The Grimm Brothers *Activities and Crafts* To-Go Bag

So many classic fairy tales can be attributed to the Grimm Brothers which was a factor in choosing them as a weekly focus for our to-go craft bags during the Summer Reading Program. I used Pinterest would be flooded with crafts and such for the Brothers. And there were! For a younger age range then I was searching for. My focus was for tweens, so approximately ages 9-12.

If I were to go back in time, I would have made a few changes which I'll make notes of for yall! Alright, here's what I was able to round up...

Rapunzel's Tower STEM Activity

Let's start off with this giant failure of an activity. (The importance of testing your crafts and activities beforehand even when making slight changes!!) 

What I was expecting was something like this beautiful, intricate structure from Amy at The Idea Room. What I got was no where close.

The premise of this idea was to use the toothpicks and play-doh to construct the tower. In this ziplock bag were the toothpicks, play-doh and a yellow yarn braid. Once it was tall enough, attach the yellow braid to the play-doh container (snap it underneath the lid) and set it on top of the tower. This was supposed to be Rapunzel.

The goal was to have your tower able to support the weight of Rapunzel and be tall enough so that the braid just skimmed the table surface.

We've built things like this at the library so I didn't even think twice before adding this activity to the Grimm Brothers bag. During previous times, we've used toothpicks + marshmallows and spaghetti noodles + marshmallows before with success. 

To be safe during Covid, instead of marshmallows, we included a little packet of play-doh to use for connecting the joints. Unbeknownst to me, the play-doh was not strong enough to support the structure. 

Use the concept! ... Just don't use play-doh...

Rumpelstiltskin Weaving Craft

Rumpelstiltskin was known for spinning straw into gold and in this craft, we spun yarn into a bracelet. These are called "Jellyfish Bracelets" and complete instructions on how to make them can be found here, by The Crafting Chicks.

This craft was prepped to the point where kids just had to start weaving their bracelet. 
Set up was to cut 7 identical strings of yarn and tie them together at the top and to cut out cardboard circles. These were about a 3 inch diameter.
If using yarn, be aware that the woven result will be a good bit shorter than you'd think.

For example, you can see that my test bracelet is only 5 inches tall. That was done with strips roughly 10 inches long!

I don't recall what length strings were actually used.

However, if the end product is too small as a bracelet, it makes a good bookmark.





Additional Things...
Some other things that were included in the bags or suggests for kids to do at home included...

Baking Challenge
The Baking Challenge was based on the witches cabin in Hansel and Gretel. The prompt was to construct a gingerbread house that can be either from scratch or with pre-packaged items such as graham crackers and candy.

In some versions of the story, the witch makes Hansel and Gretel a batch of pancakes with apples and nuts in them on their first night with her. Because the baking challenge for the prior week had been to make pancakes, tweens were encouraged to add different flavorful ingredients to their pancakes.

Hansel and Gretel Maze

Grimm Brothers True or False

As filler information to include on the printables going inside the to-go craft bags, we had a "Facts about the Grimm Brothers" section, suggested reading list and a small space to write down any odd language encountered in your reading.

Unique Words and Language

Because Grimm Fairy Tales were written in the early 1800’s, there are some words in the stories that may not be familiar to you! Such as “marquis”, “whey” or “spindle”. As you read the stories or have them read to you, write down any confusing words here!

Facts about the Grimm Brothers

• The two brothers names were Jakob Ludwig (1785-1863) and Wilhelm Karl (1786-1859).
• During their time, they were known for their work on the German Dictionary, working on it from 1838 until death.
• Grimm Fairy Tales were collected by the brothers, mainly from friends they had in Germany.
• The Brothers collected these stories because they were very worried that very few people could tell the stories accurately. 
• By 1857 they had collected 210 tales. 

--- Facts from World Book Encyclopedia---

Suggested Reading

Grimm Fairy Tale Collections 

Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley

A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

It’s Not About The… series by Veronika Charles

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