Fairy Tale Science Experiments

My 6 year old has been learning about Traditional Tales recently, so I’ve put together a collection of fairy tale science experiments that would sit brilliantly alongside this topic. The activities include Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Billy Goats Gruff and more.

I’ve also got 4 easy FREE Fairy Tale STEM Challenge printable instruction sheets available.

Fairy Tale Science Experiments

Three Billy Goats Gruff Activities

Make a raft for the Billy Goats  Gruff so they don’t need to cross the bridge. We used lolly sticks to make a basic raft shape and added corks to the bottom of one, then tested to see if the rafts could support the weight of PlayMobil goats without sinking.

Can you build bridges using different materials and see which is the strongest too?

Jack and the Beanstalk Science Experiments

Build a zip wire to help Jack down the beanstalk, what happens if you change the gradient?

After investigating how changing the gradient of the zip wire changes the speed Jack travels down it, experiment with different types of harness and different types of string for the zip wire.

A thicker, rougher string should mean Jack travels more slowly down the wire as there’s more friction than when using a smooth wire.

Can you grow a bean in a jar? How tall will it grow without needing some kind of support?

How about planting a bean and growing a beanstalk for Jack?

What happens if you grow a bean in the dark? This is a great plant science investigation to run over a period of days or weeks.

Make your own recycled beanstalk

Can you make a beanstalk with cardboard tubes or other recycled materials? Measure how tall it is once you’re finished!

Goldilocks and the Three Bears Activities

For little ones ask children to order bowls, beds and chairs in order of size, one for each bear.

For older children you could monitor the rate heat is lost from three different sized bowls of porridge using a food thermometer, Inspiration Laboratories has a great post on this.

We love this wooden spoon craft from Red Ted Art as well.

The Princess and the Pea

Make a mattress with different materials so the Princess can’t feel the pea.

Cinderella Activities

Try some weighing and measuring with pumpkins.

Play an ordering game with shoes. Order by size of shoe, then size of heel. You could even sort by the type of material the shoes are made from.

Hansel and Gretel Activities

Can you build a house made from sweets? Which type of sweet gives the most stable shape?

Or, how about making a gingerbread house? You could test different types of icing to see which sticks the best.

Peter Pan Activities

Can you fly tinkerbell down a zip wire?

Learn about changes of state with these lovely melted bead fairy wands from The Artful Parent.

The Little Mermaid Activities

Do you remember Ariel’s treasure cave? Can you practice sorting toys depending on the material they’re made from?

Make some fun under the sea play dough like The imagination Tree.

The Princess and the Frog

Learn about frog spawn and tadpoles with Rainy Day Mum.

The Three Little Pigs Experiments

Test a stick, straw and brick roof to see which is the most windproof, we used the squeezy bottle to act like wind and placed tissue paper inside the house so we could see if the ‘wind’ reached it.

Red Ted Art has this brilliant three little pigs craft activity. Can you try to make the house from different materials to see which is the most stable?

Build house for the three little pigs using sweets and straws, which sweets work the best?

How about a version of this waterproof experiment where you blow with a straw instead of spraying with water?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

Explore symmetry with mirrors in this fun activity. Can you draw a symmetrical dwarf?

Little Red Riding Hood

Inspire some imaginative play with this gorgeous story box from The Imagination Tree.

The Gingerbread Man

Build a bridge to help The Gingerbread Man across the river. Or if you’d rather build him a raft we’ve got a free Gingerbread Man activity download from Science Sparks the book with lots of fun extension ideas too!

More Fairy Tale Science Experiment Ideas

A pulley for Rapunzel

Leaving messages like Hansel and Gretel

Melting Gingerbread men

How strong is a gingerbread man

Princess potions

Witchy potions

Jack’s Parachute

How to build a strong bean stalk

Icy castles

Do you have any more ideas for fairy tale activities or science experiments for us??

If you didn’t find quite what you were looking for, try one of our many other science experiments for kids, we have 100s!

Last Updated on February 26, 2021 by Emma Vanstone