Many of our readers know that Night Buddies adventures grew out of bedtime stories Sands created with his son. They dreamed up Crosley, the red crocodile, then thought about all the adventures a boy could have when he couldn’t go to sleep.
Next time your kids say, “tell me a story…” go with it. Start with a simple scenario and ask lots of questions along the way. See where your imaginations take you. The best part? You can create an ongoing story that can last several nights.
Here’s an example:
Kid (K): Tell me a story
Super Creative Caregiver (SCC): Okay, but you’ll have to help. This morning I opened the cupboard to get out cereal for breakfast, and instead of cereal, I found the strangest thing. What do you think it was?
K: A monster?
SCC: Well, not exactly a monster. It was something I’d never seen before. It was shaped like a donut, but it had legs and arms and big eyes that looked at me in surprise when I opened the cupboard. Do you know what I did?
K: Ate it?
SCC: I didn’t think of that! I was so startled, I closed the cupboard door and opened the refrigerator. Can you guess what I found there?
K: Milk, or maybe a whole cow?
SCC: You’re right! Did you see it, too? It was a cow., but not a very big one. It fit on the shelf in the fridge right next to the milk. But it was the strangest colors. Can you imagine what they were?
K: Blue? No, orange and blue!
SCC: Exactly! Orange and blue with yellow spots! And the cow said, “Have you seen my friend? She looks like a donut. She went to look for some cereal and I haven’t seen her since.”
You get the idea. The adventure of the cow and donut girl could go anywhere! Don’t worry if the story makes sense. Just go where your child leads you and enjoy the time creating together. If you want to be prepared to begin a bedtime adventure, write down some story prompts. You can keep these in a box under the bed and draw one out to help you get started. You can find some prompts here.