STEM Fairy Tales

Fairytales Come Alive!

ERASMUS PUBLISHING HOUSE

Fairytales Come Alive!

Long, long ago, maybe it happened yesterday, maybe it happened today, ‌ Thoughts on fairy-tales Certainly, there are lots of reasons to be excited about fairy-tales. They can awaken the child in us. They are downright smart, entertaining, and imaginative. And although these stories might be ancient, yet they still have so much to tell us.

They do this through their simple, but keen and striking wisdom. Fairy-tales tell us about important phases in the lives of heroines and heroes. The protagonists may be a naive and silly homebody, or a beautiful, rich princess, they may be a poor and simple shepherd, or just an innocent girl like Little-Red-RidingHood: In fairy tales, we can identify with these archetypes. This is an imaginative way to deal with different life journeys, with different possibilities of life.

E R A S M U S

P U B L I S H I N G

H O U S E

Dandelion Story

Andre was inspired by a drawing by Leonardo Da Vinci. He knew that jumping with a parachute would only be possible with a lot of courage. Leonardo had had the idea of a parachute from observing a dandelion.

Andre said, “I will build my parachute like this dandelion. It is round and not angular.”

So he began to build and observed dandelion seeds in the wind.

All of Paris knew about his parachute experiment, and because of this he couldn’t quit without disgracing himself.

He climbed nervously into the hot air balloon and said to himself, “It does not matter if it’s 40 meters or 400. Either it works or I will be dead. So let’s do it.”

He strapped the parachute around himself, climbed out of the basket of the hot air balloon, took a deep breath, and jumped. At first he had his eyes closed. He felt how he was being sucked downward, but suddenly he felt a jolt. The parachute had opened. It actually held him, but what was with that rocking motion? In spite of a strong feeling of dizziness, he reached the ground safe and sound.

The people around him cheered for him. – other kids

Many years later his friend discovered the reason for the strong rocking of the parachutes.

The reason for this was that there wasn`t a small hole in the middle of the parachute, so the air streamed over the edge of the parachute and caused the dangerous movements. So Andre cut a hole in the middle of the parachute and the parachute flew perfectly..

The lost princess Key words: PRINCESS, LAD, FAIRY, WATER, SUGAR, INK, TO LOOK FOR, TO TALK, TO GET LOST, TO FREE

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom. In that kingdom a princess lived. She was pure as a crystal clear water, nice and calm as a water line, sweeter than the sweetest sugar and her eyes were bluer than the bluest ink. She enjoyed walking by the lake, watching the water line, listening to the sounds of water, birds, trees and grass, which were growing by the lake.

A dashing lad enjoyed walking there as well and he was often watching the princess. One day he adventured and timidly joined the princess. They started to talk. Later they found out that they really understand each other. Every day they were looking forward to meeting each other and these moments were precious to them.

However, one day the princess was not here. The lad went to the kingdom to find out what happened and he truly did. The princess was lost. The king said that whoever would find the princess could marry her. The lad stared to look for her straight away. He went to the lake to think about where he could start. While he was sitting there and thinking, a magic fairy appeared in front of him and said, ”Go to the forest and search for the things which describe the princess. Then come back to the lake.” ,,which describe the princess,” thought the lad. ”Yes! Princess is as pure as crystal clear water, nice and calm as a water line, sweeter than the sweetest sugar and her eyes are bluer than the bluest ink.” And so he went to the forest to look for the things which describe the princess.

Now you kids, go and look for things like that. If you find such things, bring them to us. Together we will try to save the princess.

Kids find the things, bring them to students, and the fairy says, ”you must use these things in order to get the princess from the lake.”

Kids with students together find approach how to free the princess.

Scientific explanation: We saw how the dissolvability works. The sugar gradually dissolves itself in the water and the ink helps us to see how the dissolving progresses from the centre of the plate to the edge.

The Mysterious Cave Key words: kittens, mice, wolves, deer, bears, elephants, tomcat, door, cave, postcard, magic wand, wave, a hole, sorrow, joy

Once upon a time, there was a land called Animalia. It was home to naughty kittens. They didn’t want to catch mice, they would have preferred to be their friends instead. This was all too much for the old tomcat, who decided that he would punish the little kittens: “So you kittens don’t like the taste of being a cat, I will show you! Try to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes! Take a stroll through the enchanted cave!”

