How to Tell a Bedtime Story

Telling a bedtime story to a child can be a bit intimidating if you are not inclined towards on-the-spot creativity. It's especially hard if you've had a particularly hard day and you're teetering on a complete emotional meltdown. Still, your child looks up at you with eyes of such expectation. They want a story that will allow them to escape into faraway lands and meet characters and creatures great and small, and nothing else is going to do. So what are you going to do? You're going to concede and tell that precious little one a bedtime story. You'll find it will be a delightful escape for you as well.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Comfortable bed
• Sweet child laying next to you
• Window next to the bed is nice if you happen to have one

1. Develop characters that you will want to keep. Children will become endeared to characters that return to them every night, as you will too.
   For example, I developed two kitten characters called Ralph and Logan for my youngest son's bedtime stories. Each night was a new adventure that featured these two who I developed to be opposites in personality, Ralph being a bit like Stan Laurel and Logan as Oliver Hardy.
   My son, now grown, and I came to love these two so much that to this day, we miss meeting with them to see what next would happen in their fun little world. Creating and sticking with the same main characters is the most rewarding of all storytelling methods.

2. Create the home for your characters. Having a center for where you can find the characters makes children ready to connect with that particular place each time you begin your story. It will plant an atmosphere that will stay with them and you for the rest of your life.

3. Make each adventure different. I tried to be diverse from night to night. Some were funny, some were sad, some were spooky (although only moderately as I don't believe in scaring a child), and some were quite profound and virtuous. But all of them were morally sound that I believe was a great help in instilling a strong spirit in my son.

4. If you're not very good at bedtime stories but you would like to be, then don't give up. Children will wait on your technique to develop. I've told many stories that were a complete flop. One of my children even told me once she had been hot and bored throughout the whole thing. Children are painfully honest!
   But the important thing is to keep trying. And even more importantly... you're being there just for them, good story or bad. And they will love you forever for it.

Tips & Warnings

• Create a special voice for each of your characters.
• Children are very intense so don't tell bedtime stories that are too sad or too spooky.

[CrazyAce]

on 3/21/2008 Dear God help us all. If you can't tell a bedtime story to your child, you are too dumb to be a parent.

[trisha22]

on 12/9/2007 Great tip CCrock. I always get the kids to help and they love it.

[CCrock]

on 12/8/2007 I'll never forget how my mom would make up stories every night, it was awesome! I hope I can do the same for my daughter as she gets older. and I agree, I think almost anyone can make up a story, but if you have a hard time getting started, let the child throw in some ideas for how it starts.

[trisha22]

on 12/8/2007 "If we all gave up when we told a stinky story we would never get to the good ones"

Sounds like you're a veteran storyteller grouch. And yes, exactly...everyone has an imagination whether they know it or not. Sometimes it just takes a little exercising.

[grouch]

on 12/8/2007 That is wonderful. If we all gave up when we told a stinky story we would never get to the good ones. Everyone has an imagination if you know it or not.