Watching my children, I notice that today’s children do not love fairy tales as much as we did in childhood. Our children’s attention is unfocused due to the huge number of entertainment centers, programs and the entertainment industry. It may seem that fairy tales are no longer relevant for our children, but this is a mistaken opinion. By reading bedtime stories to our children, we not only calm them down and lift their spirits, but also teach them to understand other people who are different from us, and pass on the experience of past generations and protect them from mistakes and troubles. Fairy tales can help: shorten the path; tell about what is possible and impossible; bring the child closer and give a feeling of security; sort out conflict situations; help start an unloved business. In order for children to listen to them with pleasure, you yourself need to be interested in what you are reading, and you need to tell the story in an exciting way. In order for reading to have not only an entertaining, but also an educational effect, it is necessary to know the “secrets” of proper discussion of a fairy tale. The first thing that is important for us to understand is the principle - “the shorter the fairy tale, the easier it is to grasp the hidden meaning.” However, it is important for parents to learn to identify this meaning first for themselves, and then explain it to the child in an accessible form. Next, they need to take into account the age-related characteristics with which parents can convey these meanings to him. For example, for children from one and a half to three years old, it is important to understand the content of a fairy tale. From three to five is the age of “whys,” when a lot of clarifying questions are asked that do not always directly relate to the fairy tale itself. From five to seven, children begin to defend their independence and independence, to grasp connections between their actions and the actions of the people around them. They can use past experiences and develop a positive attitude towards the future. With older children, you can fantasize about “What would happen if...” The same fairy tale can grow with your child. The next secret is the connection between the fairy tale and what the child sees in his immediate environment. Parents can give examples of events or phenomena, and this will arouse interest and develop cognitive abilities. In addition to the above, you can make heroes or symbols from fairy tales: sculpt, glue, draw, fantasize the development of events. In this way, imagination and thinking develop, and joint activities will teach the child to transfer the imagery of a fairy tale into real life. You can keep the craft or give it to one of your family members as a symbol of your own strength and the value of life. And also, instead of crafts, you can learn poems, for example, about heroes from a fairy tale, this will perfectly develop their memory. Thanks to reading fairy tales, our children will be able to develop their cognitive abilities, learn to find their own ways of resolving contradictions and have a fine sense of the mechanisms of interaction between people. From my interview for the newspaper "Evening" Bobruisk" from 10.04.2020