Concept
In an effort to teach younger children math, I take standard fairy tales and include mathematical problems in order to help them better understand different math ideas. By using fairy tales that children have heard over and over, I am using these stories so they can relate to them therefore learning is quicker and more fun.

Process
An example of what I would do: Let’s use the story of Goldielocks and the Three Bears, a story that almost all children know and love. First, I would incorporate a family activity, such as riding bikes, into the story. Finally by asking a series of questions that relate to the above principles, children will solve the mathematical problems.

Problem
There are 3 bears: Momma Bear, Poppa Bear, and Baby Bear. They love to go bike riding with each other. The street on which they bike is one-half a mile long. If Poppa Bear’s bike has 26-inch wheels, Momma Bear’s bike has 24-inch wheels, and Baby bear’s bike has 20-inch wheels how many wheel rotations will it take for each of them to go from one end of the street to the other? Round to the nearest whole number and use 3.14 as pi.

Results
I did all the calculations for this type of problem and calculated that:

• Poppa Bear’s bike would need 388 wheel rotations to go from one end of the block to the other.
• Momma Bear’s bike would take 420 wheel rotations to go from one end of the block to the other.
• Baby Bear’s bike would take 504 wheel rotations to go from one end of the block to the other.

Conclusion
By using common fairy tales, it is easy for me to teach young children difficult math concepts quickly and simply. The Three Bears isn’t the only story one could use. If you’re creative, you can include math concepts in Cinderella, Snow White, etc.