DEFINITION
Fairytale therapy is a method of psychological correction that helps develop a harmonious personality and solve individual problems. The instrument of this therapy is a fairy tale, which allows, using the example of heroes, to trace the characteristics of behavior and actions, and to analyze a specific life situation.
Fairytale therapy began to be used in isolation relatively recently, but quickly found a large number of fans among professional psychotherapists and parents. It was identified as a separate branch of psychotherapy thanks to Tatyana Zinkevich-Evstigneeva, and was later successfully used in working with both children and adults.
The essence of the method is this: the experience of conflict occurs with the help of a system of substitutes - fairy-tale characters, in whose place the child (or adult) begins to imagine himself. The plot is also important. Due to its metaphorical nature, a fairy tale becomes a powerful developmental and psychotherapeutic tool. By living certain events with the characters, the baby learns to understand their meaning and significance.
The goal of therapy is to help the child overcome anxiety and fears, correct negative character traits, and reveal abilities and inner world.
The following tasks can be distinguished:
- formation of emotional experience;
- overcoming internal contradictions;
- obtaining a sample of behavior in various situations.
Often a fairy tale becomes a means of developing personality, imagination, memory
BEST AGE
Experts advise starting to use fairy tales from the age of 2, since younger children are not yet able to carry out the simplest analysis and understand cause-and-effect relationships, that is, the work will be ineffective. And from the age of 2, it is quite possible to use simple therapeutic fairy tales to help calm the child, prevent hysteria, and provide an example of positive behavior.
At the age of 3, fairy tale therapy can be used more actively, including in combination with other art therapy methods.
DIRECTIONS
It is customary to distinguish several areas of fairy tale therapy:
- Help in difficult life situations. Using the characters as an example, you can consider alternative behavior options and reflect on what consequences each of them leads to.
- Identifying the problem the child is facing in a simple and accessible form.
- Transfer of experience. The parent does not teach the child, but shares with him his life experience and knowledge through a fairy tale.
- Development of thinking, imagination, memory. The form of work is used with children from 3 years old; parents offer not just to listen to the text, but to answer a series of questions, speculate on something, and explain the actions and characters of the characters.
- Behavior correction. With the help of heroes, the child looks at himself from the outside, sees his own negative qualities, as well as an example of how to correct them.
- Psychoprophylaxis. It is always better to avoid a problem than to fix it, and a fairy tale is a very convenient way to do this.
The advantage of fairy tale therapy is that it helps solve a wide range of problems in both children and adults.
FUNCTIONS
It is customary to distinguish the following functions of fairy tale therapy:
- The ability to quickly establish contact between the therapist and the client, regardless of the latter’s age.
- Many mental problems are hidden deep in the subconscious. A short text from a fairy tale helps to bring them to the surface and analyze them.
- Heroes will help you find a way out of difficult situations and consider alternatives.
- Fairy tales allow you to better understand yourself and get rid of internal contradictions.
- This text allows the therapist to receive all the information, even if the client (usually an adult) is trying to hide something.
Fairy tales are an excellent way to overcome phobias; they will also help to instill the skills necessary for a full life, provide an opportunity to understand what is good and what is evil, to reveal the individuality of one’s own personality, and to overcome life’s difficulties. And, what’s most convenient, parents can use this method even without professional education.
Fairytale therapy for children 5-6 years old
Older preschoolers often feel insecure, afraid of appearing funny or doing something wrong. Fairy tales can help cope with such conditions. For example, the classic story about the ugly duckling is suitable for children with low self-esteem, and the fairy tale about the steadfast tin soldier is suitable for insecure, overly cautious children.
At this age, the best results can be obtained both by reading fairy tales aloud and by composing them together. With careful observation, such an exercise provides a lot of additional information (body position, facial expressions, intonation) about the general psychological state of the child.
