Don’t you just love folk tales, fairytales, and fables? The amazing creatures and adventures full of sorcery, castles, and medieval garb are what draw me in—but there’s also the scare factor the original tales carry with them. Sure, some of them are pretty sexist—but that’s what modernized tales (like JK Rowling’s Beetle the Bard) are for, right?

In honor of World Folk Tales and Fables Week, here are some fun things to do with the children in your life. Whether in the classroom, the home, at daycare, or anywhere else, folk tales and fables are sure to be fun for everyone.

Act out a fable. This is probably the most fun you could have with a fable or fairytale. Be as elaborate as you like—wear costumes, write scripts, even create a background if you want to. How much fun would it be to, say, create papier mache crow and fox masks to act out Aesop’s Fables?

Make a new spin on a classic. What if the queen never guessed Rumplestilksen’s name? Would she have had to chase him throughout the kingdom on her wicked awesome queen’s motorcycle and have a final showdown to win back her baby? Would she have had to work out joint custody? (Okay, these scenarios might not be the best for the younger crowd, but you get the idea!)

Make folk tale crafts. How about a dangling Anansi spider? Or a Pele complete with a volcano science project? Look up some obscure folk tales and see what interests the children the most and go from there.

Do an entire folklore unit. How much fun would it be for this generation who seems to love the Twilight saga so much to learn about worldwide vampire folklore? Do you think they’d be surprised to learn that most cultures did not believe that vampires sparkle? Both boys and girls might enjoy learning about the different stories behind various cultures over the globe. You could even make it a cultural theme with different foods, costumes, etc.

Prompt some essays with folk tale, fairytale, and fable themes. Why do some cultures make their gods human-like and others not? Why do some cultures favor female characters and others male? Which stories seem to be the strongest and why? What can you learn from a certain fable? Why were so many fairytales changed from their original forms when told to children?