The impact of Bedtime Stories on child development and family bonding

[jilnaan]

Hi fellow parents and caregivers!

I've been thinking about the role bedtime stories play in both child development and family bonding. Personally, I've found that sharing stories with my children has helped us connect while also teaching them valuable life lessons and encouraging their imagination.

I've recently started a YouTube channel called NightyNight Novellas, where I create illustrated bedtime stories for children aged 3-7.

My goal is to create engaging and educational content that fosters a love for storytelling and supports parents in nurturing their children's development.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the importance of bedtime stories in your family routines, and how you feel they've impacted your child's growth. Additionally, if you're interested, here's a link to one of our recent stories: [ Sammy And The Silent Forest ].

I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions on how I can make these stories even more engaging and beneficial for young children. I'm very curious to see what you think and how to approach bedtime stories.

Thank you!

 

[wilsonpj]

@jilnaan My boys are older now (13 & 16), but I read aloud to them, every night till just a few yrs ago now. I think I stopped when they were ~11 & 13ish respectively.

Over the years, we read all sorts of books. When they were little, we did picture books - Dr Suess and Bill Pete and such. As they got older, we transitioned to chapter books. I think the first one we read was My Father's Dragon, and from there we read kind of everything. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, Red Wall and Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series, and soo many other series as well. Some of them we listened to in the car as well - for several years we homeschooled (though they entered public school ~6 years ago now), and we spent countless hours in the car listening to audio books.

But, the hours and hours and hours I spent reading aloud to them, at bedtime I will always treasure. And, part of me, still misses it. They also still have a great bedtime routine, and go to bed without much issue. My husband used to call it magical - they'd happily go to bed, just to listen to stories. Nothing more. No treats, no coercion involved, just moms voice, and stories.

 

[realmajor101]

@wilsonpj My kids are both still under 10, but we've been reading them stories almost every night since they came home from the hospital. The stories have changed, but the experience remains.

One great benefit of this story time is that no matter how bad our day was, or if we were grumpy with each other, the story time did a great job of resetting our emotions. It kind of cleared our minds and hearts, and made signing off for the night a much more enjoyable and peaceful experience.

 

[jilnaan]

@wilsonpj Thank you for sharing your beautiful experience! It's heartwarming to hear how reading aloud to your boys created such cherished memories.

As your boys grew older, how did their preferences for bedtime stories change? Were there any specific topics or themes that seemed to engage them more as they grew up?

Did you ever come across any lesser-known books or stories that your boys particularly enjoyed? I'm curious to discover hidden gems that might inspire my content.

Thanks again for your input!

 

[wilsonpj]

@jilnaan The Tiffany Aching series - The Wee Free Men, Wintersmith, I Shall Wear Midnight, and finally A Shepard's Crown (his very last book) were always favorites. I'm not sure if they 'count' anymore as 'lesser known' but they were at the time when we read them, at least around here.

I'm not sure how many times I read them to them - at least 2 or 3, and I know we listened to them on audio bok as well another 2 or 3x too. They even dressed up as Nac Mac Feegle for halloween once ( 'Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna' be fooled again!') - not that anyone 'got it' in our small town - they kept having people ask them if they were dwarves or hobbits . But... they loved the books something fierce.

It was always fun too, to find that the book we were reading had a movie to it - though it was usually disappointing, it was fun anyways, to watch it after reading the book (Harry Potter, LOTR, the Hobbit, the princess bride, the indian in the cupboard, the percy jackson books - those were especially good on audiobook!!, etc).

 

[jilnaan]

@wilsonpj Thank you, I'll try to find them and read them.

 

[mountainerd]

@jilnaan

lesser-known books or stories that your boys particularly enjoyed

My kids dug these two:

https://www.neilgaiman.com/works/Books/Wolves+in+the+Walls/

And aimed a little older:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un_Lun_Dun

 

[jilnaan]

@mountainerd Thank you for the suggestions, I'll try to find them and read them.