Pyjamarama: celebrate the wonder of bedtime stories at home

Published on: 01 June 2019 Author: Francesca Wilks

Pyjamarama is all about celebrating the joy and wonder of bedtime stories and there are lots of ways you can experience that magic with your little ones.

Find out more about Pyjamarama in your community

Beep! Beep! Have fun with Car, Car, Truck, Jeep

If you’re going to a Pyjamarama event at your library or at a local children’s centre, you’ll be able to take home a free copy of the brilliant Car, Car, Truck, Jeep by Katrina Charman and Nick Sharratt.

This colourful, rhyming book is loads of fun and will keep little ones entertained even after multiple readings.

Keep the fun of the day going by exploring the book with your child at home. You can have loads of fun making the noises of each vehicle and even pretending to be them.

Explore a whole world of stories

There’s more to a book than just the words and pictures on the page, and great stories can take you and your child on exciting adventures.

Why not spend an afternoon trying out fun activities related to your child’s favourite bedtime story? You could visit a setting from the book, cook or bake something together that’s inspired by the story, or make up your own mini play about the characters.

This interactive approach helps fire up imaginations and is a great way to get under-5s excited about books, stories and rhymes.

Check out our Pyjamarama activities and rhymes

There's loads of great stuff right here on the website that you can have fun with at home, including step-by-step craft guides, sing-along rhymes and PJs to colour in.

Visit our activities page here.

Try our bedtime reading tips

Sharing stories at bedtime is loads of fun for you and your child. If you’re looking for a few pointers, here are some of our top reading tips.

• Your child is never too young or old for bedtime stories. Babies will love listening to the sound of your voice and older ones will be thrilled to go on reading adventures with you.
• Let your child pick the book they want to read. When they’re enjoying the story, you’ll enjoy reading with them.
• Make sure there are no distractions by switching off your phone, television and computer - this is time for you to unwind together.
• Point to the pictures on the page and spend time talking about what you see.
• Make your voice expressive and enthusiastic when you read. You could even try different voices for each character.
• Try not to feel self-conscious when you read. After all, it’s just you and your child and they will think you’re the greatest storyteller in the world!

You can find more great tips on reading together here.