Autumn theme - Enchanted Book Fair
Traditional tales of far away lands, populated by princesses, knights and dragons, captivate the imaginations of children of all ages. From the nursery stories of Sleeping Beauty to the epic Lord of the Rings, we all love to be lured into fantasy worlds. Use our enchanted theme for your Book Fair and help everyone to discover a world of spellbinding tales!
The build up to your Book Fair
Creating a display to announce the arrival of your Book Fair will spark everyone's interest. Find a space in a very public place where everyone is sure to see it. Use appropriate books from the library or classrooms and build up an enchanted display around them. Perhaps it could be a large outline of a castle with turrets. Invite children to add to the display - you'll soon have plenty of princess hats, knights armour and toy characters (make sure they are labelled with child's name and class).
Fun competition ideas!
Before your Book Fair:
Run a competition to create the best knights shield or princess hat. Log in to your Organiser Toolkit and you'll find downloadable templates for shields, princess hats and much more
During your Book Fair:
A dressing up day is a must for this theme. Encourage all the Book Fair helpers to dress up in character every day of the Book Fair. Send the dressed up helpers out onto the playground when parents are arriving to collect their children from school to encourage them to come in and discover a world of spellbinding tales!
Competition Prizes
Don't forget you can take £25 of books from your Book Fair to use as competition prizes.
Decorating your Book Fair
Create the feeling that you are walking into an enchanted forest with entrances turned into trees. Brown tree trunks made of cardboard can be put on the doorways with green leaves hanging from the top of the door. Change your walls into castles - either medieval ones for knights or ethereal turreted ones for princesses. One area could become a dark dragon's cave or perhaps infant classes could create a large, fiery red, collage dragon. Hang magical creatures from your ceiling, find helpful templates and more in your Organiser Toolkit
Conjour up an atmosphere
Background music can really help to set the scene. Atmospheric music that creates a feeling of suspense or wonder would work perfectly for an enchanted theme. Try Dvorak's Brave New World or Symphony of Enchanted Lands II by Rhapsody (an Italian epic metal band: 'Listening to their albums will instantly conjure up visions of vast fantasy landscapes, peopled by all manner of creatures, pleasant and wicked and degrees in between, moving in accord to the dramatic and very filmic music').
Back in the classroom
Creative writing
The enchanted theme offers many opportunities for creative writing. But before you start any writing activities, give the children lots of opportunities to read and talk about traditional tales, fairy tales and even films you may have seen. The latest Shrek film is bound to be mentioned!
Story starters
Offer the children some story starters.
Imagine yourself in an enchanted forest. What do you see? What do you hear? What can you smell? Who are you? What is that coming through the trees? How do you feel?
The forest cleared and there, by a stream stood a large black horse. On his back sat a Knight ....
Research skills
Encourage the children to find out more about Knights, Princesses or Mythical Creatures, using a range of information sources.
Titles to look out for:
George and the Dragon by Chris Wormell (Red Fox)
Lullabyhullaballoo by Mick Inkpen (Hodder Children's Books)
The Barefoot Book of Knights story book and CD (Barefoot Books)
Knights (Dorling Kindersley Eye Witness Guides)
Knights - Horrible Histories (Scholastic)
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