We know kids thrive on routines and rituals: The predictability helps them feel secure, develop good habits and learn to better regulate their own emotions.
Sometimes it can feel like a drag for parents to live life on a schedule, but a recent survey revealed there’s one routine most parents love as much as their kids do: bedtime stories.
In fact, story time even ranked higher in popularity among parents than bath time and cuddle time ― although as any book-loving mom or dad will tell you, reading and cuddling tend to be a package deal, when it comes to the bedtime routine.
Watch this video below to learn more about parents’ thoughts, habits and preferences around story time.
Eighty-six per cent of parents love telling stories to their kids before bedtime, according to this survey of 2,000 parents conducted by OnePoll, on behalf of customized children’s book publisher Wonderbly. In fact, three in four wish they could never stop telling stories to their kids, as they grow older, and describe bedtime stories as the most quality time they get with their children in the typical day. Since it’s such a peaceful and cozy ritual, with opportunities for one-on-one conversations, it’s excellent for bonding.
So when does it all begin? Twenty per cent of parents start reading to their children before they are even born. And 15 per cent start from the time their child enters the world.
It’s never too early: As reported in a 2018 HuffPost Canada story, reading to babies during their early infancy, boosts language, vocabulary and literacy skills. These benefits are still evident up to four years later.
Most parents continue the bedtime-story routine until their child is around eight years old, and they spend on average 15 minutes reading bedtime stories together. While 21 per cent of parents like to get creative and use their imagination in making up stories, 41 per cent prefer to read from books.
