Story Glow {A Review With Gifted Items}

This is not an advert but I so loved the product that I wanted to share more about it here.

Having found out about STORY GLOW through connections made on Instagram I was only too happy to share the wonderful product it is on my blog. You see, I absolutely love anything to do with encouraging reading in children, but this project actually encourages reading WITH children which according to research is becoming a lost thing.

I was really disappointed to hear recent statistics on how few children are now read to every night. Parents simply are not doing the whole bedtime story thing anymore and I can't stress enough how big an opportunity is being missed with this.

The ending of the day with a book for children is so relaxing. This is a prime time for winding down, for stopping and calming them and even though it may seem like one task too many, honestly, this time is just as important for you as it is for the child.

We started reading to Raph properly when he was 10 months old. We had got to the end of our tether having struggled with routine and sleeping and after some teaching from a very helpful health visitor we spent 3 days solidly building a new routine. Part of this was reading 3 books each night. Baby books aren't long so having 3 gave us a good 20 minutes to cuddle and wind down. This was vital in us developing a sleep routine for Raph and since that moment we have never changed the pattern. Etta fit into it when she came along and we would read books in Raph's room together and when she was 2 we actually moved them into the same bedroom and the bedtime routine only became better. I love putting them to bed together, they find such comfort in both being in the same room and I find great comfort in just being together. Reading has carried on and the only thing that is now changing is the amount of books as the length of the stories are now considerably longer. This time though is still a rigid part of our routine. It hasn't changed, it is part of our wind down and is so important.

STORY GLOW is a subscription book box. But that is not all it is, it is also an education, it is extra curricular and is so good in so many ways. In the box you get a book and then you get a host of activities centered around the book's topic. We have the EARTH EDITION so that was a book about Planet Awesome and lots of world related activities. You have your choice from arts and crafts, or more learning based activities. There is even a meditation activity which I really loved. All of this has been put together with the child at the core. You have the book where it starts, which gives you that opportunity to spend time with the children reading and sharing and with the book you also get a brilliant support sheet with links to National Curriculum goals which just makes me recognise how thought out this whole product is. We started with the book that we read a few evenings in a row and then did the activities a few days later. The activities could last however long you wanted them to and even not all be done at once.

The lovely thing about STORY GLOW is that you can order a monthly subscription or just a one off box which would be great as a gift but my point is that you can very much use it within your own time, it's not something that has to be done in an instant but it is something that you and your child could really take great enjoyment in using.

STORY GLOW encourages reading with children. It encourages the importance of that activity and that is why I really love it. All the extras are beautiful but the key within all of this is that the children get the opportunity to read with you as a parent.

If I could give you one bit of advice about bedtime with children it would be to give them opportunity to relax. Do you ever just stop working and fall into bed? We as adults spend a good few hours on an evening winding down, doing recreational things that relax us and prepare us for bed; you have to give children that same time. Be the one to help them calm down and relax by giving them your time. You will see that time really comes to mean a lot to both of you.