Goldilocks & the 3 Bears! celebrating fairy tales with Littles!
- 7 hours ago
- 10 min read
Monday, February 16, 2026
February is the perfect time
to step into the magical world of fairy tales…
In fact, did you know that
National Tell a Fairy Tale Day
is celebrated every year on February 26th?
From enchanted forests to talking animals and timeless lessons, fairy tales invite us to wonder, imagine, and learn in ways that stay with us long after the story ends.
In today’s post, we’re sharing Our Monthly Story Time post
by shining the spotlight on a classic fairy tale
filled with curiosity, discovery and the search for what feels just right!
When we were teaching,
February was always known as “I Love to Read” month,
a time to celebrate books and reading!
The month was filled
with reading challenges, guest readers, and themed events.
We loved “I ♥️ to Read” Month”!
These days, as retired kindergarten teachers and GRANDS,
we are ALWAYS looking for opportunities to encourage ALL OF US to read
with and to the Littles in our lives!
That’s why this feature has become one of our favorite posts each month!
Since the beginning of this school year,
we’ve shared a book each month that we simply love!
We’ve also shared reading strategies along the way,
ones we’ve used over the years with young Littles
that could easily be adapted to your homes!
And, of course, we’ve included some of our favorite activities
that support each story in a variety of ways!
You can find our past stories and ideas by clicking the following links:
Back to School – The Kissing Hand
September – Ten Apples Up on Top
October – Go Away, Big Green Monster
November – Turkey Trouble
December – The Gingerbread Man
January – Sneezy the Snowman
Our Choice for February’s Story Time is….
We picked one version of the fairy tale to highlight here, but truth be told, there are countless adaptations of Goldilocks and the Three Bears to enjoy with Littles! Each brings its own unique twist to the familiar story. Some retellings stay close to the classic tale, while others add a new dimension to the story! These many versions allow readers of all ages to experience the story in new and engaging ways, making Goldilocks a tale that can be rediscovered again and again.
So… pick YOUR favorite version (or two or three) and enjoy!
A fairy tale is a rich and imaginative story
that has often been retold and passed on from generation to generation!
If a story takes place in a magical land, with fantastical creatures or talking animals
it’s more than likely a fairy tale!
And while most end with the words,
they all lived happily ever after,
fairy tales offer so much more!
You might be surprised to discover that research shows that fairy tales provide many benefits for Littles as they learn and grow!
Fairy tales may seem simple on the surface, but they carry powerful life lessons that help Littles (and adults!) understand their world, relationships, and themselves. Here are some of the most common themes they teach:
✱ The Difference Between Right & Wrong!
Fairy tales often show clear consequences for choices — helping Littles better understand honesty, kindness, fairness, and responsibility.
✱ Being Resilient & Finding Courage from Within!
Characters face danger, uncertainty, or hardship and learn to be brave, persistent, and hopeful — even when things feel scary or unfair.
✱ Solving Every Day Problems!
Many stories involve challenges that must be figured out — encouraging creativity, patience, and thinking before acting
✱ Showing Empathy to Others!
Fairy tales explore feelings like fear, jealousy, love, and loneliness — helping Littles recognize emotions in themselves and others.
Fairy tales can offer a springboard to meaningful conversations revolving around these topics.
Who knew we could learn SO much from a fairy tale?
Who doesn’t remember this well known fairy tale?
This simple fairy tale is ideal for Littles as young as two or three years old and older kids love its familiarity just as much! In fact, if you are comfortable doing so, it’s a great story to tell rather than read, too!
Bringing Goldilocks to Life for Littles!
To turn a simple telling or reading of Goldilocks into a memorable moment for your Littles, try focusing on interacting with the story rather than just reading the words. Below are a few ways to make Goldilocks and The Three Bears come to life.
Older Littles will love it if you read more than one version of Goldilocks to them.
Together, you can be detectives in follow-up conversations
as your Littles share ways each version is the same or different from the original!
Here are some of our favorite versions, each with a silly or unique twist:
REMEMBER…
You can always check your local library for copies of Goldilocks!.
They will have LOTS of versions of Goldilocks available for check out,
as well as other fairy tales, too!
Feel free to search Youtube, too!
You’ll find LOTS of options there!
Goldilocks and the Three Bears is a story your Littles will want to hear
over and over again!
After reading the fairy tale together,
it’s the perfect time to try some of our “just right” activities with them!
🐻 Retelling the Story!
Littles love retelling a story they are familiar with and fairy tales with their simple plots are perfect for doing so! Laura’s Little L has had fun retelling Goldilocks over and over again ever since we made this set of stick puppets!
This was a free set available through the Teachers Pay Teachers site
we highlighted in this past post!
I simply searched “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” and “free”
and then downloaded and printed the set I wanted.
(You do not need to be a teacher to create your own free account.)
Listening to Little L use different voices for each character…
Melt my heart!
🐻 Opposite Play with THE 3 BEARS!
This is a wonderful way to work on antonyms (opposite words) with toddlers or preschoolers. Babies will enjoy handling the different objects that are safe for them. A great chance to practice vocabulary!!