The moment he finished talking, the kittens appeared in a magical cave. First, they walked calmly through the cave, even having fun at times. This was nothing but a grand adventure after all. They walked on and on until they reached the first door. They passed through the first door, without difficulty. But suddenly the tomcat waved his wand and turned the kittens into wolves! As the wolves came upon the second door, they tried to pass through it.

While difficult at first, they managed to pull through without any more problems. They were a bit scared though: “How strange it is, wearing a wolf’s skin,” they remarked, but decided to carry on deeper into the cave. That was when the tomcat waved his magic wand again and turned our kitten-wolves into deer. They stumbled on their new hoofs forward, into the cave.

They moved slowly and felt awkward on their new legs, but eventually they made it to another door. Again, the crossing was slightly more difficult than the last one had been. The kitten-deer were scared which animal would they get transformed into next. Once again, with a wave of a wand the tomcat transformed the deer into bears! The kittens struggled onward, their heavy fur weighting them down. “We should have never complained,” cried the kittens, “we should have stayed cats, this will go on forever! What will become of us?” That was when the tomcat waved his wand for the last time and laughed: “Now you will become elephants! Ha, ha, ha! Unless you manage to squeeze your elephant selves through the hole in this postcard you will never be cats again!”

The kitten-elephants were delighted that there still was a chance to be normal once again and started to think about how they were going to squeeze through that tiny, miniscule hole.

(The students help – what kind of a hole could it be, they give advice on how to cut the hole – all the elephants get through and turn into kittens, free once again.)

Scientific explanation: Man can manage even the impossible. This was one example: even though the elephants are larger than the hole, they can expand it and change it so that they can get through.edge.

The Stone Land

Key words: stone to turn to stone, saviors, witch, music, to walk, residence, balance, center of mass

Once upon a time there was a land, in which people lived happily. The woods were full of animals, rivers full of fish, the trees were green, stretching their branches up to the blue sky. But then one day, everything changed. The life seemed to suddenly stop, everything turned to stone. What happened?

The land was cursed by an evil witch, envious of the happiness that filled the lives of people living in the land. Only brave saviors can free them, but it is not that simple. Try it, children. You have to find the witch´s house and accomplish the magical tasks she prepared for you. But it is not easy to get into the woods, because you can only walk with the sound music. When the music is not playing, you have to stop and stand still.

Follow the signs, which will lead you to the witch.

(The children reach the house through a path with obstacles) “So you dare to solve my serious balance tasks? If you succeed, the life in this land will continue. But if not, you will turn to stone!”

1. task: I want to build a summer residence on a rock and I want it to stand partially on the rock and to be partially in the air. (The children will balance the house with Lego figures, cubes…)

2. task: balance my beloved cat with treasures from my magical chest 3. task: at least one of you must find their center of mass The children are solving the tasks, free the land and watch an interesting experiment about mass centers as their prize.

Scientific explanation Every object has a center of mass, which can be either located within the object or outside of its physical body.

The Traveller’s Mystery Key words: Travellers, balloon, inflate the balloon, liquid, cooking soda, bottle, a trip around the world

Once upon a time, in a faraway land there were three friends. Their friendship was very strong, they always helped each other out through hard or easy days. They all had common interests and most off all, they liked travelling. They had seen a big part of the world already.

One day, they were preparing for a balloon voyage around the world. They prepared everything, all that was left, was to inflate the balloon and get going. Our experienced adventurers had a simple trick how to do it. They just needed a bit of cooking soda, a bit of special liquid and the vehicle would inflate itself. However, the travellers were tired, they should rest before their journey, but the balloon needed to be ready to go until the morning!

Because of their exhaustion they forgot which liquid was the special substance! They had three different types, but which was the right one? They tried to remember, but their tiredness got the best of them. They went out like a light.

What now? Can you help the travellers? What kinds of liquids do they have? Which one inflates the balloon?

