Bedtime story ideas for kids

The three-part recipe

1. Hero: your child, or a small animal that is like them. 2. Problem: something small, such as a lost sock or a cloud that cannot sleep. 3. Kind solution: help from a friend, patience or a clever idea. Then slow down and let the hero fall asleep.

Dinosaurs and animals

• A little T. rex who learns to say sorry with a very small voice.
• A hedgehog who builds a leaf blanket for the whole forest.
• A turtle who is always late and finds out that the best view is from the back.
• A duckling who wears a paper crown for a day.

Space and robots

• A robot who collects the stars that fell down at night and puts them back.
• An astronaut who takes a nap on a quiet moon.
• A comet that wants to learn to hum.
• A small spaceship that is afraid of the dark between planets.

Sea, magic and fairy tales

• A seahorse who sings the tide to sleep.
• A fairy whose wand only works when she is kind.
• Goldilocks, with a friendlier ending where the bears invite her for breakfast.
• A princess who finds that the pea is a friend, not a test.

Let the story write itself

If you don't want to improvise every night, Black Horse writes a story from your child's name, age and interests in seconds and illustrates it. You can still add your own idea to the prompt.