By Caleb Roose
The bedtime battle
When my kids entered the toddler/preschool stage, getting them ready for bed each night started to feel like gearing up for a battle. They’d fight, cry, or even go limp to avoid getting ready for bed. As a sleepless parent, it was (and is!) hard for me to relate (after all, I often daydream about how nice it’d be to have a full night’s sleep!). Yet, thinking back to my childhood years, I’ve realized that:
When I say, “It’s time for bed,” my kids actually hear, “Stop having fun.”
Perhaps they’re in the middle of playing, or they’ve just stopped watching a television show and are winding down, or they simply don’t feel ready for the day to be over. In each of these scenarios, hearing “It’s bedtime” can be difficult for kids to accept.
That’s why I’ve found making my kids’ bedtime routine an extension of play to be much more successful.
If you relate to this “It’s bedtime” struggle, check out my 3 tried-and-true bedtime games that have made it so not only do my kids look forward to their bedtime routine—I do too.
3 tried-and-true bedtime games to make getting ready for bed more fun for you and your kids
1) The Monster / Bad Guy Bedtime Game
In this bedtime game, you get to be the monster or bad guy and your kids are the superheroes. Explain these roles to your kids and then say that the only way they’ll be able to defeat you is if they ________________ (fill in the blank, one at a time, with their various bedtime tasks [brush their teeth, go potty, wash their hands, put on pajamas, etc.]). After they accomplish each feat, they gain more power or another superpower. Some nights they turn invisible (I’ll exclaim in my monster voice, “Where’d they go?!”). Other nights they gain super strength (with just a touch of their finger, I go flying across the room). But if they start slacking between each task, their powers start to fade, and I act like I’m going to defeat them—until they start on the next one.
Pro Tips:
Get into character, just don’t go over the top! You don’t want to rile them up too much or scare them right before you want them to sleep.
At times, my kids will turn me into their sidekick when they need help with a bedtime task that’s beyond their current abilities (like getting toothpaste on a toothbrush), so I’ll switch characters to make the assist.
To mix up this game, put a reverse psychology spin on it. As the bad guy, I’ll say I’m going to stop them from getting ready for bed. You’d be surprised how hard my kids work to get ready for bed if they know they’ll thwart my evil plot!
2) Bedtime Challenges
In this group of bedtime games, you’ll come up with a challenge that makes getting ready for bed more fun. Maybe it’s a pop quiz about things they know or they have to try to “score a goal” you set up for them. Each time they get an answer right or score, they get to do the next bedtime task. Between each task, they need to get another right answer or score again to keep progressing toward bed (and they won’t get another challenge from you until they’ve completed the last bedtime task).
Pro Tips:
Mixing up what the challenge is for different nights can keep things fresh and will help your kids stay engaged.
Ask your child to come up with their own version of the challenge some nights so they feel ownership of the game (which is also particularly helpful when your creative energies are running low!)
3) Super Secret Bedtime Mission
In this game, I tell my kids that they have a super secret mission they need to accomplish: they have to get ready for bed and into bed without me spotting them! Then I turn off most of the lights in the house and turn on my phone flashlight. Next, my little super spies have to get from one side of the house to the other to get ready for bed—without me flashing my light on them. But if I spot them with the flashlight, they have to start over in the other room.
Pro Tips:
For this game, I started playing it with my oldest two when they were in preschool and elementary school (it may not be appropriate for toddlers). They’re independent enough at this age to know how to get ready for bed (and not get too scared of the dark)—the game just provides them with the needed motivation.
Be sure to have some dim lights on and to clear anything from the floor that they might trip on so they don’t get hurt.
If your kids need extra motivation, you could have them start over in the other room between each task to keep up the fun.
And—last be not least—it’s in your best interest to not spot them too often with your flashlight 😉
That’s it! These are my 3 tried-and-true bedtime games that have turned “It’s bedtime” from one of the worst times of our days to some of the most fun.
Bed-time games are way less tiring than bed-time battles
If you read this list and feel excited to try them out, go for it! You may find yourself even coming up with some games of your own.
However, if after reviewing these bedtime games you’re thinking, I barely have any energy at the end of the day, let alone to play a bunch of creative games with my kids, I know how you feel and have felt the same.
Yet I’ve also found that it takes a lot less energy to turn “It’s bedtime” into a game than it does to fight my kids into bed.
So give it a try! I’d love to hear how it goes.
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