A bedtime story is a traditional form of storytelling, where a story is told to a child at bedtime to prepare the child for sleep. Bedtime stories can be read from a book, or may be made up. The stories tend to be short, with a happy ending.
Bedtime stories have many advantages for both adults and children. We will focus on the benefits to the child.
- sharing a bedtime story with a child builds their vocabulary
- sharing a bedtime story with a child helps the child to love reading
- sharing a bedtime story with a child promotes their motor skills, through learning to turn the pages
- sharing a bedtime story with a child helps improve the child’s memory
- sharing a bedtime story with a child reduces the child’s stress levels and can help with better sleep
- sharing bedtime stories with a child builds a greater bond between parent and child
Telling bedtime stories may not be a popular way of life here, and especially in today’s fast-paced work setting. However, perhaps a parent can fix a day or two a week – possibly weekends – when they can read or tell stories to their children.
There are popular folk tales, as well as stories from other cultures, that almost any child will love and enjoy. Many children stories can be sourced online and from books. First Veritas has a range of story books that you might want to have a look at. The very nice thing about children and stories is that should they like a story, they want to hear it again and again, so there is no pressure to come up with something new each night..
Do you tell your child bedtime stories? Did you get told bedtime stories when you were younger? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments section below.