To help your child get to sleep at night, get into the habit of reading stories or any other book or tale that will stimulate their imagination and strengthen your bond with them in bed. Reading before bed has many advantages and it can be offered in the form of podcasts or audiobooks. It's up to you to decide which option your child prefers.
Is your child reluctant to go to bed to sleep? Is he doing anything to extend the evening so that he doesn't have to go to bed? Maybe it's time to read her some stories in her bedroom, if it isn't already to help her get a good night's sleep. This ritual to be installed every evening after brushing your teeth (or in any case as often as possible) allows to give your little ones a taste for reading, from an early age. You are sure to have their full attention for a quarter of an hour on average, before they sink into a deep sleep. This is also a good way to make your child want to learn to love books in turn, to prolong the moment of reading.
Reading stories to toddlers helps them learn to speak and allow them to have a richer vocabulary, but also to develop their emotions. Reading is also a way to improve your child's motor skills. He will enjoy opening the book to touch and turn the pages, have fun with the designs and colors.
Activity books are also recommended for babies to stimulate them intellectually. Some works have different textures. They are seen as toys for children. These educational books are therefore very useful in everyday life, not just in the evening before sleeping. Reading has a lot of advantages.
This also develops the culture of the child. Generally speaking, reading extends life expectancy, helps your child better understand other people's feelings, and allows them to make fewer spelling mistakes. Finally, personal development books have the advantage of preventing depression.
Adventure novels, detective stories, fantasy epics, comics, documentaries … Each child will eventually find the literary genre they are most passionate about. If he was used to reading before bed from a young age by his parents, chances are he will enjoy reading his own books as he grows up.
It’s a great way to stimulate children's imaginations
A child by nature often has a vivid imagination. Reading is all the more important as this activity is conducive to making him even more creative and curious. Reading before bed once again helps your toddlers imagine themselves in another world and stay focused on your voice. When you go to the library or bookstore, let your child choose for himself the book that appeals to him the most. He will thus take more pleasure in the evening when reading, page after page. Reading stories to your child also improves their memory. In addition, helping your child to sleep with reading helps reduce angry scenes since they will want to know the outcome of the story. It is proven that reading prevents too much stress and promotes sleep. Adjust the length of reading to suit your child's state of fatigue. When he begins to struggle with sleep, it's time to put the book down on the nightstand to postpone the rest of the story until the next day.
It is a way of strengthening the bond between parents and their child
Have you been working all day and your little one has spent most of his or her time at school, nursery or nanny's? Chances are he looked forward to reading time. Reading him the story or tale he chose before he falls asleep will strengthen your bond with him. This is a moment suspended in time that reminds your child that you are there for them and to go with him before he closes his eyes. Half-seated on the edge of his bed, you can bring stories to life, each more original than the next, while tenderly stroking his little hairy head. Wake up the actor in you to give different voices to the characters, to keep your child more passionate until he gets tired. If you are feeling inspired, why not invent a story from start to finish so he can fall asleep? You can involve him by asking him, for example, to find a place, a character and a problem. You just need to embroider a story around these elements. This is a way for the child to feel useful and to make him or her even more attentive to your story, which is out of the ordinary. He can even help you create the tale with you. It is a good way to connect with your child.
Other options to make toddlers love reading
Reading isn't really your thing and it doesn't seem to appeal to your children, from a generation where technology is dominant, either? Try audiobooks. No need to take your head to vocally embody the protagonists of the tale you have chosen, actors do it for you. Many books exist in a form other than that of paper and not just books dedicated to adults. The Audible platform and application in particular allows you, through a monthly subscription, to access and download many audiobooks for you, but also for your children. In the same theme, there are storytellers. Some of them include the projection of moving images. The child can then choose the story he wants to listen to.
> Our selection of free audiobooks for children <
More surprising: our colleagues from Parisian announce this Friday July 24, 2020 that Martin Solveig has just launched a new application called Alma Studio. This one, paying, is intended for children from 3 to 10 years old. The famous 43-year-old DJ bet on audio stories and composed the majority of the music in the app. It was his granddaughter Alma, aged 5, who gave him the idea to create this platform. “There were things, but we had to sort it out. It took time. I thought that a platform to centralize audio for children with a large and renewed catalog would be welcome. spoke, everyone told me it was a great idea and that I had to do it ", explains the artist, who has enriched his application with 80 children's stories without illustrations, which speak in particular of ecology.