The kids are trying and they find the right liquid to inflate the balloon. The thankful travellers can start their journey the next day. Â Scientific explanation When you combine vinegar and cooking soda, carbon dioxide is created and because the balloon sits on a bowl with soda, it gets inflated.

The Volcanic Land Key words: Volcanic land, volcano, ash, animal, explorers, expedition, night, elves, to cook the dinner, to feast, salt, sugar, ethanol, fire, mouthwash, spitting out

The kids are doing jigsaw puzzles and are finding out what the composition of the air is. As a reward, the students tell them a fairy tale about a mysterious animal, in which one of the components of air– carbon dioxide plays a big role.

In a volcanic land far far away, where the volcanos were not yet ready to go to sleep, strange things were happening. There were stories being told, that every night a strange animal crawled out of the volcanic ash.

A group of explorers from the local university decided to organize an expedition with a goal to find out what was really happening.

They made their way right towards the volcano, where they set up a camp. As they were walking during a peaceful night, they saw a group of little elves. The elves were happily feasting, cooking themselves a dinner on an open fire. As they were cooking you could see a bit of salt flying here and there, and a bit of sugar laying somewhere else. They had been feasting and feasting and when they were completely full, they went napping by the fire. After a good dinner they had to keep a good hygiene so they used mouthwash with ethanol to clean their mouth. They were spitting it out when suddenly an animal started to crawl out of the volcanic land. The explorers could not believe their eyes.

Guys, come check out what is happening and what the animal crawling out of ash is.

What do you think, which animal is it?

Scientific explanation: With heat sugar changes to caramel and it hardens on air. Carbon dioxide and water vapour are created during burning. Carbon dioxide then expands the caramel which creates a foamy snake which slowly grows..

Velcro fastener This is Georges de Mestral. He lives in Switzerland. Ever since he was a child, he has been very curious and full of the urge to discover. When he was 12 years old he built a plane which was covered with fabric. He patented his plane, which means that nobody is allowed to copy his idea without his permission.

After he finished school he worked in an office. In his spare time he often went for walks with his dog through the forest and hunted there. On such walks, burs got stuck on his clothes and the fur of his dog. These were often difficult to remove.

When he was hunting again in 1941, more burs than ever were stuck to his clothes and the dog’s fur. Angrily he started to remove the burs again.

“These stupid burs”– Georges de Mestral, he growled to himself. Before he threw them away he had an idea. “No, I am not gonna throw the burs away, I want to look at those spikes under the microscope,” – Georges de Mestral he said, and went into his workroom.

Georges grabbed a bur and placed it carefully under the microscope. He looked at it a long time, turned it this way and that, shook his head, replaced it with a second bur, stared into his microscope again, and shook his head again. He continued in this manner until he had looked at all the burs. He said to his dog, “Can you believe that these are not spikes at all, but rather barbs that look like crochet needles, and they move?” – Georges de Mestral On the next day he went into the forest again and collected burs in a bag.

He soon realized that these hedgehog-like balls stuck to clothes so well because the flexible hooks would catch in fur or in the weave of a fabric.

“This plant is a genius,” – Georges de Mestral he muttered. “It is using me to transport its seeds. I carried the seeds far away and now the plant can reproduce.” – Georges de Mestral He was very pleased by this discovery and he tried to figure out a way to create a strap with little hooks and loops. “If I put the two straps together, they should stick to each other, right?” – Georges de Mestral he asked his dog, who still thought that the burs were annoying.

He developed a strap and it worked really well. From then on it was easy to connect and separate two pieces of fabric without damaging them.

As time went, on Georges discovered that two different strips, one with hooks and the other with loops, held together even better. He named it “Velcro” and patented it for ten years. He founded the company “Velcro Industries” to produce his invention. In 1959 the first Velcro fasteners came onto the market.

Today their headquarters are in Manchester in the USA and about 3,000 employees from all over the whole world work there.

We often use Velcro fasteners in our daily lives, for example to close shoes or on backpacks.

Velcro fasteners are even used in space travel. Astronauts “stick” their tools to themselves and thereby always have them handy.

