For each age there are stories. For the little ones, folk tales will suit, they are more simple and understandable. For children of school age, author's tales will be interesting and useful, including folk tales in literary processing. Also, a child together with his parents can come up with a fairy tale and its heroes. Sometimes the hero of history can be the child himself, his own tale can help him solve some problem, overcome fears or learn something new.
A common understanding of the essence and purpose of fairy tales, among psychologists, as one might expect, no. Some psychologists advise you to analyze the fairy tale with the children, ask what the tale taught them, others advise you not to do it in any case. Interpretation of fairy tales by different specialists is also different, therefore there is a field for reflection and a wide choice. Everything depends on the fairy tale and on age - one story is not worth discussing, another is worth, it's worth discussing something when the child grows up to discuss it.
Tales children begin to hear about two years, although you can read before.
A few words about the theory of fairy tales .
From the book by D. Sokolov "Fairy tales and fairy tale therapy": "Fairy tales are too obvious a thing, and practically no serious school of psychology has passed by giving its way of analyzing and understanding them." One of the behavioral approaches (behavioural) believes that fairy tales are simple describe various forms of behavior and, accordingly, consequences. Transactional analysis draws attention to role interactions in fairy tales, that is, every fairy-tale character has a real prototype, for example E. Berne described how the Little Red Riding Hood could behave in real life (People, who play games, games played by people, E. Berne.) Jungian analytical psychology considers the heroes of fairy tales to be the various spirits of one person, that is, the parts of the "I" of one person.There is an approach to understanding fairy tales in which fairy-tale characters are treated as persons (thanks to a fairy tale, those emotions that are lacking in life are experienced, or through overcoming a great fear in a fairy tale, a child can easily cope with small fears in life.) The hypnotic school draws attention to the similarity between trancing and listening to fairy tales (the atmosphere is similar: rhythmic speech, confidence tone, the child falls asleep to a fairy tale, there is a repetition of certain verbal formulas), which indicates that the fairy tale is not only a set of possibilities, but also suggestions for certain behavior patterns Nost, beliefs, life scenarios, ie the tale carries a certain message.
Fairy tale therapy.
Gnezdilov AV: "An important fact is that some fairy tales have a therapeutic effect for children and adults." While reading a fairy tale, thinking about it, a person, while on an unconsciously symbolic level, "launches" his own creative processes. Tale therapy is the most ancient method of practical psychology in human civilization and one of the youngest methods in modern scientific practice. "
A valuable feature of fairy tales is that in their course a certain transformation takes place - a weak hero turns into a strong one, inexperienced in a wise one, timid in a bold one, etc. Thus, the fairy tale perfectly promotes the development of the child. A child from a certain age associates himself with the protagonist and in his imagination travels, struggles with monsters, conquers evil, conquers fears, etc., that is, "lives" a fairy tale.
Another fairy tale can be lost as a play or as a game and thus fairy tales also contribute to the physical development of children, their activity and health.
Not all fairy tales are equally useful for a child. As well as cartoons. Some fairy tales teach not very good things. To useful in a fairy tale is that a fairy tale tells a child about how the world works, what are the relationships between people. A fairy tale discussion gives the child knowledge of how to behave in different life situations, resolve conflicts, etc. At the same time, the idea of the world of quite specific people, the author of this fairy tale, is transmitted to tales, the mentality of the people, the psychology of poverty or wealth, success or failure is transmitted, so a fairy tale can impose something that parents would not like to instill in the child, for example, cruelty or a certain way of thinking. The people were wise in something, and in something not very.
Proceeding from this, it is necessary to filter the information that a small child receives and which significantly affects its development.