In order to help their children fall asleep faster and better, many parents choose to tell bedtime stories to their children, usually based on fairy tales. So what exactly is a bedtime story? What are the benefits of bedtime stories besides helping children fall asleep? How should parents tell bedtime stories?
What is a bedtime story
As the name suggests, it refers to stories told to children before they go to bed. Mainly prepared for children aged 2 to 6, it is mainly based on fairy tales, with few intense plots, and often ends with a big reunion. Parents telling stories to their children before they rest can help them fall asleep. It not only allows them to appreciate the plot of the story, but also gives them a sense of security, letting them know that even when they are sleeping, there is still parental care.
The benefits of bedtime stories
1. Promote intellectual development
By telling stories, parents can not only help their children slowly fall asleep in the sound of the story, but also help them improve their comprehension ability and effectively promote their intellectual development.
Generally speaking, young children have limited knowledge and may not recognize many words in storybooks. The intricate images also make it difficult to convey the specific plot and content of the story comprehensively. Moreover, children's learning level and comprehension need to be cultivated and improved through postnatal development. Therefore, parents explaining stories to their children with care is the best way to broaden their knowledge. If parents can timely understand their children's curiosity and choose good enlightenment stories for them, it can help their children's intellectual development.
2. Strengthen parent-child communication
Bedtime stories are also an important opportunity for parent-child communication, which plays a crucial role in enhancing the intimate relationship between parents and children. At the same time, parental companionship can also increase a child's sense of security. For slightly older children, parents need to carefully observe their reactions while conducting this activity, capture their excitement points, and encourage them to fall in love with reading. Also, characters in the story can be used to guide children and assist them in overcoming their own shortcomings.
How to tell bedtime stories
1. To have emotions
To create an atmosphere with sufficient emotions, while also being gentle and sweet. Parents should first understand the main idea and outline of the story when telling it. It is recommended to read it in advance to understand the personalities and plot of each character in the story, which will make it more natural and smooth to tell.
2. Rich sound
Parents can adjust their voice appropriately to make the story more vivid and attract children's attention. In addition, parents can express some sounds through different simulated sounds, such as the "woof" sound of a puppy, the "ding ding" sound of a phone, etc., instead of rigidly reading sentences. If parents can fully display emotions such as joy, anger, frustration, and pain, then the stories they tell must be very exciting.
3. The story is peaceful
Stories with ups and downs can attract children's attention, but they can also easily lead them into an overly excited state, so such stories are not suitable for telling before bedtime. In order to allow children to fall asleep peacefully, a story with a gentle plot is the best strategy, otherwise children will become more excited as they listen. It is best to present a peaceful atmosphere when telling the story, and the plot can be appropriately adapted according to the baby's age and mental state.
4. Love and patience
If the story from yesterday has not ended yet and the child has fallen asleep, it is necessary to prepare a "review" section for the child before telling the story tonight, in order to help them recall the following content of yesterday's story. During the process of narration, the child may have some confusion. At this time, it is necessary to first explain clearly and solve the confusion for the child before continuing. Remember, love and patience are equally important.
5. Moderate adaptation
The story content can be adjusted and adapted appropriately. Different children have different absorption abilities and interests. Parents can first clarify their children's ability range and then slightly adapt the story. For example, many foreign stories have complex character names, and if they are changed to the names of neighboring children, it will create a sense of familiarity among the children.