It’s amazing what nature has invented, don’t you think?

Leonardo Fibonacci- Discover the Magic of Numbers This is Leonardo Fibonacci. He has just returned to Pisa from a trip to Syria. There he began writing his book and is still fascinated by the new numbers that he discovered in the Arabian world. One day he was taking a short break and sat down under a tree.

He was enjoying the setting sun when he heard a voice behind him say, „Hey Leonardo! “It was his neighbor, who was smiling devilishly at him.

His neighbor continued, „You´re such a great mathematician. I just bought two rabbits and they should have a lot of babies as quickly as possible.

Can you figure out about how many rabbits I´ll have in a year? “ Fibonacci was bugged by the question and his neighbor´s dumb grin. What kind of a task was this? That´s exactly what he wanted to tell his neighbor, but then he imagined both rabbits and, in his head, numbers began to take shape.

He stood up, looked at his neighbor, and said, „I´ll let you know tomorrow. “ Then he disappeared into his house. The neighbor stood dumbfounded- he hadn´t meant the question seriously, he had just wanted to annoy his neighbor. He shrugged his shoulders and went to see his rabbits.

Fibonacci couldn´t write another line in his book because his thoughts were focused on the rabbits. „It has to be possible to figure this out mathematically, “he kept saying to himself.

He wanted to solve this problem with the new number system he had learned about in Syria. First, he had to set some conditions.

“A pair of rabbits can´t have babies immediately. First, they have to grow up and then they can have babies, “was his first conclusion.

Then he began drawing and saying out loud to himself, “A rabbit couple won´t have any babies in the first month, but in the second month they´ll have two babies. I ´m always going to assume two babies. In the third month they´ll have babies again, but the babies have to grow up before they can have babies. In the fourth month the old rabbit couple will have babies again, the first babies will have babies too, but the very young ones have to grow for a month, and so on. Now I´ll add numbers to my drawing. One pair stays one pair, so 1-1.

“In the coming month they have babies, so then I have two pairs, 1-1-2.

“The next month the first couple has babies again, but the second pair doesn´t, so have three pairs, 1-1-2-3.

“The next month: the old couple has babies, the second pair and the youngest pair still have to grow, so we have five pairs. 1-1-2-3-5.”

Fibonacci continued counting, drawing, and calculating, and discovered a mathematical numerical sequence that is now known as the Fibonacci numbers. This sequence is as follows: Every new number is made by adding the last two numbers together: 1+1=2 1+2=3 2+3=5 3+5=8 5+8=13 8+13=21 13+21=34 …

But Fibonacci didn´t stop with rabbit pairs, he began looking around in nature for the legitimacy of his number sequence and quickly found something.

The leaves or fruits of plants often create spiral shapes. The number of spirals are usually Fibonacci numbers- the seeds of a pine cone or a sunflower are arranged in a spiral, one spiral goes to the right, the other to the left. The number of seeds in the spirals are always neighboring Fibonacci numbers.

The Fibonacci numbers describe a growth pattern in nature.

If you divide two neighboring Fibonacci numbers, then the result is always a specific number that is known as the “golden ratio.” This ratio deals proportions that are pleasing to the eye. These calculations are not only important for creating beautiful constructions, but also for advertising and photography.

“The Lotus Flower“ ThThis is Wilhelm Barthlott. He is 30 years old and works as a botanist. Once on a rainy day, he was walking through his garden and lamenting, “Oh no, my shoes and my jacket are covered in dirt again!“ - Wilhelm Some flowers and fruits were also dirty. Then he noticed something. His lotus flowers looked like they had been freshly washed. The following days the weather didn`t change much, and Barthlott checked on his flowers every single day. Every time he passed by the lotus flowers, he was amazed by how clean they were.

“I have to take a closer look.“ - Wilhelm He plucked a leaf and a blossom from the plant to put them under the microscope. Through the microscope he noticed some tiny little “wax crystals“ on the surface of the leaf. The crystals were the reason that the surface of the flower was rough and bumpy. The little bumps allowed the dirt particles to have minimal contact with the leaf.

