Ten minutes at bedtime: why reading together matters

Bedtime stories are not just a nice extra. Ten minutes of reading together each day is one of the simplest and most effective things you can do for a young child.

What reading together does

• Words: stories use words children do not hear in everyday chat, so they hear and learn many more of them.
• Listening and concentration: following a story from start to end is a skill, and it grows with practice.
• Calm: a familiar routine of bath, pyjamas and a story tells a busy little brain that it is time to slow down.
• Closeness: it is ten minutes of your full attention, which children love more than anything.

Simple tips

• Let them choose the book, even if it is the same one every night.
• Do the voices. Children never mind if they are silly.
• Pause and ask "What do you think happens next?"
• Let them turn the pages, and point things out in the pictures.
• Stop while they still want more, so they look forward to tomorrow.

Gentle stories for the end of the day

Some of our stories are made for winding down: The Night the Diggers Woke Up ends at sunrise with everyone fast asleep, and My Human, told by the family pet, ends curled up at the end of the bed. Children who are the hero of the book tend to ask for it every single night.