Bedtime Routine Activities for Kids to Make Bed time Easier

Bedtime is my least and favorite time of the day. Make your bedtime routine easier with these simple bedtime routine activities.

Why it’s important to keep a bedtime routine

There are so many studies out there that show how creating a good bedtime routine with your kids makes it easier for them to go to bed, and fosters good sleep habits for the future.

Keeping a bedtime routine helps your child’s body know that it’s time for bed. If you do the same routine every night, it signals to the brain that it’s time to settle down and go to sleep. It starts to increase the Melatonin in your body, which regulates your sleep cycle.

Whatever you choose to do before bed: brush their teeth, read a book, turn off the lights, or tuck them in, becomes a routine for them. If you stayed (mostly) consistent by doing these things every night, your child would start to fall asleep just with the association with this routine. We have been sticking to a bedtime routine for several years now with our kids and it works great. And the awesome thing is, you can change the routine at any time, it just takes consistency and commitment. But it can be done!

We used to use a chore chart to help implement bedtime. It was a flip chore chart with a list of things my daughter had to get done before bed. They were simple like brush your teeth, pack your backpack, lay out your clothes, pack your lunch, change into PJ’s, and go potty. She loved being able to cross off her list each night.

I realized for our kids that if we do a small, quiet activity with them before bed, they sleep better and we get a short bonding time in. Here is a great list of activities you can do before bed to help with your child’s bedtime routine.

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Bedtime Routine Activities

Read a book

This is probably the most common activity to do before bed. But it is a great quiet activity, it helps them learn, and it makes you tired. My daughter is old enough now to read on her own, so we usually let her read herself to sleep if she’s having trouble sleeping. My son loves reading a good book together. His favorite bedtime book is The Mixed Up Truck.

Sing songs

At one point I would just sing my kids to sleep because it was the only thing that would get them to calm down for a few minutes. Just long enough to realize they were super tired. Now we might sing some songs together.

Listen to music with Alexa

My kids love the music station Rock-a-bye baby on Pandora. They listen to it on Alexa when they can’t sleep or want some “noise” in their room. This can be a good part of your child’s bedtime routine. Alexa now has an echo dot made for kids. This is a great tool, not only for bedtime, but also for other activities.

Fly to your room

When I was growing up we had a babysitter that would fly us to the bathroom to brush our teeth and start getting ready for bed. I think we looked forward to it so much we would constantly ask if it was time to brush our teeth and go to bed.

Race to your room

As soon as we finish our night time family prayers the kids climb on our backs and we race to their room. It makes it super fun and you don’t have to fight them going to their room. You could race in other was too.

Roses and Thorns

Since I can remember, my daughter and I have been doing Roses and Thorns together. At the end of each day you ask your child what their favorite part of their day was, hence the roses. Then you ask what their least favorite part of their day was, or the thorns. You can also ask what they are looking forward to the next day or how they have seen the hand of God in their life that day. This is a great way to get them to think and talk about their day.

Stretching

Do some yoga or stretching. Kids love to stretch and do little activities. Stretching is just good for the body and soul.

Write in Journal

If your child is old enough, have them write their thoughts down in a journal. There are so many benefits to keeping a journal, so why not have them start the habit now. Promptly journal is a company that specializes in journals. They have ALL kinds of different themed journals. They even have kid’s journals that would be great to use!

Draw or color

Let them draw or color a picture. You could even have a coloring book that is designated for night time only. Just a few minutes of quiet coloring can make them tired. You can download my Inspirational Coloring book, or get it for free here:

Play a game

I don’t mean play a crazy game or get out all the pieces to a board game, but play a word game or question game like would you rather questions, name all the colors you can think of, I spy, or any other game they can do in bed laying down.

Pick something to go to bed with

Let your kids pick something they can sleep with every night. If your kids are like mine, they probably already have something they sleep with. My son likes to pick out a car, and my daughter usually has one of her stuffed animals. They both sleep with their own personal small blankets as well.

Pray

We pray as a family every night, so it has become one of our bedtime routine activities. The kids come to expect it every night and remind us if we forget to pray.

Grateful time

Bedtime is a great time to be grateful. Have your kids reflect on the day and think about all the things they were grateful for that day, or in general. Creating an attitude of gratitude at a young age is so important.

Glow Stars

Put up some glow stars in their room and ask them to wish upon a star every night, then just enjoy the beauty of them. You could also make constellations or change them up every once in a while.

Look at photo album

My kids love looking at photo albums of our family and themselves. Set it right by their bed and let them look through it every night.

Reward chart

Create a bedtime routine reward chart. If they check off their items each night, they can get a star sticker or some type of reward. Once they have collected all the stars, then they get a prize. You could also create your own reward chart/bedtime chore chart.

Bedtime Routine Activities

I know bedtime can be a huge stressor because it definitely is for me. But I have found that when I implement a routine, then I’m happier and the kids are happier. They come to know what to expect and they do it. I would recommend trying out one or two of these activities until you find one that fits your family best.

We usually do showers, brush teeth, scriptures, pray, read books or color, and then lights out. This is our current schedule. It changes according to our family’s needs, goals, wants, and ages at the time.

I would also like to mention a nifty thing that could help with wake time. It’s not really for when they go to bed, but when they wake up. I’m considering getting one, and I think it’s one of the greatest inventions ever so I thought I’d share. It’s a kids alarm clock. I guess it can tell them when it’s time for bed. But it also lights up when it’s okay to wake up. If you have kids that wake up too early, this could be helpful. It also tells you the day, has songs, and temperature. I thought it was a pretty cool device.

I hope you can have a better bedtime routine with these activities.

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