TYPES OF FAIRY TALES
Let's get acquainted with the classification of fairy tales proposed by Zinkevich-Evstigneeva. The information is presented in table form.
| Fairy tale form | a brief description of |
| Artistic | These are traditional, in our understanding, folklore and original fairy tales, the plot of which may contain elements of other forms. |
| Didactic | Created by teachers for simplified presentation of educational material. It is most often used in working with preschoolers and primary schoolchildren, while teenagers are encouraged to write such texts. |
| Meditative | They help you relax and relieve psycho-emotional stress through the accumulation of positive experience. Often reading is accompanied by listening to soothing music or sounds of nature. |
| Psychotherapeutic | They help you understand the events of the world around you, they are often very insightful, aimed at personal growth, and allow you to see positive aspects and qualities. |
| Psychocorrectional | In an unobtrusive form they influence behavior, most often used in relation to adolescents 11-13 years old and adults, they help solve problems of aggressive and ineffective behavior. It is not necessary to discuss or act out such a fairy tale; often it is enough to let it be read and thought about on your own. |
The genres used in such therapy are diverse; they are not always fairy tales. Here are the main ones:
- epics, myths, legends, sagas - these 4 genres are best suited for working with teenagers;
- fables (the moral is formulated quite clearly; you can use texts not only by Krylov, but also by Aesop and La Fontaine);
- parables (often contain important life lessons, are dedicated to a specific problem and can be used to work through it).
Sometimes it is acceptable to use modern genres, for example detective stories, science fiction - the main thing is that the genre matches the child’s taste.
VARIOUS FAIRY TALE THERAPY METHODS
Working with fairy tales can be combined with other forms and methods of art therapy, which will help not only correct the child’s behavior, but also arouse his keen interest and improve his mood.
So, first of all, sand therapy is harmoniously combined with a fairy tale. Sand can become a kind of environment for recreating a magical world. While playing with sand, the child creates his own reality, in which he feels comfortable and happy; during the game, thanks to the so-called “fairy-tale intuition”, the child manages to find a way out of a difficult situation.
Drawing a fairy tale is one of the methods of fairy tale therapy. Using pencils, paints, even plasticine or clay, the child expresses his own emotions about the text he heard. Another form of work is independent writing (composing) of a fairy tale, in which the child can completely come up with the text, propose an alternative scenario for the development of events in a ready-made fairy tale, and figure out what happened after the conclusion - for example, how the fates of the heroes of “Teremka” turned out or what they began to do the old man and the old woman from “The Tale of the Goldfish”, once again finding themselves “at the bottom.” This will be interesting for preschoolers aged 5-6 years and older children.
The next option is dramatization, staging of fairy tales, their staging, which helps children more deeply get used to the character’s image and enrich their emotional and behavioral experience. At the same time, you should avoid tedious memorization of the role and strict adherence to the text - in such classes, improvisation is much more important. It is this form of work that will help you realize your own shortcomings using the example of the character being portrayed, find out how you can overcome them, and do it.
Staging puppet shows is also useful, allowing you to develop your child’s speech, imagination, communication skills and fine motor skills. In order to “revive” the doll, the child observes certain forms of behavior from the outside, sees what they lead to, and draws his own conclusions. Also, in the process of doll therapy, he gets the opportunity to express those feelings and emotions that are inaccessible to him in real life or are suppressed. Older children (6 or 7 years old) can be encouraged to make dolls themselves, a process that helps them relax.
Another technique is the “master of fairy tales” proposed by Zinkevich-Evstigneeva. According to the author, there are 10 main archetypes (for example, a road, a state, a crossroads), using which you can create 50 fairy-tale plots, which is what the child is asked to do. “Master of Tales” is a deck of 50 cards, each of which has its own meaning. Using them, you can create your own oral works.
These methods are easy to use in homework; in this case, mothers and fathers and other relatives become spectators of “theatrical” productions or puppet theaters.
Card index “Didactic games in fairy tale therapy”
"Find the Sound"
Goal: Creating conditions for the formation of ideas about the sound composition of a word. Improve the ability to determine the location of the “K” sound in a word. Develop phonemic awareness and the ability to work with a map.
Material: Cards with subject pictures, the name of which contains the sound “K”. Cards with subject pictures, the name of which does not contain the sound “K”. Cards with 3 cells and symbols indicating the location of the sound in the word.
Progress of the game:
Each child is given a card with cells, 5 cards with subject pictures, 3 cards in the name, which have the sound “K” at the beginning, middle and end of the word, and 2 cards with pictures, the name of which does not have the sound “K” (confusing) .
