Hey there, it’s Rachel and Paddy from Learn From Play. Have you seen our original picture books and short stories? Read on to find out what they are and why we wrote them.
Why Read Bedtime Stories?
Reading at bedtime does so much more than just establish a calming bedtime routine. It plays a crucial role in the development of young children’s cognitive, emotional, and social well-being. Reading to young children every night creates a special bonding time between caregivers and children while promoting language development. Not only is reading at bedtime highly enjoyable for readers and listeners, but children get exposed to new words, sentence structures, and narrative patterns that can enhance their vocabulary and comprehension skills.
Short stories before sleep stimulates children's imagination and creativity, transports them to magical worlds and introduces them to diverse characters and experiences. This imaginative engagement is a large part of what makes reading enjoyable and it helps cultivate a lifelong love for books and learning. Bedtime stories also provide opportunities for children to learn important life lessons, moral values, and cultural traditions, helping them develop empathy, resilience, and a sense of morality.
Our Original Stories
With seven books currently available on Learn From Play, it’s a good time to share with you the learning embedded in each book along with the social skills, life lessons and critical message each story can impart.
Written by Rachel this is a full colour picture book about an old man who performs acts of environmental consciousness in a bid to save money. By recycling his plastic water bottles, taking short showers, and shopping at the local markets, Fred is both protecting the environment and saving money. The money he saves he uses to further help the environment by purchasing trees to plant.
There are loads of activities for this book including a colour by number, a sorting rubbish activity and craft projects such as recycled beads, tree decorations and creating plantable pots from newspaper. Both the book and the activities are designed to encourage children to think about their environmental footprint and what they can do to live more sustainably. From the simple act of using a bucket in the shower to collect water for their plants to walking to school rather than driving, every act helps create a more liveable planet for us all.
Written by Paddy, this is a cautionary tale about the possible dangers of talking to strangers alone - especially if they are an unusually chatty crocodile. In the style of Roald Dahl, this is a fun, quick read for all ages. Children who like a story with a twist and a snap in its tail will love this story. The read-for-you video version brings the story to life and allows the reader to put themselves in Toby's shoes - although that might not be such a good idea.
There are lots of activities to accompany this story designed to teach children about stranger danger and why they should avoid talking to strangers when they are by themselves. There is a persuasive writing activity, two fun code breakers, activities on the differences between crocodiles and alligators, games and much more. As a bedtime story, it provides a perfect segway into conversations around who young children can and can’t trust and how it is not a good idea to explore unknown areas unaccompanied – especially when on holidays.
These short audio stories are the first instalments in our series on native animals living in the urban environment. The stories center around Molly the antechinus or marsupial mouse. Read by Paddy, the author, these stories are just 5 minutes each in duration. The read-for-you delivery of these stories make them great lesson primers for primary school-aged children and fabulous 'nap time' stories for preschool-aged children. They provide uniquely Australian content to delight young audiences while educating them on the native animals sharing our urban environment.
There are currently two Molly stories online with the third instalment due to drop very soon! Register your interest to be the first to know when the latest instalment is available by filling in the form below.
Three highly original books on maths form this series and are designed for children just starting at school who are encountering mathematics for the first time. School syllabus matched, these stories explore the fact that maths is about asking questions and some of the answers to those questions such as “Why We Need Numbers” and “Why Add and Subtract are Opposites”. The full colour picture books are designed to be used in the classroom and to be paired with our Maths ‘N’ Movement and Bloomsmath programs. They also make a fine bedtime story for young children who are trying to understand the new world of their Mathematics classroom.
Depending on initial feedback, I have several more books on Mathematics I would like to create to support teachers with Foundation Math for very young learners. To let me know that you would value more books drop me an email at Rachel@LearnFromPlay.com.