The guards and dragons locked all the royalty in the castle to take the day off and be lazy.

But when their magic stick wouldn’t unlock the castle, the dragons realized their mistake.

Don’t worry, it’s just a fairy tale.

Luckily for the royal family, the two parties learned to work together, using their combined magic to set the kings and queens free.

The “Enchanted Forest” opera came together, moral lessons and all, under the creativity of a Tiffany Park Elementary second-grade class.

The class was one of four that gave its final opera performance last week under the guidance of Opera By Children.

“I thought it was going to be really freakin’ scary,” said second-grader Zoe Perry, who played a sunbather in the opera “Tropical Beach.” “It’s really fun. You can get together, see your family and express yourself.”

Parents and students filled the theater, the school cafeteria, to watch the operas or plays that are sung, unfold on stage.

“When we explain to them what they’re going to do in the fall, they look nervous or in disbelief,” said teacher Sharon Taylor. “It was nice to see it all come together.”

A few minutes before show time kids bounced with excitement in their classrooms, spinning in their hula skirts and pulling fabric fashioned into flames over their dragon chests.

“My garage is full of costumes,” said Sue Bowman, key organizer behind Tiffany Park’s 7-year Opera By Children program.

It’s a national program started by the Utah Festival Opera in 1997. Bowman is a friend of the program’s founder, she said.

For teachers Opera By Children is a way to integrate music, story writing and acting into the classroom.

“It’s really nice, because over the years, arts hasn’t had so much an emphasis,” Taylor said.

Starting in September, Bowman and songwriter Jessica Briggs, gave each class 30-minute workshops weekly.

The workshops start with getting kids comfortable singing. Eventually the kids learn to turn their ideas into stories, Taylor said.

Each class votes on its favorite scenes, characters and plot.

“It’s all them bouncing ideas from one another,” she said.

Once the story is formed, the kids take turns recording what they think different parts might sound like.

Keeping as close to the original ideas and rhythms as possible, Briggs turns their recordings into music.

“This is all the kids’ work,” Bowman said.

When 8-year-old Ty Ashley first heard his class was going to write an opera, it sounded boring, he said.

He doesn’t think that anymore, he says. “Operas are fun.”

Bowing on stage was his favorite part.

“(The performance) just builds such self esteem for these guys,” Bowman said.