Country
Spain

Tale typology
Intercultural traditions

Age Suitability
5

Tale summary
With her magic paintbrush, a girl can paint steaming pots full of fish and oysters to feed the hungry people in her village, but when the evil emperor hears of her gift he commands Rose to paint gold for him instead. She is determined to keep her promise to paint only for the poor, but how can she match the emperor's mighty power?

Educational potential / Learning Outcomes
This traditional story teaches the children to use their talents to help others.

Full Plot
Rose loved drawing. She was very poor and didn’t have pens or pencils. She drew pictures in the sand with sticks. One day, an old woman saw Rose and said, ‘Hello! Here’s a paintbrush and some paper for you.’ ‘Thank you!’ smiled Rose. She was so happy. ‘Hmmm, what can I paint?’ she thought. She looked around and saw a duck on the pond. ‘I know! I’ll paint a duck!’
So she did. Suddenly, the duck flew off the paper and onto the pond. ‘Wow!’ she said. ‘A magic paintbrush!’
Rose was a very kind girl and she painted pictures for everyone in her village. She painted a cow for the farmer, pencils for the teacher and toys for all the children.
The king heard about the magic paintbrush and sent a soldier to find Rose. ‘Come with me,’ said the soldier. ‘The king wants you to paint some money for him.’ ‘But he’s already rich,’ said Rose. ‘I only paint to help poor people.’ But the nasty soldier took Rose to the king. ‘Paint me a tree with lots of money on it,’ he shouted.
Rose was brave and said, ‘No!’ So the king sent her to prison. But Rose painted a key for the door and a horse to help her escape. The king chased after her. So she painted a big hole, and splat! The king fell in. Today, Rose only uses her magic paintbrush to help people who really, really need help.

One Lesson Plan
PROCEDURAL INSTRUCTIONS
Introduction Activity: Play the video The Magic Paintbrush
Main Activity: Draw posters for each one of the actions that are happening in the story. Share to the children what each drawing represents and invite them to remember the flow of the activity and arrange in order the story of Rose, the owner of the magic paintbrush.

- She painted a key and a horse to escape
- The king sent Rose to prison because she didn't want to help.
- Rose loved drawing but she was very poor.
- The king wanted Rose to paint a tree with money on it.
- One day, an old woman gave Rose a magic paintbrush
- She painted lots of things to help the people in her village
- The king chased after Rose but she painted a hole and he fell in.
- She painted a duck and it became real!

Afterwards ask the pupils to choose the answer
What do you think is the moral of the story?
a.Money is important.
b.Don’t be greedy and be kind to others.
c.The king is always right.
Ask them to provide you an argument for their answer.
Now give them colourful water colours, paint brushes and papers and invite them to Imagine they have a magic paintbrush. What do they want to paint?
Debriefing: The pupils will show their drawings and 2-3 pupils can share what is they draw with the magic paintbrush. Remind them that they can achieve anything as long as their intentions are good and they want to help the people around them.
Follow-up Activities: not needed
Additional Resources: not needed