Wilhelm often spoke to his friend Christoph Neinhuis. He was also very excited about the abilities of the flower. Together they discovered that there were other plants that had the same characteristics as the lotus flower and that were native to their area, like for example the nasturtium, red cabbage, and kohlrabi.

One day Wilhelm excitedly told his friend, “You won`t believe what I found out. The leaves don’t only shed water, it gets better than that. Dirt and dust particles also lie on the nubs and then the water takes those particles with it. That way the leaf and the blossom don’t only stay dry, but also clean.“ - Wilhelm The two friends continued to experiment and allowed water, dye, and even glue to flow over the leaves, but nothing stuck. Then they put flour on the leaves and individual water droplets sucked up the flour and ran off, leaving the leaves clean as a whistle.

The lotus leaf has bumps on its surface that are covered in tiny wax balls. These prevent contact with the water droplets. Even dirt particles can’t get a good grip, so they get washed away by raindrops. That’s how self-cleaning works in nature. The lotus plant has to prevent its leaves from getting dirty because it needs lots of sunlight to grow its giant blossoms.

“We can make something incredible with this, “ - Christoph both researchers agreed.

But what could that be? - Christoph The facades of houses, cars that would never get dirty, clean windows, clean clothes, and much more!

The scientists succeeded in reconstructing the raw microstructure on synthetic surfaces. Today, the lotus effect has many uses: there are outdoor paints that allow water and dirt to bead and run off, and silicone wax that can be sprayed onto different materials, like awnings, roof tiles, or sensors for toll systems. The lotus effect is especially suitable for surfaces that are constantly exposed to wind and weather.

Today scientists are trying to find further uses for the lotus effect, with possibilities including selfcleaning car paint and window panes. It would no longer be necessary to clean those things. However, this visionary idea hasn’t yet become reality, partially because surfaces with the lotus effect automatically become matte. That’s not a very good selling point in the automobile industry.

Research is also being done on sealing airplanes with a lotus effect surface. Then water droplets and ice crystals wouldn’t be able to form on wings or the fuselage. De-icing in winter would no longer be necessary.

However, the coated surface isn’t stable enough for high speeds yet. The surface structure would be immediately destroyed.

Magic Water Key words: girl, Spice-Granny, dream, help, skills, magic potion, Mr. Know-itall, hard task, magic power, upside down box

Once upon a time there was one girl called Lucy, who dreamed about helping people by using medicinal herbs and spices. Near the town where she lived, there lived a well-known Spice-Granny and the girl dreamed about learning her mystery. One day she decided to visit Spice-Granny and told her about the dream. Spice-Granny listened to Lucy and offered her help. But first Lucy had to show her skills and get through every hard task. ” You have to bring the magic potion to Mr. Know-it-all till midnight. The problem is that you have to carry magic potion in the upside down box otherwise it will lose its magic power. And, of course, the potion mustn’t spill.”

Lucy bothered about the task for a couple of hours, but finally she was successful and right at 5 to 12 o´clock Mr. Know-it-all drank up the magic potion.

And now it depends on you, dear children, to solve it too.

(Children will try it, students will explain and show how to do it)

Scientific explanation: The liquid won´t flow out from the upside down box because there will be created tension on surface in the meeting point of the liquid and solid substance.

(By turning the glass upside down the tension on surface will stop the water to come through the gauze and will hold it in the glass.).

Octopus This is Hermann Oberth. Ever since he was a child, his dream has been to explore the moon. He had an idea. He thought that maybe he could fly to the moon by being shot out of a cannon. He did a lot of research and discovered that nobody would survive this. He came to the conclusion that the only way to reach the moon would be by rocket. -teller Hermann grew up and studied to become a doctor like his dad, but he never stopped dreaming of flying to the moon. - teller

A few years later, Hermann made a visit to an aquarium with his daughter Lisa. teller „I am so excited to see all those fish, Daddy!“ - Girl At the aquarium Lisa went immediately to the squid, which was using its suction cups to crawl along the glass. – teller „Look Daddy, there’s my friend Alex from nursery school.“ – Girl As Lisa was talking, Alex ran over to the squid. The squid got scared and swam away. - teller „What on earth? How fast are they?“ – Hermann „Hahaha!“ – Girl Lisa was also fascinated. - teller „Let´s sit down, kids, and wait till the squid comes back!“ - Hermann When the squid came back, Hermann knocked on the glass of the aquarium. teller „Cool! Did you see that? The squid drew himself together and blew water out of that pipe on his side. And then he was gone again.“ - Alex „That’s it! That´s how a rocket should start in order to fly to the moon!“ Hermann Hermann immediately called his friend and asked him about the life of squids.

