When John and I hosted parent/educator seminars, we always included the topic of subconscious symbolism. Our favorite way to do this was through Grimm fairy tales.
Rather than write children's fiction, the Grimm brothers compiled stories that had been part of Germanic oral literature for many generations. What stories grew out of that culture and why? And why have similar stories evolved in other cultures? And why do children continue to ask for these stories over and over? Are they listening for something instructive or reassuring under the surface?
Besides being colorful and/or moralistic, some psychologists think folk stories contain hidden messages that need to be imparted to each generation. These messages are a part of the culture's "collective unconscious."
So we would present a couple of stories. At different times, we used Iron John, or Jack and the Beanstalk to study male development and The Three Tasks, Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella to study female development. After reading the stories aloud, we encouraged participants to find symbolism for characters and events. Then we would ask them to assess the "life lessons" that such symbols might convey to young children -- lessons about what to expect at later stages of life, lessons about how to meet various types of challenges, lessons about how various aspects of one's own personality work in relation to each other. (This last one is especially revealing when you look at all the characters in a story as facets of yourself.)