Best Bedtimes for Kids by Age: A Practical Guide for Indian Parents

Introduction

Bedtime stories are a great way to relax your child and put them to sleep. It can also effectively increase their vocabulary and make them learn valuable life lessons while enhancing their knowledge. Moreover, it is also the perfect opportunity for parents to bond with their kids and effectively decrease their screen time by providing them with an alternative source of entertainment. As per the Author Manuscript published in 2019, bedtime stories may also act as a relaxing cue for your child to sleep peacefully. It may help with better imagination and increase their ability to think more creatively. Hence, ending your child's day with the story would just be what they need for their cognitive and emotional development.

Best Bedtimes for Kids by Age: A Practical Guide for Indian Parents

A bedtime story has to be extremely engaging and narrated interestingly to keep your child entertained. Here is a list of some exciting bedtime stories that you can't narrate to your kid according to their age group.

Miser and the Gold

This is the story of a man who would not spend any money. The miser had a lot of gold coins but would store them all under the rocks outside his house. One day, a thief came at night and took all those gold coins away. The next day the miser started crying loudly and called all the neighbors to inform them about the theft. Then the neighbors began to question the man about why he kept the gold coins outside his house, he replied, “It was done to prevent anyone from spending the coins.” The moral of the story is that while it's important to save money, one should also believe in using their possessions and not live a miserable life. This could be an accurate story for kids between 6 to 8 years old.

The Caterpillar’s Diet

This is a story of a caterpillar who desperately wanted to turn into a butterfly. Despite its efforts, it could not become a butterfly, and that's when it decided to start eating fruits, other than just leaves. It went out and collected fruits like strawberries, grapes, and plums. From then on, he had a feast every day and kept on eating more and more fruits. Eventually, the caterpillar felt sick and could not move for two weeks. The other animals advised the caterpillar to start eating its regular diet and only consume leaves. Eventually, after eating leaves for a long time, the caterpillar turned into a beautiful butterfly. The moral of the story is that sometimes one needs to be patient and wait for one's moment. The story can be accurate for kids in the age group of 3 to 5.

The Sleeping Beauty

This is a tale of magic, adventure, and intrigue. It is the story of a princess who has been cursed by a wicked fairy jealous of the princess’s beauty and wit. The curse put on the princess puts her in eternal sleep. The rest of her kingdom is tormented for all those years that the princess sleeps. The people are not allowed to eat properly, the animals are made to work tirelessly, and everything is just in a morbid state. However, one day, a good fairy lifts the curse from the princess and wakes her up. Then, the princess rescues her kingdom and makes everything good again. The story teaches kids how good overcomes evil in the end. This can be a perfect story for kids between the age group of 8 to 10.

We’re Going on an Adventure

This is a story about family, unity, and love. The story starts with the family deciding to go on an adventure trip to the forest to spot a bear. However, during their journey, they meet a lot of challenges such as somebody getting sick, not having enough water to drink, and the food getting spoiled. However, despite these challenges, the family decides to stick together and complete their journey after eventually spotting a beer. The story teaches kids about the importance of unity and how one can achieve anything if one believes in it. The story can be appropriate for kids between the age group of 2 to 5 years old.

The Helpful Rabbit

This is an old Japanese tale that talks about the story of four friends. This includes a monkey, a jackal, a rabbit, and an otter. One day, the four friends bought a beggar on the night of a full moon and decided to help him. Each of the friends decides to find something and then gives it to the beggar. However, the rabbit is the only one who doesn't have anything to offer, so it decides to give itself as an offering. The beggar is highly touched by the rabbit's generosity. Seeing this, the beggar comes in his real form and appears as the ruler of the kingdom. The ruler gives a lot of gifts and rewards to the rabbit for his kindness. The moral of the story is that kindness is the greatest virtue. The story can be appropriate for kids between the age group of 5 to 8.

Conclusion

While there are several stories that you can narrate to your child, these are some of the few ones that are simple, engaging, and come with a significant lesson towards the end. Hence, you may narrate it to your child and have a brief storytime session before sleep.