Inspiring Creativity with Different Variations of Well-Loved Fairy Tales
My girls love any excuse to have friends over, and slumber parties are their favorite gatherings ever. When Netflix offered us the opportunity to pre-screen the new season of the show Ever After High, and host a Rebels vs. Royals party, we knew it was the perfect time for a sleepover.
And I knew it was the perfect excuse to spark a little creative thinking.
Have you seen the show? It’s super cute – the sons and daughters of our favorite storybook characters alive and well, in school, and trying to live up to their parents’ reputations… or overcome their infamy.
We love our little friend Hope, and since we wanted to spoil her a bit like the great folks at Netflix did us, we went out and chose a special Ever After High doll for her so she could play with the girls and their new dolls, and made an amazing rainbow cake for the event.
It’s seriously easy to set the stage for a special slumber party for little fairy-tale loving girls. We grabbed some cute take-out style boxes with pink polka dots, filled them up with the fuzzy boa-like pens, sparkly journals, and beaded necklaces that came in our party box, and set the table with a black and white chevron table cloth and bright pink plates and cups.
The girls and their dolls – Briar Beauty, Cherise Hood, and Apple White – enjoyed their cake and lemonade, and then curled up on the couch to watch Spring Unsprung together… and then proceeded to go back and re-watch all of the episodes from season one, having a late-night Ever After High marathon.
What I love most about shows and stories like these is that they inspire creativity. How many renditions of each fairy tale have you seen, read, or heard about. Dozens? More? I love showing kids that they can take something simple – like the character of a princess, and rewrite her story, change it around, or even spin off of it and create something new.
The girls were inspired. The next morning, they got out the chalk pastels and drew portraits of their favorite characters. Stories like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Red Riding Hood – and the spin-offs and toys that come from them – aren’t just empty entertainment. They’re inspiration waiting to ignite creativity in your little ones.
Take this story my five year old was inspired to share with you:
The outcome doesn’t matter… it’s that pride in the creation and the willingness to be inspired that is what counts.
Grab a few of the Ever After High dolls from Amazon or your favorite retailer, queue up the show on Netflix, and enjoy an evening of entertainment with your kids. Then, challenge them to come up with their own unique spin on the stories – whether in writing, drama, or chalk. Help them and their friends unleash their creativity. Better, join in the fun. You’ll all enjoy yourselves.
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I am a member of the #StreamTeam, which means that I was provided a Netflix subscription in exchange for writing about the ways we use it in our home and homeschool. All opinions are mine, though, and actually, we’ve used Netflix in our homeschool since the beginning. I love it, and had been a subscriber for years before joining the team. It’s fun to have a reason to share about these great resources now…