A very important bedtime ritual is reading a bedtime story. It not only helps your little one doze off to the sound of your voice, but there are a multitude of other benefits.
Here are some of them:
- Development of imagination–reading fictional stories to children encourages them to use their imagination and picture the scene in their head.
- Deeper understanding of the world–storytelling is fun and exciting, but also enables anyone to experience different cultures and traditions. Children learn new information about the world without even realising, and as a result, develop greater empathy.
- Parent-child bonding–reading toyour child is quality time for both you and them, helping to foster a positive relationship.
- Communication and social skills–reading bedtime stories helps children’s communication skills grow immensely. They ask questions about the story, while also learning new vocabulary and increasing their focus. Socially, children learn to listen to others through storytelling, and begin to understand that not everyone interprets things the same way.
- More likely to read for pleasure–reading to children when they’re young means they’re more likely to continue reading for pleasure as they grow. This will enable them to learn independently from books.
But perhaps the most profound benefit discovered in recent years is the way bedtime stories can rewire children’s brains to quicken their mastery of languages and thus open the door to writing.
