Princess Camp: Rapunzel

I had so much fun planning Princess Camp around my favorite Disney princess, Rapunzel. We listened to the music, did Tangled activities, and of course watched the movie—and there’s a Tangled series on Disney+ that Scout loves! The theming didn’t come quite so easily this time, and I ended up focusing on flowers and braids. Pulling from the movie Tangled, I had visions of activities around lanterns, suns, and chameleons, though it just never came together. I tried a sun mosaic project, using a paper plate and various yellow materials, but Scout didn’t get into it. C'est la vie, I suppose. Since Scout loves critters, the chameleon books ended up being her favorites in our library stack for this week. Scout’s favorite activity this week was the Rapunzel braided rolls. She loves being in the kitchen with me, and this activity was easy and fun.

Here’s everything we did during Rapunzel Week.

Using yarn I had from a previous project, I cut long strands of yellow yarn and added them to a bin with dollar store flowers I had on hand from flower shop play I did with my preschoolers last year.

This Rapunzel-themed ballet video was so fun! The teacher creates an engaging story using elements from the movie, all while teaching real ballet terms. (This woman has tons of great dance and fitness videos on her Youtube channel- I did her postpartum yoga/pilates video religiously when Scout was a baby).

An easy set up, I put out a couple of Tangled coloring sheets along with the Rapunzel tonie for Scout to find when she woke up from her nap. I love having something ready to go when she wakes up, it helps the “I want TV” problem she seems to have immediately upon waking. Tonies are such a great screen alternative because they have all the same characters she is already familiar with. However, be forewarned that the voices in the stories and songs are not the same ones from the original movies, and while often the singers are good, some of them are pretty low quality.

This was the highlight of our week. I loosely followed this Youtube instruction on how to make braided rolls from Pillsbury biscuit dough. I added these sugar flowers that I found online to add a little more Rapunzel magic. I did most of the braiding, but Scout helped me cut and press the dough and she was really into the egg wash we added to the top. There’s not much in this world that Scout loves more than cracking eggs.

My mom asked me if Scout was making the connection that these rolls are supposed to represent Rapunzel’s hair, and honestly I don’t think she is! She doesn’t seem to be understanding a lot of my little theming choices, but that’s okay with me. She is having a lot of fun, and I am experiencing inspiration in creating activities, and that’s exactly what I hoped for with this whole Princess Camp thing.

Library books this week included books on chameleons, flowers, and other retellings of the Rapunzel story.

• A Horse and a Hero by Daisy Al­ber­to

• The Life Cy­cle Of A Flow­er by Mol­ly Aloian

• Chameleon, Chameleon by Joy Cow­ley

• Flow­er­s are ­Call­ing by Rita Gray

• Ra­pun­zel by Rachel Isado­ra (my favorite!)

• A ­Col­or of His Own by Leo Lion­ni

• Ra­pun­zel’s Amazing Hair by Kiki Thorpe

• Tangled: The Story of Rapunzel

• Falling ­for Ra­pun­zel by Leah Wil­cox

Thank you for reading all about Tangled week of Princess Camp. Join us next week for bear-y special activities all about the Brave maiden herself, Merida!