My tooth-fairy-centric children’s book UNDER MY PILLOW explores the themes of problem-solving, trust, and forgiveness. First, main character Sam must figure out why her lost baby tooth has gone missing. Then, she must depend on a new set of friends to help her find it. Finally, she must forgive one of her new friends for the role they played in the missing-tooth mystery. To follow along and give Sam a hand in solving the problem of her missing tooth, buy UNDER MY PILLOW here. Or, for more tooth fairy fun, try one of the themed craft activities below.
A Craft for Practicing Trust: Draw a Picture of the Tooth Fairy
The tooth fairy, the Easter bunny, Santa Claus … these figures are as real as your belief in them. Like Charlie says in THE SANTA CLAUSE: Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist! Magic requires faith to work. If you don’t trust in Father Christmas, you won’t hear the bell ring, and the train to the North Pole will never arrive. If you do trust, however, you will hear the bell ring … and the Easter bunny will leave you chocolate eggs … and the tooth fairy will spirit your lost teeth away to Fairyland.
To affirm your trust in what you can’t see, draw a picture of the tooth fairy as she looks in your imagination. What you draw will become more real to you and serve to keep the magic alive.
A Craft for Practicing Problem-Solving: Draw a Picture of the Tooth Fairy’s Assistants
No one can do everything themselves. If they could, we’d have Santa but no elves, and the Easter bunny but no Easter bunny helpers. It’s the same for the tooth fairy. As she explained in this note she left my daughter a few years ago, she has many “tooth fairy assistants” whose jobs are to help her collect the world’s lost baby teeth and leave small presents in their place.
The tooth fairy left my daughter Julia this note in response to her question, “Do you have someone to help you get everyone’s teeth?”
To practice problem-solving, draw a picture of what you think the tooth fairy’s assistants look like. It should show how they work together to solve the problem of collecting all the lost baby teeth from all the world’s children every single night—since unlike Santa Claus, the tooth fairy never gets a day off!
A Craft for Practicing Forgiveness: Repurpose an Old Pair of Shoes
When you trust in something you can’t see, chances are good that someone who doesn’t have your faith will make fun of you. If that happens, it’s an opportunity like my main character Sam had to forgive the person, which you can do by (metaphorically) putting yourself in their shoes. You can ask yourself questions like, Why might that person have done what they did? What emotions could they have been feeling? Doing so fosters empathy, which is key to letting go of your hurt.
To practice forgiveness, try repurposing an old pair of shoes. Bigger is better, but any size will do so long as your feet fit in them. You can use markers, paint, glue, paper, glitter, ribbon, and more to dress the shoes up while thinking good thoughts. Just make sure you have permission to do this! Then, (literally) stand in the shoes to put yourself in the mindset of, and build empathy for, whomever you need to forgive.
Literally standing in someone else’s shoes can help put us in the mindset of, and build empathy for, other people.
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Curious how my main character Sam practices problem-solving, trust, and forgiveness?
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