Reading stories before bedtime is a great way to connect with your little ones at the end of the day–and there are proven positive effects to making it part of your routine. Bedtime stories can:
Increase your child’s overall language skills. Reading a story together helps strengthen their reading comprehension as well as their listening skills.
Enhance their imagination and creativity. Rather than watching TV or a movie and having the scene set out for them, reading a book encourages your child to paint a picture in their mind that is unique. They can create their own story within the one that they are reading with you.
Teach them about feelings. Characters’ interactions with each other can help your child learn about emotions that they may or may not have felt yet, and help them understand how to handle these sometimes big emotions.
Build upon their existing vocabulary. Reading together is a great way to sound out new words while going over ones that your little one already knows.
Encourage conversations. Talk about what is going on in a story and how it relates to the real world. Whether it’s about playing with siblings or a pet, emotions, or just a typical day in the life of a child, they will learn more by connecting to the real world and talking about it with you.
Looking for some inspiration and new stories? Check out this list of books grouped by different ages from Storyberries.
Source: SCL Health