The Benefit of Reading Children Bedtime Stories: Developed Intellect, Healthy Sleeping Routines, Imaginative Thinking
A parent who reads to his or her children provides for them a foundation of intellectual development, a calming routine for healthy sleeping habits and the encouragement of creative and imaginative thinking.
Foundation of Intellectual Development
Bedtime stories contribute to a child’s general knowledge and intellectual development. Storytelling that engages children in an imaginative world or helps them to identify everyday objects will stimulate a curiosity that enhances listening skills and language development.
When a mother or father speaks to his or her child about the story that is being read, it promotes open communication and expression. A parent should ask questions about the story and make parallels to his or her own life by pointing to pictures on the book’s pages and making the story, characters or surrounding objects relatable.
Children’s interaction with the books that are read to them can be a key to discovering their interests and allow parents to fuel those interests by finding books about those particular subject matters.
Calming Routine for Healthy Sleeping
Calming an active baby or toddler down before bedtime can be a challenge, but reading in the relaxed atmosphere of the child’s bedroom is a great recipe to help wind down the energy. Continuously having storytime before bedtime each night becomes a healthy routine for the child and parent alike.
Along with stimulating special parent-child time to bond, the routine will harvest healthy sleep patterns when the child will understand that reading means time with parents and is then followed by sleep. The pattern recognition will aid children in learning to associate pleasant mommy and daddy time with bedtime, which is natural and inevitable.
Creative and Imaginative Thinking
A love for books often begins in childhood. When children are encouraged to read, it stimulates their imagination and provides alternative forms of entertainment that are healthier and more interactive than television. Parents’ role in this literary development should begin early, aiding their child in the discovery of fun and/or educational books that pave the path for a future full of curiosity, read more here.
As a child gets old enough to truly interact with parents and the books, parents can begin to ask gentle yet probing questions to gain insight into the minds of their son or daughter. Questions such as “What do you think will happen next?” will fuel creative thoughts as a child will often invent their own endings or deduce, based on already-known facts, what a logical answer may be.
The answers to inquiries like “Who is your favorite character and why?” or “Who are you most like? Why do you say that?” will encourage children to open up about their thoughts and reveal personality traits. It will also let them know that their parents are interested in them and enjoy hearing about their feelings and interests.
Not only will parens’ reading to their child be beneficial to the healthy development of the child, it stimulates the bond between mother or father and child, sharing laughter, knowledge and growth. Mom and Dad can watch as their son or daughter grow intellectually, develop enhanced sleeping routines and hone creative thoughts processes.