Hot/Cold (Like the bears’ porridge)
To keep this safe for Littles, cut out pictures of objects that are hot and cold, and have your Little sort them.
Hard/Soft (Like the bears’ chair or beds)
It’s easy to find objects around the house for this activity!. Put them into a pile and encourage your Little to touch them and sort them into two piles.
Big/Little (Like the bears!!)
This is another fun one! Find objects from around the house. It is especially helpful to find a pair of items when sorting, such as a big sock and a little sock.
🐻 A Goldilocks Obstacle Course!
Have your Little(s) help Goldilocks make her way through the Bear’s House and work some wiggles out at the same time!
First you’ll need to prep the bowls. Place 3 bowls in 3 sizes on the floor and have your Little toss an object into each bowl to see which one is the easiest and which is the hardest. NOTE: Laurie happened to have a Beanie Baby bear that worked great, but you could use a bean bag, ball or plastic animal.
Next it’s time to move on to the chairs! Line up 3 different sized chairs (to make it more challenging) and have your Little crawl over them! Younger Littles can walk around them or in a figure 8 pattern!
Lastly, create 3 beds that your Little will need to jump over. Since Laurie’s Littles were younger, she decided to make the beds using soft towels and blankets in case of a fall. If you have older Littles who jump well, you could use blocks, boxes, rocks, or even doll beds!
When your Littles finish the course, they can run back to the bowls and start over.
NOTE: This set up would be ideal for outside play where they have lots of space to spread out and run between the obstacles. The day Laurie played with her Little D happened to be a rainy day so she did the best she could with setting the obstacles around the kitchen/living room area.
A Few More Fairy Tale FAVES!
Goldilocks is one of the stories on repeat in our homes,
whether we’re telling it or reading one version or another!
Below are a few more ways we’ve celebrated the story!
🥣 Goldilocks & The 3 Bears Paper Plate Masks!
Here’s an easy way to make masks to retell this special story! Use a simple paper plate and cut a circle from the middle of the plate as shown. Do this for each of the 3 bears. Using a brown crayon or marker, color the paper plate (without the middle). Glue on ears for each bear (we used brown construction paper). Cut 3 bows from different colors of paper - you can use patterned paper, too - One for Papa/Big Bear, one for Mama/Middle Bear and one for Baby/Little Bear. Add each bow as shown (or as your Little(s) prefer)! Tape a popsicle stick to the bottom of each plate and your masks are ready!
A few years ago,
Laura’s Littles had such fun acting out the story for our family!
Lights! Camera! Action!
🥣 A Bowl of Porridge & Bear Toast!
When Laura’s daughters were little, they loved it when their dad made them porridge on Saturday mornings! They’d have to decide if their porridge was too hot, too cold or just right!
Then, at school, as a culminating activity during /g/Week/Goldilocks Week in kindergarten, Laura would make porridge for her class! Who would have thought that a simple oatmeal recipe (with a bit of brown sugar and butter) would be such a hit with many kindergartners having seconds!
SO… recently, we made porridge for breakfast during a visit with our Littles. Of course, we had to make Bear Toast to go with it! It was just right in every way!
You can see how easy the Bear Toast is. We spread peanut butter on a slice of toast. Then we added banana slices for the bear’s ears and snout and then three raisins or chocolate chips for eyes and the center of the bear’s nose.
You can be as creative as your Littles want to be, too! Little L wanted a purple bear so we adapted and used grape jelly instead of peanut butter!
🥣 Porridge Playdough!
We both wish we’d known about this simple recipe for Porridge Playdough when we were teaching kindergarten! Laura made it again with her Littles recently and they were very intrigued… especially when they discovered that it was edible!
Porridge Playdough
2 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 cup flour
1 cup water
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Once combined, knead until smooth (although the playdough will definitely have the texture of oatmeal). If the mixture is too sticky, add more flour. Continue to knead until mixture has a playdough consistency. Store playdough in a container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
🥣 A Goldilocks Dance Party!
This is such a fun song that tells the story of Goldilocks! It won’t take long, though, before you’ll be humming and dancing along yourself! Our kindergartners were mesmerized when we’d play it and now our Littles love it, too! (Near the end of the song, be sure to look at the images that come up as they tell a story of what happens after Goldilocks runs away from the bears’ house.)
ENJOY!
Do you have a favorite fairy tale?
If so, please share it with us below!
We so enjoy your comments and making connections with you all!
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(or know of anyone else who might enjoy our content),
we’d love to stay connected!
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Don't forget - Laurie is always coming up with something new
We'd love to have you check it out!
We’ll be back later this week with a yummy post for you all!
We hope you’ll join us!
Fairy tales like Goldilocks remind us,
even as grown ups,
to notice the small moments, learn from our choices,
and keep searching for and celebrating what feels
just right in our own lives!
Fairy tales aren’t just for the Littles in our lives. We all can learn something new from them! If you read between the lines, fairy tales can offer gentle wisdom for us all. Even we GRANDS can discover fresh insight in their timeless stories about resilience, choices, balance, and seeing the world with wonder again... especially when witnessed through the eyes of our Littles!
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