The child must select from the cards provided those in which the sound “K” is at the beginning, middle and end of the word and place them in the correct sequence on the card.
The first one to complete the task correctly wins.
"One is many"
Purpose: to practice the formation of the plural and the correct use of words in the genitive case; match words with definitions and actions; find the first sound in words, determine the number of syllables, select words that sound similar.
- This is a ball, and this is. (balls). There are many. (balls). What balls? (Red, blue, green.) How can you say in one word that all the balls are different colors? (Multi-colored.) - This is a poppy, and this is. (poppies). There is a lot in the bouquet. (poppies). What are they? (Red.) What else is red? How do you understand the expression “red maiden”? Where does this expression occur? In what fairy tales? — Guess the riddle: “Grandfather is sitting, wearing a hundred fur coats. Whoever undresses him sheds tears.” This. (onion). What is he like? (Yellow, juicy, bitter, healthy.) Is there a lot of stuff in the basket? (Luke.) - What is this? What is there a lot here? - And if all the objects disappear, how will we say what is missing? (Needles, saws, bears, mice, cones, spoons, legs, cats.)
"Find the exact word"
Goal: to teach children to accurately name an object, its qualities and actions.
- Find out what object I’m talking about: “Round, sweet, ruddy - what is it?” Items may differ from each other not only in taste, but also in size, color, and shape. - Complete with other words what I start: snow is white, cold. (what else). Sugar is sweet and lemon is. (sour). The weather is warm in spring and warm in winter. (cold). - Name what things in the room are round, tall, low. - Remember which of the animals moves how. Crow. (flies, fish. (swims, grasshopper. (jumps, grasshopper. (crawls). Which animal makes its voice? Rooster. (crows, tiger. (growls, mouse. (squeaks, cow. (moos). - Help me) find words of opposite meaning in D. Ciardi’s poem “The Farewell Game”:
I will say a word high, I will say a word to you, a coward, and you will answer. (low). You will answer. (brave). I’ll say the word far away, Now I’ll say the beginning - And you’ll answer. (close). Well, answer me. (end).
- Now you can come up with words that have opposite meanings.
“Who is after whom?”
Purpose of the game: Consolidate knowledge of fairy tales. Development of the grammatical structure of speech, familiarize children with prepositions: for, before, before, after, between; learn to navigate in space, develop visual thinking. Develop elementary mathematical concepts: first, then, first, second, last.
Material: figures of heroes from one fairy tale are used (“Turnip”, “Teremok”, “Kolobok”, “Hare and Fox (Zayushkina’s hut)”, etc.); circles are tokens. You can use figurines of fairy-tale characters from the theater on flannelgraph.
Progress of the game:
1. The presenter asks to place the characters of a familiar fairy tale in a certain sequence. After this, he asks the child to explain: who came for whom, met whom; who stands, using various prepositions. The presenter asks leading questions.
2. If the child has successfully mastered all the concepts, you can complicate the game by adding the concepts of right and left.
For correctly completing the task, the child receives a token.
"What changed?".
Purpose of the game: Development of coherent speech, attention, visual thinking.
Material: figures of heroes from one fairy tale (“Turnip”, “Teremok”, “Kolobok”, “Hare and Fox (Zayushkina’s Hut)”, etc.) and objects are used; circles are tokens. You can use figurines of fairy-tale characters from the theater on flannelgraph.
Progress of the game;
1. The presenter, using figures, reproduces the plot of a fairy tale on a flannelgraph and asks one of the children to describe what is depicted. Then the child turns away and the leader, together with other children, swaps two or three figures (if children are over six years old, the number of changes can be increased to five). The child must say what has changed. For correct answers he receives a token. The one who collects the most tokens wins.
2. If the children have successfully mastered this game, ask them to lay out the plot of a fairy tale and continue the game without a leader, appointing one of the children as the leader.
“Tell me from
the picture .
” Purpose of the game: Expanding vocabulary, developing coherent speech, creative thinking, and observation skills.
Material: figurines of heroes from one fairy tale are used (“Turnip”, “Teremok”, “Kolobok”, “Hare and Fox (Zayushkina’s Hut)”, etc., circles are tokens. You can use figurines of fairy-tale characters from the theater on flannelgraph.
