Bound to bond: The important role of bedtime stories on kids

Moms know that no matter how busy it gets in balancing work and home, interacting and bonding with your child in a fun way is essential to your child’s overall development. And one activity that strengthens this bond between mother and child is bedtime story telling.

Bedtime storytelling is not only for putting kids to sleep; it enhances your children’s creativity and widens their imagination as well. According to child development expert Dr. Lillian Juadiong, stories encourage kids into “imaginary worlds where the impossible becomes possible, the fun never stops, and the endings are as happy as you can imagine.”

Apart from improving the creative side of your kids, here are the other great benefits that bedtime story telling provides, according to Dr. Juadiong:


Develops language, listening abilities, and oral communication skills. Bedtime story telling enhances your child’s vocabulary as you introduce new words and a variety of sentence structures in a particular language. Although the development of listening skills is the obvious goal of storytelling, it is important that the storyteller should engage the listener and encourage him to respond to the story by asking brief story-related questions during or at the end of the storytelling session. This way, interaction between the storyteller and the child will be created, improving the kid’s listening ability and oral communication skills.


Provides exposure to new knowledge. Children’s books are a great way to introduce new concepts to children. Stories and illustrations go hand-in-hand in teaching your kids new ideas like a different animal or a certain toy. Small details in the story, such as size, shape, and color, are equally important as these can help your child distinguish the difference between two colors, two sizes, or two different shapes.

Click here to read more.

[previous|page|next]

Influences socio-emotional development. According to research, children’s books are good influencers of a child’s socio-emotional development. Children’s tales often have a lesson at the end to teach kids basic manners and proper behavior. By reading to them, you’ll easily impart these values, which they’ll learn and use to enhance their behavior in certain situations.

Improves problem-solving skills. Most children’s stories involve a character looking for a way to solve his problem. Reading such stories will teach your kid how to solve a problem by using the character as an example and following his actions in resolving the problem. When choosing a story, try to pick one that’s related to his current problem like a story of a boy searching for his toys, in case he recently complains of a missing toy, or a girl who learned how to use the potty, if she still doesn’t know how to go to the bathroom by herself.
 
Prepares them for reading and writing. Elements of story telling such as the words and letters, the act of turning the pages, and reading the words from left to right are great components of reading readiness. Engaging in bedtime storytelling lets your child become more comfortable with reading, allowing him to turn reading into a habit, which is very beneficial and healthy.

To complete your bedtime routine, give your child a warm glass of milk before bedtime, such as NIDO FORTIFIED, which is perfect for your night time bonding. Find time for your child at night and see how this makes a difference in his overall development.