ADSactly Folklore: Ideal legends for children

Children are wonderful, eager to learn, in my experience as a primary school teacher I have learnt that strengthening reading in them will awaken their imagination, their creativity and undoubtedly will strengthen their values. Reading is the essential element for learning and for the cognitive development of the child, it must be put into practice from an early age, that is where parents must actively participate.

For younger children it is necessary to make a careful selection of their readings, where there is little text and large images, this will allow the child's attention to focus on the story as the adult develops the reading. Little by little the texts will be longer according to the age.

As I said in the previous chapter, legends constitute the transmission from generation to generation of the cultural wealth of peoples, with much or little proportion of imaginative elements, either orally or in writing, by involving children in this type of history in addition to classic stories, will motivate them to explore and root cultural values and traditions.
Here are some excerpts from these legends:

The Legend of the Sun and Moon

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When the earth was in darkness; when it was always night, the mighty living in the sky gathered together to create the Sun and for there to be light on the Earth. They gathered in a city called "Teotihuacan" which was in the sky, and of which the city of "Teotihuacan" which is in Mexico was like a shadow or a reflection.

"The Sun and the Moon" is a Mexican legend that talks about the creation of the Sun and the Moon, two very important stars, an ancient story that helps stimulate the imagination of the child. The story takes place in the celestial city of "Teotihuacan" where it is said that they lit a huge bonfire and that mighty one who had great courage and was thrown into it would then be The Sun, the star king, there were two candidates, one rich, big, beautiful, who wore luxurious clothes, in addition he offered to his companions gold and other riches and the other on the contrary, poor, small, ugly, with torn clothes, but with good and humble intentions, only that he could offer, his courage was the great surprise because he threw himself to the bonfire to become the sun, while the rich man had repented minutes before.

Then when he saw it turned into a sun, he felt shame and decided to throw himself into the bonfire as well, another sun appeared in the sky, turned into a moon. It is for that reason that you can see the figure of a rabbit on the moon because it was who took away its light. This magical and fantastic story undoubtedly leads to fly the imagination of the little one and create in his mind the events for their descriptive feature.

The Fisherman and the Goddess : Children's legend

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"Phaon" had been moved by his appearance and, forgetting his tiredness, he sailed his boat with an astonishing lightness. Thus, shortly after, they reached the coast of Asia. Once there, Phaon took out of his pocket the largest coin he had and handed it to the beggar so that he could continue the journey. - Thank you, boy. And for you to see my gratitude, take this gift.

It was a glass of the most extraordinary perfume I had ever smelled. And with that mysterious perfume in his hands, "Phaon" was moved and trapped by a force that seemed to intoxicate his heart. And after this, the humble fisherman understood that he had taken Venus herself, the goddess of love, in his boat."

This legend refers to a fisherman who made many trips and for that reason was very resting when suddenly a beggar comes up to him and asks him to take her in his boat. The fisherman took her where she wanted without the woman offering her anything in return. When he arrived at his destination the fisherman had the generosity to give the poor woman the biggest coin he had and she in return gave him a glass of exquisite perfume, the best the man had ever smelled. At the end of the story the fisherman realizes that he had taken Venus, the goddess of love, in his boat.

In the same way this simple and short legend shows values such as solidarity, generosity and simplicity in the characters, reinforcing in the small feelings transparent and full of humility, undoubtedly a very good choice for the selection of readings of the child.

Legend "The inaccessible rock"

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" When one day bad weather knocked down all those pillars that they had created and raised with so much effort, the primitive men were frightened thinking that the mountain had its own life and great powers. However, they never went any further or ever understood the true cause of the collapse, and such was the misunderstanding that, after many, many years, men lost their fear and again challenged and faced the same land."

Particularly one of my favorite legends, since it carries with it a great teaching for the little ones, besides being a text with a great descriptive content that allows us to imagine the landscape where history develops, it brings a reflection about the damage that man has done for millions of years to nature, when he was a primitive man, he wore furs and possessed axes. Although at first primitive man was frightened because he thought that the mountain in the story told had a life of its own because it destroyed what they built, as time went by his incomprehension made him continue to challenge it without fear, and today without skins or axes man continues to strip the earth of everything it possesses. That is why man is considered "the inaccessible rock" for the universe.

Legend of Robin Hood (children's adaptation)

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"Since then Robin Hood practiced every day the archery which was his father's favorite tool, so Robin Hood could free his people from a long life of poverty and death by unnecessary famines. Robin stole from the rich every day and very rarely in the evenings. He doesn't do it more than twice in the same house because he doesn't want his people to live comfortably to the wealth of others so he only steals the necessary amount so that his people can stay alive and of which they are for vegetables, meats and medicines which are very necessary to take care of any wounded that come out."

One cannot fail to mention this wonderful legend, this character of Robin Hood also known as the "prince of thieves", is one of the best known in the legends of Western culture and has inspired various characters, one of them is Ghino di Tacco, Italian hero of the thirteenth century. The written records on Robin Hood have been located since the thirteenth century, obtaining more popularity from the fifteenth century.

The story tells that this marvelous character confronted the rich to defend the poor and took belongings from the wealthiest without them realizing it to give them to those who needed them the most; always accompanied by his green suit, bow and arrows.

There have been many investigations into the character of Robin Hood, many assure that his existence was true, but with other names. It is also said that he was the nephew of a blacksmith who was born around 1290.

It should be noted that in explaining the teaching of the legend to the children, it must be emphasized that the mission of this character was to be able to free his people from the life full of poverty they had had for a long time where even some died of hunger unnecessarily emphasizing the value of generosity and solidarity to those who need it most.

Legend The Trojan Horse

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" A long time ago the first war happened which was the Trojan War. Greeks and Trojans fought over Helena, the most beautiful woman in the world. Helena was Greek, but a Trojan prince fell in love with her and took her to Troy. Some say that the Trojan prince kidnapped her, while others claim that it was Helena who wanted to go to Troy."

The Trojan Horse is a sign of teamwork, of union, to obtain an end or a reward, this emblematic legend focuses on a war for the beautiful Helena, which lasted many years and finally culminated in the construction by the Greeks of a wooden horse to enter Troy and rescue the beautiful lady.

An excellent option in the selection of readings for children are the mythological legends because in addition to showing the foundations of Western culture, also strengthen values such as effort, perseverance, humility, friendship, essential for their education, probably difficult to adapt these stories to children's age, however it is a good strategy for the child to know about history and enjoyment.

A selection of appropriate readings for children will allow, as was said at the beginning, the cognitive development of the same, also develops the ability to concentrate and memory, together with it the child can know the history, customs, traditions, ie enrich their culture according to the type of reading that is provided, their natural curiosity will lead to deepen even more and their creativity to imagine and produce according to their readings, is therefore the responsibility of parents and teachers to stimulate and create a habit of reading in the child considering the best and most suitable according to their need.