Break the prongs from the crown
A king wears a pronged crown. Every child has this picture in mind when they think of the kings from the fairy tale books. What it means to break a point out of the crown or not to break a point out of the crown is easy to explain to children.
A king without a crown is not a king. That's what children have in their heads and that's how they put kings and queens with jagged crowns on paper. In the Middle Ages, the loss of a point meant that the king was demoted, for example by marrying a non-aristocratic woman. In this case, he had to forego a prong on his crown and pass the crown on to his children.
Losing a point from the crown - explained in a child-friendly way
- Ask your child what happens when a king loses a spike in his crown.
- Your child will probably answer "then he is no longer so powerful", "then he is no longer a real king" or "then the others will laugh at him".
- As you will find, children quickly realize that an incomplete crown is likely to contribute to the loss of reputation.
- Now explain to your child that the saying "break a spike out of the crown" means that something that may have seemed magnificent is no longer complete. This may damage the image that other people have of a person.
If you want to introduce a new game in kindergarten, you have to give it to the children ...
Don't break a point from the crown
"Don't break a spike out of the crown" refers to activities that can be carried out calmly because, contrary to your own assessment, they are acceptable and are bearable and, above all, do not demand too much from the active person, because he does not break a spike from the crown, i.e. does not lose his reputation.
- Explain to your child that "not breaking a prong" means that you don't stand like a king with a damaged crown.
- This proverb is mostly used when it comes to carrying out certain activities that appear annoying or even questionable to the person addressed. In the case of children, this saying is usually used to appeal to willingness to help or to being able to admit mistakes.
- Good examples of this proverb can be found in fairy tales, such as The Frog Prince: The Princess In the end, no point broke from the crown as they ate the frog from their plate, as promised let. On the contrary: she was rewarded for it.