Kids Love Bedtime Stories

Kids love bedtime stories. Parents, grandparents, and babysitters around the world know it well. If you’ve started this wonderful routine with your kids, you know they want – need – expect – crave this precious time with you.

It may not feel like it when they’re doing everything possible to resist your efforts to get them ready for bed.

But once you’ve corralled them and gotten them bathed and teeth brushed, you turn the lights down low, and you get all snuggled together in a comfy chair or their cozy bed. You have their favorite storybook, or maybe a new book they’ve been excited to start, open in your lap. Those little monsters turn into adorable, freshly washed little angels as they squish up next to you, ready to listen to your voice read them a tale.

Twenty minutes or so later, those kids – the ones who were resisting settling in – are begging:

“Read another one!!”

“One more chapter!”

“Read it again!”

 “Pleeeeaaasse?”

Why kids love bedtime stories

The best reason of all is that it’s a special time they get to share with you. Time you have dedicated to just being with them and focusing on them. The physical closeness and the comfort of hearing your voice makes them feel wonderful, safe, and loved.

Another reason is that your little ones thrive on routine. They’re not alone. Most of us do, even our pets. There’s something about having life take on a safe and predictable overall rhythm that feels comfortable and secure. It helps us all, but especially kids, feel like everything in their world is okay. And that makes it easy for them to relax and slip into dreamland.

Kids delight in stories. It’s another thing we humans all seem to share. We are wired for stories. To hear them, and to tell them. Kids long to hear about the adventures of someone else, whether it be a princess, a wizard, a child from long-ago, or animals living on a farm. It’s all new to them, and it opens up their minds and sparks their imaginations.

Again…and again…and again…

As any parent who will forever have “Let It Go” seared into their brain knows, kids all seem to want to hear the same stories over and over. They love hearing you read the same storybook night after night, just as they want to watch the same Disney movie a second, third, twenty-eighth – and counting – time.

It seems strange to us, but there are good reasons to indulge them. When a child hears the same exact story multiple times, it has some interesting results.

• Lowers stress and winds them down. Hearing the same stories night after night is soothing to kids. It’s part of that comforting routine that helps them relax.
• Develops logic skills. When your child is able to predict a story’s outcome based on the events in the story, they can begin applying that to real life.
• Builds vocabulary. Your children will hear new words as you read them different stories. They may ask you what a particular word means, or even figure it out by using the context of the story.

Why parents love bedtime stories

Well, you want your kids to fall asleep, right? You want them to get the rest they need to be healthy and to thrive. You want them to do well in school and in their chosen activities.

And – admit it – you want a little quiet time in the evenings. No shame!

But, of course, there are other important benefits bedtime stories offer your children.

Reading to your kids for a short time before bed can encourage them to want to read more on their own. Kids who become so interested in a story and don’t want you to stop will have the incentive to build their own reading skills when they get into school.

Having stories read to them sparks kids’ creativity. They may begin to make up their own stories and characters. You might find you have a budding writer, filmmaker or video game developer on your hands.

When you read new and interesting stories to your kids, you introduce them to fresh ideas. Their minds open up. If you pay close attention to what captures each child’s interest, you can find more stories on those subjects. You’ll be feeding their true passions while also developing their curiosity and inspiring a love of learning that will hopefully last a lifetime.

A recent study of 2000 moms and dads found that:

• 93% feel it’s important to tell their kids stories at bedtime
• 90% said they feel closer to their kids by reading bedtime stories
• 86% said they love the time they spend with their kids reading bedtime stories
• 80% said it’s one of the best things about parenting
• 34% said it’s the best quality time they get with their kids
• 20% started reading as soon as their child was born
• 15% started reading before their child was born
• 14+ minutes is the average bedtime reading time

That’s a lot of bedtime stories being read and told. And that’s great news.

Bedtime stories in the 21st century

The basics of bedtime stories probably hasn’t changed a whole lot in quite a long time. All around the world and across the centuries, parents have put their kids to bed and regaled them with fairy tales, classic children’s storybooks, or made-up fantasy stories.

But the 21st century bedtime story might not look very familiar to anyone a mere 30 or 40 years ago.

While there’s nothing quite like sitting down with an actual, physical, turn-the-page picture book in your lap, today you may gather your kids around a tablet or a Kindle to read from.

When traveling for work, or if you don’t live with your kids full-time, you may not want to give up being part of their bedtime. Video chats make that possible. You and your kids can see each other and interact during bedtime stories. Not quite the same thing, but close.

You can video or audio record yourself reading your kids’ favorite stories – goofy in-character voices and all. Then your child can have their mom or dad reading them a story when you’re not there, or any time they want.

You might find some great YouTube videos of bedtime stories. Those stories can be enjoyed together, or if time is scarce, moms and dads can let their kids listen on their own, knowing they are still getting a lot of the benefits of a good bedtime story.

Whatever bedtime with your kids looks like, there’s a good chance bedtime stories play a role.

We sure hope so!