Benefits Of Bed Time Storytelling

Photo by Mael BALLAND on Unsplash 

Bedtime story telling has been known to prepare a child for a peaceful sleep. But it plays a crucial role in a child's overall development. I have also felt the benefits of storytelling from my personal experience.

We have also grown-up listening stories from our grandparents and parents. There are some stories which I still remember and have given important lessons in my life.

Storytelling has many benefits, some I have derived from my personal experience.

• It creates a bond – Initially as a new mother, most of the time I skipped the storytelling session but later it became a habit. If not me, my husband takes the charge. I feel, it creates a strong bond between the parents and the child. We come closer to our child while doing this because they give us their undivided attention.
• It gives them a chance to think and imagine – When we tell bedtime stories, children really enjoy it they start thinking on their own and start imagining things. They visualise everything, this is my personal experience. When I tell stories to my son, many times he concludes the story in his own way. Children actually relate themselves to many characters of the story.
• It improves their vocabulary – Children learn new words, their pronunciations and uses of the words improve a lot from the stories, which we tell them. It helps in their language development.
• Enhances listening skill - My son is very active and talkative, He has a plethora of questions all the time but when it comes to stories, he listens carefully, he asks questions also but he maintains his patience and silence till the end. So bedtime stories enhance their listening skill which helps them in their development.
• Develops emotional intelligence – A story has different characters, children learn to behave and act in certain situations. It helps them to understand and accept the emotions of others too.
• Becomes a habit- When you make storytelling a daily routine, it becomes a habit for your little one. Gradually he will love to read on his own and you will not have to force him for reading when he will grow up.
• It calms their overactive mind- Kids are full of energy. But their mind need rest and nothing is better than storytelling. It refreshes and reenergizes them by calming up their active body and brain.  
• It strengthens their social and cultural knowledge- While telling the story, you can use historical characters, mythological characters to increase their knowledge about culture and society.
• A wonderful way to increase memory power- While telling stories, I keep discussing with him various things related to the story and at, I ask some questions also in a tricky way. It keeps them engrossed in the story and increases their memory.
• Best way to teach them Life Lessons - When you want to tell your kid about something important according to their age, you can tell them through the stories. Like I told my child, we should not talk to strangers, about good or bad touch or about any of his good or bad behaviour through the stories. Believe me, it works.

So the benefits are many. Try to introduce your kids to the world of stories. In this lockdown phase, children can’t go anywhere so they spend all their time on mobile or laptop. Believe me, the storytelling sessions are the biggest saviour.

Try to make the storytelling session little more interesting

• By changing your voice modulation.
• By making different sounds.
• By showing your hands in a movement. According to the scene.
• By role-playing.

Storytelling is a simple but extremely important part of the childhood. In this era of technology at your reach, make sure they don’t miss the joys of the human world.

Happy Storytelling! 

Saumya Dwivedi has done Post graduation in Mass Communication and an MBA in HR. She stays in New Delhi. She is a homemaker by choice and mother of a five years son. She writes blogs, short stories, captions, quotes and poems on various platforms. She has won many contests in writing. Writing is like therapy for her and the biggest stress buster. She writes from her own experience of motherhood. She also loves travelling and reading.

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mom Store.