Alma Studio features stories (part of the theme of relaxation, called Paz) that help children fall asleep. Martin Solveig did not do things by halves since he called on many famous actors, like Mélanie Bernier, Fadily Camara, Clovis Cornillac, Virginie Efira, Gad Elmaleh, José Garcia, Hakim Jemili, Eric Judor, Doria Tillier but also Gérard Jugnot who lent their voice to the characters. "I have famous people around me. When I mentioned it, they all said to me 'I want to do this'", adds the creator of the platform. The peculiarity of children's stories in the Alma Studio application is that when the story is launched, the screen of the tablet or smartphone turns black, so as not to distract the little ones and help them fall asleep more easily. "It avoids appealing to their visual sense. Sometimes it takes a little getting used to, especially for the little ones, but after two or three tries, they will understand that there is no point in watching", says the DJ at Parisian. Martin Solveig's platform is in full development. By the end of summer 2020, 100 children's stories will be available on the Alma Sudio app and 200 by Christmas. The platform offers no-obligation subscriptions for 7.99 euros per month or 59.99 euros per year. 7 days are offered for any subscription.
Podcasts: an original way for children to discover new stories
Otherwise, there is another option for listening to stories, namely that of podcasts for children. Adventure stories, meditation sessions or even funny stories, there is something for all ages and all tastes. The child will learn to stay focused throughout the story. Some podcasts are meant to be listened to at night, but others can be listened to during the day and are not meant to put you to sleep, but rather to teach things. Cultura offers free audiobooks and podcasts for children. These are called "Another story". France Inter for its part has made available children's tales entitled "A story and… Oli !!" one of which is read by Omar Sy (The Forgotten Prince and the Evil Witch). The radio offers historical tales entitled "The Odyssey" and designed for children from 7 to 12 years old. These 15-minute podcasts are packed with sound effects your little ones will surely love. France Culture also offers many podcasts for children aged 6 to 16, including 4 episodes on the Adventures of Tintin and others concerning comics Asterix.
> 10 free and super well done podcasts for children <
An educational game by Lunii, ideal for children
The Lunii brand has created a "story factory". This innovative educational game, which does not have a screen, allows children to create the story they want to listen to and which will develop their imagination. He thus chooses the hero, the second character, the universe in which they operate and the object. In total, there are 48 stories, written with children's authors, which can be modified, but also 6 stories entitled "Douce nuit". It is also possible to download a hundred new stories to occupy your child the day and the night before sleeping. The star product "the story factory" comes with an "Octave" headset, the maximum volume of which is suitable for the ears of young children. This game is sold on average for just under sixty euros and is aimed at children aged 3 to 10 years. The Lunii story factory has an autonomy of 30 hours.
> Lunii, Storikid, Wonderful storyteller, Bookinou: Which story box to choose for my child? <
For children with more traditional desires, know that there is a book of more than 270 pages, published by Fleurus editions in 2015 and entitled "The most beautiful stories to fall asleep". Finally, the other solution to help your young child sleep is to give him listen to nursery rhymes. There are plenty of them online, you just need to find the nursery rhymes your baby will prefer before bed.
Websites full of children's stories
The site "Taleming" has lots of children's stories to listen to before going to bed. There is also the site "He was a story" that your kids will surely love. "Edition shorts" also offers many short stories that will help your toddlers get to sleep. There are also comics, poems and short stories. "A story every day" will help you find inspiration when you run out of books to read your child before bed. Website "Dream blower" (but also the app) offers parents who don't necessarily want to read books to your children to make them fall asleep, to let their children find the story that will help them fall asleep.
Read also :
Until Christmas: 10 tales and stories to tell children
The most beautiful nursery rhymes for babies
These nursery rhymes that help you grow up
How do I teach my child to read?
Lunii, Storikid, Wonderful storyteller, Bookinou: Which story box to choose for my child?