Progress of the game:
A fairy tale is chosen for adults (this may be a fairy tale that is currently being studied). The presenter takes one of the heroes of the fairy tale and describes him: he tells how he looks, good or evil, big or small, what he does during the fairy tale, etc. After that, he asks the children to repeat what he said.
Then the presenter takes another figurine and asks the children to take turns describing the hero and make sure that the descriptions are not repeated.
If this does not work, the presenter asks leading questions: for example, what is the grandfather wearing; is he old or young; what he does, etc. For correct answers, the child receives a token. The one who gives the most answers wins.
"Find by silhouette".
Purpose of the game: Development of speech, visual thinking, attention, figurative memory.
Material: figures of heroes from one fairy tale are used (“Turnip”, “Teremok”, “Kolobok”, “Hare and Fox (Zayushkina’s hut)”, etc.). You can use figurines of fairy-tale characters from the theater on flannelgraph.
Progress of the game:
The presenter asks the children to look at the figures from all sides. Next, he explains what a silhouette is and asks the children to trace the silhouette of the figure with their finger, and then with a pencil.
The presenter lays out the figures on the reverse side and asks them to find fairy tale characters and objects.
"Assemble from parts".
Purpose of the game: development of speech, attention, memory, thinking, hand coordination.
Material: cut-out pictures of fairy tale heroes, figurines of fairy tale heroes from the “Fairytale Chest”, corresponding to the cut-out pictures, riddles.
Progress of the game:
An adult shows children figurines of fairy tale heroes. Ask what their names are. Then show that the pieces can be used to make a figurine of any of the heroes.
Then the parts of the cards are mixed, and the adult asks the child to guess the riddle and put together the hero figurine.
"Magician's Hat".
Purpose of the game: consolidation of knowledge of fairy tales; speech development; development of tactile sensitivity, fine motor skills, attention and figurative memory.
Material: rubber toys from table theater, hat or box, scarf.
Progress of the game:
An adult shows a hat and a scarf: “This is a magician’s hat, it contains the heroes of fairy tales. You need to take turns identifying the hero by touch, name him and say which fairy tale he is from.
“Which
fairy tale is the hero ?” .
Purpose of the game: Consolidation of knowledge of fairy tales, development of speech, thinking, memory.
Material: large card with the image of a fairy tale hero; small cards depicting plots of different fairy tales.
Progress of the game:
The children are given large cards. The presenter shows cards with fairy tale plots. The child whose big card depicts a hero from the plot of a fairy tale names the fairy tale and takes the card for himself.
The one who collects all the fairy tales the fastest wins.
"Help the hero find his
fairy tale .
" Purpose of the game: Consolidation of knowledge of fairy tales, development of speech, thinking, memory.
Material: A piece of paper depicts the hero of a fairy tale and three pictures - plots of fairy tales in which this hero is not present, and one picture in which this hero is.
Progress of the game:
An adult shows the children a picture and says, for example: “The cockerel went for a walk and got lost. Let's help him return to his fairy tale." Children look at the picture and name the appropriate fairy tale.
“What
fairy tale did Kolobok end up ?” .
Purpose of the game: Consolidation of knowledge of fairy tales, development of speech, thinking, memory.
Material: A picture depicting the plot of a fairy tale with a Kolobok glued to it.
Progress of the game: An adult shows the children a plot picture. Children name a fairy tale and describe the picture.
«Fairy Tale Confusion»
Purpose of the game: Consolidation of knowledge of fairy tales, development of speech, thinking, memory.
Material: Picture depicting two different fairy tales.
Progress of the game: an adult shows a picture. Children must name which fairy tales are mixed up.
“Collect and tell
a fairy tale .
” Goal: Consolidate knowledge of fairy tales; expansion of vocabulary, development of coherent speech, attention, memory.
Material: pictures depicting plots of the selected fairy tale.
Progress of the game: The child must put together the plot pictures in sequence from the beginning to the end of the fairy tale, then tell the fairy tale based on the plot pictures.
«Fairytale hares».
Goal: development of speech, imagination, observation, expressiveness of movements.
