Storytelling and GoodNites Bedtime Theater: Iggy's Next Adventure Contest (and a Giveaway)

This week several bloggers are participating in Share a Story - Shape a Future, a weeklong blog tour for literacy. It's a way for bloggers share ideas on ways to raise a reader and support children's literacy efforts. I'm excited to host a giveaway sponsored by GoodNites brand of sleep pants in conjunction with this event.

A good story draws attention. Parents can use storytelling to increase interest in reading and books. Storytelling goes hand in hand with reading and literacy development because oral communication provides the basis for beginning reading. Children that tell stories increase their understanding of word development and grow their vocabularies.

Bedtime is the perfect time for parents and children to engage in storytelling. Kimberly-Clark is sharing its commitment to literacy and wants to help parents and children bond at night with the magic of storytelling. Their GoodNites website offers several storytelling bedtime activity suggestions:

Play with Finger Puppets [pdf] - Put on a puppet show with the finger puppets and have your child act out their own made up story.

Use Template Word Games [pdf] - Create wacky stories by filling in the blanks of a short story with words and phrases. Read the story aloud together.

Make Hand Shadows [pdf] - Tell a story and illustrate it with your hand shadows on the wall.

The GoodNites brand of sleep pants also recently launched Bedtime Theater,™ a series audio bedtime stories available for free download online (CD versions are available in packages of GoodNites Sleep Pants). The story is about a boy Iggy and his exciting adventures with his magical bed. Along with listening to the story, families and storytellers can participate in the Iggy's Next Adventure Contest by creating a new adventure for Iggy and entering it in the contest. Only a story summary is required (approximately 275 words), so the contest isn't overly difficult to enter. Take a moment and enter your story idea for a chance to win the $2500 grand prize or one of the smaller weekly prizes. The contest ends on 4/15/2010. See the official rules for contest information.

The Bedtime Theater helps parents establish a nightly bedtime story routine with their children and reduce anxiety around bedtime. According to Dr. Jennifer Trachtenberg, one of the GoodNites NiteLite experts, "having a regular evening ritual, such as a bedtime story, can quell nighttime issues like bedwetting and become an important step in building your child’s self-confidence." Even though the website is geared toward those needing help with bedwetting, all parents and children can enjoy the Bedtime Theater.



As a way to spread the word about the GoodNites Bedtime Theater, activities and storytelling contest, GoodNites has kindly offered to give away a Bedtime Theater kit to a Brimful Curiosities reader. The kit is worth approximately $175 and includes an iPod shuffle, $25 iTunes Gift Card, Brookstone cuddle blanket, Patagonia bag and Logitech speakers.

To enter, leave a comment with a storytelling activity idea or a description of how you have used storytelling with children.

• For contact purposes, if you are a non-blogger or your email is not accessible in your blog profile, please leave a valid email address within the comment section.
• Contest is open to US only
• Contest ends on Monday, March 29th, 2010 at 11:59 PM CST.
• Winner will be chosen at random and sent an email notification.

Ways to gain extra entries (Please leave a separate comment for each entry):
1st extra entry: Enter Iggy's Next Adventure Contest and comment with the date you entered. (Remember, you can enter the storytelling contest once per day.)
2nd extra entry: Blog about this contest then post your link in the comment section.
3rd extra entry: Follow me on twitter (iambrimful) and tweet about the contest.
4th extra entry: Follow Me! or subscribe by email or RSS reader

GoodNites® provided me with Bedtime Theater Kits for my family and to conduct a reader giveaway. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive sentiments towards GoodNites® products. (View my full disclosure statement for more information about my reviews.)