He wanted to know how they could swim so fast. His friend explained to him that squids collect water under their mantles and expel that water out of the funnel in their sides. That shoots them away in the opposite direction. „Now I have to find a kind of fuel that can propel my rocket out of the earth's atmosphere. As fast as a squid swims!“ – Hermann

From the Poppy to the Saltshaker This is France. Already as a young boy he was interested in nature and science. As he got older Raoul Heinrich France worked in an institution for the protection of plants in Hungary.

There he had the task of protecting plants from pests by spreading microorganisms evenly on them. But every distribution method he used didn’t distribute the microorganisms evenly enough. Because he wasn’t satisfied with the results, he often looked at the natural world.

Because nothing he had tried would work, he was sad and went for a walk. He kept stopping to watch the birds and animals which where crawling around in the fields. He even took a closer look at the ants, but he couldn’t figure out a solution to his problem.

“Oh no ,“ he thought, ”how can I continue?“ – Raoul Heinrich France He was walking past a poppy field. The petals had already fallen off and the naked stalks stretched their poppy capsules into the air. France sat down in the poppy field and watched the poppy capsules swaying in the breeze. Suddenly the wind blew stronger and the stalks waved back and forth harder – “What was that?“ France couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Seeds were blown out of the side of the poppy capsules and then spread across the ground.

He picked a capsule. He noticed holes in the side of the capsule“, he thought.

He picked more of them and ran home.

France experimented the whole night with the poppy capsules and tried to develop a similar spreading device.

Every poppy capsule is filled with many seeds. When the poppy capsule gets blown by the wind, the seeds fall through the openings on the top edge and fall evenly onto the ground.

Finally France had figured out how to “vaccinate” the ground evenly.

After this long day of work, France sat down at the table and wanted to eat. His wife brought him fried eggs, bread and water.

“Enjoy your meal”, his wife said. . France tried to put salt on the food with his fingers. But when he tasted a piece he shouted, “Yuck! I got too much salt! One part of the eggs tastes completely over salted and the other part doesn’t taste good because there’s not enough salt on it.”

Then he remembered the poppy capsules. All night he drew sketches of a shaker which would use the principles of the poppy capsules to distribute salt evenly on food. The shaker was never produced, but the drawing was published in his book “The Plant as Inventor” about 100 years ago.

The invention was not suitable as a salt shaker because it didn’t distribute evenly.

Safe Father Christmas!

It is just before Christmas, all the children are very excited. They are waiting for

Santa Claus and they count the days and even the minutes to the 25th of December.

Finally they are allowed to open the first door on their Advent Calendar. Only 24 days left and then finally Christmas evening.

Renate and Raphael are waiting eagerly. They have written their letters to the

Northpole a long time ago and look contentedly on six open doors on their Advent calendar, as Renate sees the first snowflakes falling from the sky.

"The first snow!" she shouts out loud. As fast as they can, they put on their warm

clothes and run out. They catch the first snowflakes with their tongue, they run and have much fun in the snow..

"Renate, Raphael, dinner is ready!" they hear their mother call.

"It's so nice here, I do not want to go in yet", says Renate defiantly and Raphael also has no desire to go into the house. He says: „Come on, we'll hide in the tree house, where we can stay for a while and watch the snowflakes. "Very quietly they sit there and hardly dare to breathe so that their mother does not discover them.

They see something approaching and do not trust their eyes. These are two goblins.

Both of them go to the tree where Renate and Raphael sit in the tree house. They

make a rest under this tree and start talking. They talk quietly, but still Renate and Raphael can understand every word.

