This story is written as the prince rescuing the princess but definitely feel free to have the princess rescue the prince!
In a time of electronics, it’s hard to tear kiddos away from their computers or other electronics to get moving. Why not turn some physical activity into a “choose your adventure” game to get their imaginations running and their bodies moving?
So imagine: a dragon has kidnapped the princess and taken her to his tower in a faraway land. There’s no one else to save her except the brave knight chosen for this task.
He grabs his horse and gallops out of the princess’ castle! (Have your child gallop like a horse)
As he quickly rides through the forest, there are tree branches in his way. Not wanting to slow down, he ducks under each one as he continues his journey. (Have your child squat down under each “tree branch”)
After a long journey through the forest, he’s reached a river. Unfortunately he doesn’t have a boat, but wait – there’s rocks in the river he can step on to cross! (Use pillows on the floor as rocks for your child to step on and create a path)
What does he see now? There’s a huge field of grass that he must cross in order to reach the tower in the distance. He runs (Have your child run in place) as fast as he can, but he suddenly sees large logs in his way. It’ll take too long to run around them, so he must jump over them! (Have your child jump forward as far as they can multiple times)
In the distance, he sees another river, oh no! Luckily, this one has a bridge to cross so he doesn’t have to cross over the rocks again. (Have your child lie on their back with their knees bent and lift their bottom toward the sky – how long can they hold it for?)
FINALLY, he’s made it to the tower! There’s a huge gate around the entire thing, there’s no way he can climb over it. The only way in is digging a hole and crawling under the gate. (Have your child get on their belly and belly crawl across the floor)
WOW what a journey, he’s finally at the entrance of the tower. All that’s left is to defeat the dragon! The dragon is shooting fireballs at him, he must dodge them or hit them out of the way! (Throw pillows or sock balls toward your child, have them dodge them or hit/kick each one as they come toward them)
He did it!! The dragon has been defeated and he saved the beautiful princess. If you want an extra challenge, have your child repeat the steps above backward, as the prince must now get back to the castle!
There’s so many options of story telling you can do with your child, what other ideas do you have?