Description of the game: An adult invites children to remember fairy tales in which there are hares. Those who wish tell what kind of hares they are, or depict how they behave, without naming the tale. The rest of the children guess which fairy tale the hare is from.
"Magic Cube".
Goal: Consolidation of knowledge of fairy tales, development of speech and memory.
Material: multi-colored cube, on each side of which, using Velcro, heroes or stories from fairy tales are attached.
Game description:
I option. The teacher throws a dice, on each side of which there is an image of a fairy tale character attached. Children name the hero and fairy tales with his participation.
Option II. The teacher throws a dice, on each side of which there is an image of a fairy tale character attached. Children portray this hero.
III option. The teacher rolls a cube, on each side of which there is an image of a fairy tale plot (preferably the fairy tales are different). Children name the fairy tale and its characters.
IV option. The child throws a cube, on each side of which there is an image of a fairy tale character, and names the hero and the fairy tales with his participation.
“Name
a fairy tale ”
Goal: Consolidating knowledge of fairy tales and fairy-tale characters, developing coherent speech, attention, memory, visual thinking.
Material: playing field on which plots of different fairy tales are placed; cube.
Progress of the game: The child throws the cube onto the playing field. When the cube lands on one of the plots, the child names the fairy tale and its characters.
"What changed?"
— 2.
Purpose of the game: Development of coherent speech, attention, visual thinking.
Material: Tabletop theater toys.
Progress of the game;
On the table in front of the children are figurines of heroes from one fairy tale. The teacher names the heroes. Then the children close their eyes and the teacher removes one toy. The children open their eyes and the teacher asks: “Who ran into the forest?” Children must say what has changed.
"Find
fairy-tale characters " .
Goal: Consolidating knowledge of fairy tales and fairy-tale characters. Development of speech, memory, attention, thinking.
IOption:
Material: Figures of fairy-tale characters, fairy tale plots.
Progress of the game:
The teacher hands out figurines or rubber toys of fairy-tale characters to the children. Scenes from various fairy tales are laid out on the tables. At the teacher’s command, children assign their own fairy-tale hero to each story.
Option II.
Material: large cards depicting the plot of a fairy tale; small cards depicting fairy tale characters.
Progress of the game:
The game is played on the lotto principle. The children are dealt large cards. The presenter shows small cards. Children who have a hero from a fairy tale depicted on a large card name the hero and take him for themselves. The first one to fill out his card wins.
"Guess the word".
(for those who know the letters)
Goal: consolidation of the first sound in a word, consolidation of knowledge about fairy-tale characters, development of the ZKR, thinking, memory, attention.
Material: double-sided cards: on one side there is a letter, on the other side there is an image of a fairy-tale character whose name begins with this letter.
Progress of the game:
IOption:
The teacher shows a picture of a fairy-tale character. The child pronounces the name and selects the first sound. The teacher turns over the card.
II option:
The teacher lays out the word from the cards with the pictures facing up. The child pronounces the name of each picture, highlighting the first sound. The teacher turns the card over with the letter facing up, and the child adds (reads) the hidden word.
TIPS FOR PARENTS
With the right approach, using fairy tales you can solve the following problems:
- laziness;
- sloppiness;
- deception;
- aggression;
- reluctance to go to kindergarten.
In case of serious phobias or the appearance of a new family member, it is better to seek the help of a professional.
Let's look at how a mother can use elements of fairy tale therapy at home for her preschooler. Often, it is not enough for a child to simply listen to the text of a fairy tale. It is important that his parents discuss it with him and help him understand the lessons that the plot and characters provide.
By reflecting with your son or daughter on each fairy tale you read, you can form a so-called “bank of life situations” - that is, what you can and cannot do in various cases. The more often such discussions occur, the faster the child will gain the necessary life experience. In this way, the parents will prepare him for an independent future life and help him form a value system.
If a child asks his mother to tell the same fairy tale several times, the request should be fulfilled, since she speaks of the importance of this story for the baby.
WHICH TALES TO CHOOSE?
Let's look at examples of fairy tales and requirements for them. For preschoolers and children 7 years old, the following options are suitable:
- household (“Ryaba Chicken”, “Kolobok”, “Porridge from an Axe”);
- magical (“Morozko”, “Puss in Boots”);
- heroic (“Dobrynya and the Serpent”, “Ilya Muromets”);
- instructive (“The Fox and the Crane”, “Goldfish”).