Goblin 1: Do you really believe that nobody will find Santa Claus?

Goblin 2: He is in Castle „Scarygreen“ and this castle is a very safe hiding place.

Three doors have to be opened to get into the dungeon and with each door exactly 21 children (you take the number of children in your class) have to solve a difficult puzzle. Children are not so smart, they never would check them!

Goblin 1: Well I'm not sure, some children are clever and might solve the puzzles.

What happens if they pass the challenges?

Goblin 2: Each child receives a key for each solved puzzle. Only with all the keys together they can open the box into which Santa Claus is locked up.

First of all, all children have to solve all three puzzles and collect a total of 63 keys.

Then they can exchange all the keys and they will receive the key to open Santa Claus' prison. I do not think the kids will exchange their valuable keys.

Goblin 1: Yes, you are right, they are children, they probably can not solve the puzzles anyway, and if they do, they will not exchange their keys so easily.

Goblin 2: Yes, and people have to pay us a lot of money to release Santa Claus. Ha, ha, ha! Soon we will be rich!

Safe Father Christmas!

The goblins continue their walk slowly and Renate and Raphael are left behind in horror.

Renate whispers: "What should we do? We have to save Santa Claus! " "You're right, but where can we find 21 children who will help us?" asks Raphael.

Renate thinks about that for a moment, then she has an idea: "We have to ask the other children in our class, we are exactly 21 children in the class. If everyone joins in, we can do it! " Raphael nods: "Yes, tomorrow we ask the others, we have to do these three tasks and together we will release Santa Claus!"

The next day, they tell their classmates what they heard from the goblins.

Karin says: "Nonsense, what are you talking about? Who should kidnap Santa Claus? " Martin and some other kids are thinking and discussing the news. The story sounds very strange. Finally, Martin says, "But what if they are right?"

Once again the children talk about this problem, but in the end, everyone agrees: they will save Santa Claus. After school they meet and make their way to the castle „Scarygreen“.

When they arrive at the castle, they see the first heavy door in front of them and behind it the castle. In front of the door are small boxes. The children take one box for two or three children and read the first task: In the box are flowers made of paper. If you all manage to open the petals BUT without touching them with anything, you will find the first key.

Give the children time to solve the task.

All children find the key and open the first door. They go into the castle, pass through a bridge in the inner courtyard, where the second locked door is waiting for them. As in the case of the first door, there is a box, in the box there are matches and three different tasks.

Children look at the task sheet and set the matches as specified in the task. Then they should find the solution.

When everyone has found the solution, open this second door and enter the castle.

They go to the dungeon of the castle, where they find the third locked door and the third task:

Safe Father Christmas!

Here are noodles and marshmallows. You have to build a tower with them and the top should be a marshmallow. Attention, the tower should be at least 25 cm high!

The children build their towers.

They get the third key. This key opens the door to the dungeon, there is a box in the dungeon which is locked.

All keys are counted and the children receive a single huge key to open this box and in that box is Santa Claus.

All children together have managed to save Santa Claus. Santa Claus is very grateful to them and everyone is very happy!

Challenge 1: You need: paper flowers, a cup and water The blossom is closed. Find a way to open it, without touching just one of the petals.

Don’t touch with your fingers, or toes, not even with your nose!

Explanation: The part of the paper that is on the water gets wet and expands. Die petals need more place and so they unfold.

Safe Father Christmas!

Challenge 2 You need: matches or tooth sticks Change one match to get the equation right!

Change one match to get the equation right!!

Take away 5 matches and you should get 3 squares .

Challenge 3: You need noodles, Marshmallows, sticky tape, scissors, ruler

You have Spaghetti, sticky tape and Marshmallows. Build a tower that is at least 25 cm tall. On the top oft he tower should be one Marshmallow!

You have 15 minutes!

This is a challence to show the children balance.

Fairytales Come Alive!

Stories for the young and young at heart.

E R A S M U S

P U B L I S H I N G

H O U S E

Stories for the young and young at heart.

Fairytales Come Alive!

ERASMUS PUBLISHING HOUSE

BY ERASMUS LOMBADA