Dreams can help your kids fall back in love with sleep

As a child, one reason I was keen to hit the hay (as my grandparents used to say) was to close my eyes and be greeted with a “midnight movie.” Even though I often had nightmares, it was worth it for me to risk a few scary dreams in order to enjoy the whole range of strange, funny, and cosmic adventures my sleeping mind had in store for me.

As it turns out, befriending dreams can be a lifelong skill for cultivating healthy sleep. And it’s an important one: Kids need sleep more, and they need more of it than adults do. School administrators nationwide, including some in my home state of Massachusetts, are waking up to this fact. Some are even changing school start times for middle and high school students.

While we know the benefits of a good night’s sleep, people are less knowledgeable about the need for a healthy harvest of dreams. Whether we remember them in the morning or not, dreams help with mood regulation, problem-solving, and learning — all things that are crucial for kids who are getting ready to pick up their backpacks and return to class.

So, as summer winds down and we prepare for back-to-school schedules, it’s the perfect time to revisit bedtime routines for the whole family. Consider adding sweet dreams to the list of reasons to entice your kids (and yourself) to change into pajamas and prepare for sleep. Here’s how:

Keep a night notebook. Tucking our thoughts in at bedtime helps us sleep better. Kids can decorate a notebook and make a journal where they write and draw about how their day went and even what they hope to dream about before bed.

Add value. Valuing sleep and dreams as a family helps children view sleep as an important part of their day. In the morning, ask your child how they slept and whether they remember any dreams. You don’t have to analyze dreams, just listen and show an interest.

Welcome dreams. Drawing pictures of or writing about their dreams helps children build a lifetime habit of looking to dreams as a resource for playful problem-solving, strengthening imagination, and cultivating emotional growth and well-being.

Power up. Paying attention to dreams helps kids remember good dreams and can empower them to work through the emotions from difficult ones. Encourage your child to imagine alternative strategies for dealing with dream meanies, such as shrinking a monster down to the size of a pencil eraser or creating a magic forcefield to stay safe from a scary dream character. This can help them draw on inner resources and creative thinking when facing tough situations awake, too.

Text Copyright Tzivia Gover. Art Credit Copyright Vivian Mineker, All Rights Reserved
Adapted from and originally published at: Storey.com

From the book Sleep Tight Through the Night by Tzivia Gover and Lesléa Newman.

Books on Sleep, Dreams, and Writing

Purchase one of my books on sleep & dreams, mindfulness, and everyday joy–including my brand new book for children and the adults who love them, How to Sleep Tight through the Night. PLUS I have a new book coming out in January combining dreams and writing! Stay tuned for more. Shop books.