These can be both oral folk and original works. The main thing is that they meet the following requirements:
- The characters were understandable and interesting to children. An excellent option if the actor is a peer. Age specifics should also be taken into account: for 2-3 years old, animal heroes are preferable; at 4 years old, an element of magic should be introduced; at 5 years old, fairy tales already become the main ones.
- Characters should be clearly divided into positive and negative. Due to their age, it is still difficult for children to judge that an honest and kind person in certain circumstances does not always act well. Therefore, everything in the selected material should be accessible and unambiguous.
- The text itself should be chosen that is interesting to the child, close to him in subject matter and hobbies.
- The topic must be relevant. The lesson is conducted for a specific purpose, to solve some problem of the child (aggression, shyness, phobias), the material must be selected in such a way as to highlight these aspects.
- Availability of interchange. The problem must be solved, since this is the only way the child will receive a specific algorithm of action.
If she has imagination, mom can write a fairy tale herself, but you can use ready-made works by psychologists.
LESSON STRUCTURE
When conducting a fairytale therapy class, the following elements must be present:
- An immersion ritual that helps create the necessary mood. This could be listening to a cheerful tune that your child loves.
- Getting to know the text. It is advisable for the mother to tell a fairy tale; if this is not possible, expressive reading or listening to an audio recording with professional speakers is acceptable.
- Discussion. A conversation about what has been heard, allowing you to understand the lesson of the text, evaluate the actions of the characters, and identify the cause-and-effect relationship “action-consequence”.
- Art therapeutic element. Drawing heroes, creating a fairy-tale world in a sandbox. It is best to use a child's favorite activity.
- Exit ritual. Close your eyes, count out loud to three and leave the fairy-tale world, find yourself in the real one.
- Summarizing. A short summary of what was learned in class. At this stage, it is very important to avoid the use of moralizing by an adult, imposing the “correct position”.
The structure is not mandatory; you can modify it if desired. Such classes can be conducted both individually and in group form.
SOLVING SPECIFIC PROBLEMS
Let's consider how a mother can use fairy tale therapy to solve a number of important problems in the upbringing and development of a child.
| Problem | A fairy tale aimed at solving it |
| Eating whims, refusal of healthy foods | A fairy tale from the perspective of vegetables who talk about their own benefits. You can also include here a monologue of candy, which will appear as a negative character and talk about the harm it brings. |
| Sloppyness, the child does not see the point in order and does not want to keep his things clean | A fairy tale about a country of slobs, whose inhabitants do not maintain cleanliness and order. This leads to problems and difficulties (they cannot find the right thing at a crucial moment, the necessary magic item turns out to be broken or dirty). |
| The child is aggressive and often hits younger children for no reason. | A fairy tale about a bear cub, who wanted to show everyone that he was big and strong, offended other animals. As a result, no one became friends with him. One day he came to the aid of the little bunny and realized that his strength should be used for good, helping the weak. |
| The child is unsure of himself, timid, and is considered physically weak | The fairy tale “The Oak and the Blade of Grass” will help: in the clearing there grew a mighty oak tree and a thin blade of grass, which even the smallest gust of wind pressed to the ground. The oak tree laughed all the time at the weak blade of grass, but it grew, not paying attention to the ridicule. One day a hurricane passed through, so powerful that it uprooted an oak tree, and a blade of grass, although bent to the ground, was not damaged. |
The second option for working with fairy tales is texts dedicated to a specific child. As a rule, children are very interested in hearing about themselves. In such fairy tales, the baby is endowed with certain character traits that the parent wants to instill in him. For example, if a baby categorically refuses to go to bed in the dark, in the plot of the fairy tale he should appear as a brave hero who is not afraid of the night.
Fairytale therapy is a gentle method of psychotherapy that allows you to solve serious problems in a gentle manner. It is available for use at home. The main difficulty is the correct choice of material. This issue should be approached responsibly; if desired, you can compose a fairy tale yourself. This method is ideal for children, since the work is carried out on material accessible to preschool age, which, however, does not reduce its effectiveness.
