Sleep is essential for children, as it plays an important part in molding a child’s young mind. Usually, those who get the right amount of sleep have a better memory, improved behavior, and are happier overall.
The downside is that putting a child to sleep can be tough. One of the best ways to solve a child’s sleep problems is to allow them to listen to some soothing sleep stories. Bedtime stories can develop their imagination and help them relax and wind down. These are some of the best apps that have bedtime stories for kids.
1. Bedtime Audio Stories for Kids
Bedtime stories help children escape to another world, making it easier for them to fall asleep and get a good night's rest. Bedtime Audio Stories for Kids is the perfect app for young children, as it features simple bedtime stories that are not too long and not too short.
The soothing voice narration and dreamy background music can be adjusted to your liking. Plus, you can put the story on repeat or pick a list of stories to play one after the other. Sadly, there are only six bedtime stories available for free on the app, but you can unlock the rest for a small fee.
Download: Bedtime Audio Stories for Kids for Android (Free, in-app purchases available)
2. Bedtime Stories
Bedtime Stories is an adorable mobile app that offers a delightful selection of fictional sleep stories for kids. A few must-listen stories that kids will love include Little Red Riding Hood and The Fox And The Ice Queen.
Additionally, you or your little ones can add their favorite stories to a playlist so that they can easily find them and listen to them later. The great thing about the Bedtime Stories app is that it offers so much more than just stories. The app can also help children fall asleep with gentle melodies, soothing sleep sounds, and guided meditations.
Download: Bedtime Stories for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
3. Little Stories
Your child can be the main character of their own bedtime story using the Little Stories app. To get started, all you have to do is type in your child's name and gender and pick a story. If you have more than one child, don't worry. You have the option to change the story settings at any time.
What makes Little Stories especially unique is the record mode. This mode lets you record the audio yourself and then your kids can listen to your voice telling the story later. Little Stories has a large library of over 52 storybooks. On the downside, only one bedtime story is free, and you’ll need to subscribe to unlock the rest.
Download: Little Stories for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
4. Bedtime Stories for Kids Sleep
Whether your kids are children, toddlers, or babies, bedtime stories are an excellent way to lull them to sleep. There are even apps with bedtime stories for adults! The Bedtime Stories for Kids app has something special for all age groups. The sleep stories are ideal for all ages, while the lullabies are better suited for young children and babies.
In addition, there are bedtime yoga and meditation sessions which are best to help older kids relax. The best part about this app is that the story runs in the background when you lock your phone, so kids can’t fool around.
Download: Bedtime Stories for Kids Sleep for iOS | Android (Free, in-app purchases available)
5. Moshi
Moshi is one of the most well-known sleep and mindfulness apps for kids' sleep health. To make things easier to find, Moshi conveniently has three handy sections—Day, Night, and Play. The Day section features music, sounds, meditation, and lots more for kids to enjoy during the day. The Play section offers fun interactive games like coloring, puzzles, memory activities, and matching games.
Lastly, the Night section is where you’ll find all the engaging sleep stories as well as sleep meditations, music, lullabies, and sounds. There are tons of sleep stories to choose from with various educational themes like friendship, problem-solving, and kindness. Some stories are even narrated by Patrick Stewart and Goldie Hawn.
Download: Moshi for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
6. New Horizon
You can forget about spending all night trying to get your children to bed with the New Horizon app. This app is specifically designed to make your kids' bedtime less stressful with plenty of guided sleep meditations and sleep stories.
New Horizon has a nice range of free bedtime stories which can take your children on a range of adventures, from riding on a sleep train to floating on a bed in the clouds. Locked stories can be easily accessed with a one-time purchase, or you can sign up for a subscription. Moreover, you have the option to download stories, so the kids can listen to them offline.
Download: New Horizon for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
7. Nighty Night
With cute animated illustrations, soothing narration, and gentle night sounds, Nighty Night is truly the ideal bedtime story app for kids. But Nighty Night does differ from the previously listed apps. The big difference is that it is an interactive bedtime story where kids have to turn off all the farmhouse lights in each room and put each farm animal to sleep.
Even though the Nighty Night app adds a gamelike element to their story time, it’s simple and tranquil enough not to over-excite a young child. Keep in mind that Nighty Night is especially well suited for younger children aged one to four, and older kids will likely appreciate something else.
Download: Nighty Night for iOS | Android (Free, in-app purchases available)
8. Bedtime Stories for Kids (KidloLand Storyworld)
Bedtime Stories for Kids truly is an awesome app when it comes to stories for kids. The amount of story options available for reading and listening is massive. The app offers a selection of categories ranging from fairy tales and moral stories to stories about letters and sounds and, of course, bedtime stories.
Every story features two different modes to choose from—Read for Me and Read By Myself. These modes either allow older children to read the stories by themselves or younger children to have the stories read to them. Bedtime Stories for Kids’ library consists of over 240 stories, including popular classics like Cinderella, The Giant Turnip, and the Three Little Pigs.
Download: Bedtime Stories for Kids for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
Bring the Day to a Close With These Wonderful Bedtime Stories
Every child indeed loves listening to bedtime stories. Besides story time being super fun for them, it’s also beneficial for their development. So when you don't have the time or energy to read a bedtime story yourself, or perhaps you’d just like to try something different, try one of these apps!
Even though parents would rather avoid using mobile phones and screens during bedtime, sometimes it can seriously help. Plus, the majority of these mobile apps can play in the background while your phone is locked, which means your child can fall asleep without distractions or interruptions.