Bedtime Story Games

Make it Rhyme

• Children enjoy rhyming games because they like how similar words sound together to create a sing-song effect. Turn your bedtime story into a rhyming game by making the words rhyme. As the reader of the bedtime story, it is your job to decide which words to make rhyme. When you are reading the story and stumble across a good rhyming word, such as "whale," pause the story and ask your child what some words are that rhyme with "whale." Your child will enjoy thinking about words like tale, tail, sale, sail, pale, pail, rail, snail and mail. When your kid has run out of rhyming words, continue the story and do another rhyming exercise a few minutes later.

Word Games

• If your child has a favorite bedtime story, create a word game, such as a word search or word scramble, using the character names from the story. Give your child the word game to play in the evening as you read the story to her. Or read the story first and then give her a few minutes to work on the word game afterward.

I Spy...

• I Spy... is a game that involves looking for something in the room and having the other person guess what it is. Incorporate the game into a bedtime story game by pausing throughout the story to look for items of relevance in your child's bedroom. For instance, if you are reading your child a story about a girl who doesn't like to brush her hair, you would pause and say "I spy an object that has prongs sticking up" and your child would guess that you spy a hairbrush, only if the hairbrush is in the bedroom with you. Your child can play the game by also being the one who spies. She may pause your reading and say "I spy..." and then it is your turn to guess what she spies.

Story Repeat

• Children are fond of repetition, and your child may want you to read her favorite story over and over again. You can add something more to the same old story by playing a game with your child that requires her to repeat the story to you after you read it. First, you read her the bedtime story. Then, she has to tell you all of the things that happen in the story from start to finish. This game is also a good exercise in reading comprehension and communication, because it helps your child learn how to remember significant events and talk about things in sequential order.