Parents Too Busy for Bedtime Stories, Survey Finds
“Parents often don’t realise how important bedtime stories are. Sharing stories with children stimulates their memory, vocabulary, social and emotional skills, giving them a real head start in the classroom,” Tracey Park, co-founder, Talking Tots
Talking Tots launches competition to help parents ‘Make the Most of Every Bedtime’
Children in the South East of England listen to fewer bedtime stories than anywhere else in the UK, according to a survey published today by Talking Tots, the UK’s fastest-growing toddler activity group.
In a survey of 1,500 parents of pre-schoolers, half of all parents in the South East said they never read more than one book at bedtime, while one in ten said their child never read a bedtime story – instead falling asleep watching a DVD or listening to an audio book. Nationally, children listen to three books on average each night.
“Parents often don’t realise how important bedtime stories are. Sharing stories with children stimulates their memory, vocabulary, social and emotional skills, giving them a real head start in the classroom,” said Tracey Houghton, co-founder of Talking Tots. “A great story is like a rocket engine for your child’s imagination – you’ll be amazed at the conversations you can have about their favourite characters.”
The UK’s favourite bedtime story is The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson. The author urges more parents to share their childhood favourites with their own children. She said: “I loved reading bedtime stories with my children, particularly the Frog and the Toad stories by Arnold Lobel, which are ideal bedtime reading. Frog and Toad Together contains a hilarious story about the time Toad makes a list of Things To Do, then refuses to anything all when the list blows away (he can’t chase after it because that wasn’t on the list). It’s full of witty, inventive ideas for stories; I wish I was like that!”
To help parents make the most of every bedtime, Talking Tots has put together a guide for parents with advice on choosing appropriate stories for toddlers, and using bedtime stories to help stimulate communication and language skills. Parents can read the “Make the Most of Bedtime” guide and enter a competition to win £750 of bedtime stories, toys and accessories from companies including Early Learning Centre, Mamas and Papas, Tippitoes and Cuski. For more details, see www.bedtimetots.com.
Key Survey Findings:
- Parents in the South East read the fewest stories at bedtime
- just one book on average – while parents in the North West read four or more books each night. - One in five Dads in the South East reads to their children every night, compared to just one in 50 in the North East.
- Some less conventional bedtime stories for under 5s include Sir Gawain and the Green Night, the New Testament and The Complete Works of Shakespeare!
The Top 10 Bedtime Stories:
- The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson
- We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
- Thomas the Tank Engine, by W Awdry
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
- The Little Princess, by Tony Ross
- Dear Zoo, by Rod Campbell
- Guess How Much I Love You, Sam McBratney
- Room on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson
- Mister Men, by Roger Hargreaves
- Charlie and Lola, by Lauren Child
About Talking Tots
Talking Tots is the UK’s fastest growing pre-school activity franchise, operating in 20 UK locations, and with more classes launching every month. The company was awarded “Best Innovation for 2008” in the What’s on 4 Little Ones awards and was highly commended in the “Best Toddler Development Class” category. The company was launched by Tracey Park and Lisa Houghton, paediatric speech and language experts.
Recent government research found that up to 50% of children starting primary school do not have the communication skills needed to learn effectively. Common problems include children not speaking clearly in sentences, struggling to follow directions, and being unable to take turns with other children.
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