce about the stories behind them. If they have been handed down so long you no longer know the origins, look them up. Create a cookbook together with bits of the story so that future generations will not only have the joy of the recipe but the story to go with the happy memories.

Expand their Calendars

Children love the familiarity of annual celebrations like Christmas and Halloween, and through school will take part in marking calendar customs like Harvest Festival and May Day. Why not explore with them the deeper meanings of these celebratory days and festivals? Sure, your children may know why they hang stockings at Christmas and decorate eggs at Easter, but do they know why on Shrove Tuesday people toss pancakes?

There are many more folklore activities that can be explored such as playing traditional games or foretelling the weather through weatherlore. Embrace that spark of magical childhood curiosity and enjoy it together.