It's no secret that bedtime in our house has always been a bit of a battle, and lately we've been going through a rough patch again.
One thing that always helps to make bedtime a smoother process is the promise of a new bedtime story. My boys seem to take after their mama in that they LOVE stories -both listening to them and making up their own, in fact my 4 year old Tyne regularly surprises me with how creative and interesting his made up stories are!
But while having a new bedtime story certainly makes things easier when it comes to convincing the boys that it's time for bed, it just isn't possible to have a new book for them every night. It's also not possible for us to sit in their bedroom reading them story after story until they fall asleep - as much as I'm sure they'd love that, we have things to do!
A few weeks ago, I started to think about the idea of playing stories for them at bedtime instead. Of course we'd still enjoy our usual bedtime story together, but I wondered if having some sort of device in their bedroom to play them an audio book of some sort would help to make bedtimes easier - they'd be entertained, and we'd be free to get on with our tasks.
But I couldn't think of anything that would work - I knew if I used a tablet device, they'd be out of bed in an instant wanting to watch the screen...even if there was nothing playing on it! Or trying to get a game on instead!
If I used my phone, I knew they'd be fiddling with it...same with an Ipod.
I considered the idea of getting a CD player of some sort but the power points in their bedroom wouldn't allow for an easy place to put one, and bundles of audio books for children are actually quite pricey!
And then, as if by magic, the solution appeared on my doorstep one morning.
Allow me to introduce My Fabulous Story Teller by Lunii.
This handy little device is exactly what I needed - it's designed especially for children, making it safe and easy for them to use by themselves, it runs from an internal battery so doesn't need to be plugged in, and it's purpose?
To tell stories!
The Story Teller comes loaded with 48 possible stories and allows your child to choose what they want to hear by making them the story creator.
When its switched on, The Story Teller prompts your child through a series of choices - allowing them to choose who they want as the main character of their story, where they want their story to take place, who they'd like their character to meet along the way, and which object they'd like to be part of the story line.
These can be as traditional as a story about a little girl named Suzanne meeting Santa in her home and helping him to overcome a fear of spiders, or as totally random as a little boy named Ben meeting an imp in a forest and helping him to find lost keys!
The stories tend to last between 3-8 minutes each, and at the end of each one your child is asked if they'd like to create another story - meaning that the need for parental involvement is practically zero!
This makes My Fabulous Story Teller the ideal entertainment for use in the back of the car, or - like us - when the usual bedtime story has been read but your child isn't ready to fall asleep and wants to listen to a few more to drop off to!
My Fabulous Story Teller also allows you to download further story packs on to it, meaning it always stays fresh and interesting.
It's so easy for children to control, and I LOVE the fact that it engages them in something and keeps them entertained without the use of screens or even pictures - allowing them to simply sit back and use their imaginations to "see" the story unfold as its being told.
This is something that I think children should be encouraged to do more of, I know my boys have a tendency to argue over who has the best view of the pictures in our story books despite my insistence that they can use their imaginations to see what's happening and so I love that My Fabulous Story Teller encourages them to use their minds eye to create a picture of whats happening as the story is told.
I am honestly so impressed with My Fabulous Story Teller - we are sent a lot of products to try out but this is one of my favourites of all, it really is such a good idea and Tyne in particular absolutely loves it!
He seems to really enjoy the element of creating the storyline for himself, and listening to how it plays out.
Lunii are a French company who have recently launched within the UK - you can find them on Facebook where they regularly share very sweet stories for children to enjoy, or if you're interested in purchasing My Fabulous Story Teller you can find them on Amazon or you can buy directly from Lunii themselves.
To find out more, please visit www.lunii.fr
*With thanks to Lunii for collaborating with us on this post, all words and thoughts are my own
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