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Getting kids to sleep can be a chore but one tried-and-true technique never fails: The bedtime story.
There are thousands of free bedtime stories for kids that you can access right from your phone or tablet. Some are short bedtime stories, some are epically long for the kids who need a longer landing into dreamland.
Here are our favorite sleepytime podcasts, apps, and downloadable bedtime stories for kids to fall asleep to. We listened to dozens and these have the best long and short bedtime stories we found. Each will help calm the mind to help them settle down a bit easier.
Bedtime story podcasts for kids
1. Be Calm on Ahway Island
Suggested age: 3 to early tweens
Be Calm on Ahway Island balances mindfulness meditations with engaging children's stories.
Each episode begins with a guided meditation, a positive message, and an engaging but calming story. This podcast series is perfect for bedtime, nap time, or any time your kids need some down time.
2. The Stories Podcast
Suggested age: 3 to 10
From retelling of classic fairy tales, to newly devised stories of triumph and bravery, this dynamic podcast is fun to listen to for every child.
Each tale in The Stories Podcast clocks in at 25 minutes, making for the perfect short bedtime story length to help encourage kids to tuck into dreamland.
3. Bedtime Explorers
They'll journey to magical destination in the Bedtime Explorers podcast.
Suggested age: 2 to 10
The Bedtime Explorers podcast is the best thing to come out of Australia since the Hemsworth brothers. It’s also our favorite find while doing research for this story.
Featuring the calming voice of a mindfulness coach and original music by a band that is aptly named “Gentleforce”, each episode uses cute and visual meditation techniques that are easy for little ones to understand. Your kids will be left relaxed and ready for a good night’s sleep.
4. Honeybee Kids
Suggested age: 2 to tweens, depending on the story
A school teacher and mother of two devised this podcast, so it’s no surprised that our kid testers were hooked from the first listen.
The host of Honeybee Kids uses her soothing storytelling to tell bedtime stories and take kids through simple meditations using storylines they already love, like "The Lion King," "Toy Story," Pokémon, and "Frozen."
5. Calm Kids
Suggested age: 5 to tweens
For kids, by kids, Calm Kids tells stories that are instantly relatable and engaging to children.
A big sister (age 11, at the time) made up relaxing stories to help calm her little sister each night at bedtime. The stories were great, so the sisters recorded them to help other kids struggling to fall asleep.
6. Sleep Tight Stories
Suggested age: 3 to 10
Sleep Tight Stories uses soothing ambient sounds like chirping crickets, rustling leaves, and breezes through trees, as a backdrop to all of their storytelling, which our kid testers found extra calming.
The stories are a perfect mix of calming and engaging. Each includes a retellings of fairy tales and folk stories, or an original tale written by guest authors.
7. Circle Round
Fairy tales from around the world are what make Circle Round unique.
Suggested age: 6 to tweens
Circle Round is the award-winning kids’ podcast that uses top talent from the stage and screen to retell fairy tales and short stories, with engaging new twists.
Most episodes hone in on a message of value-teaching, such as kindness and respect for others. All are lovely messages for kids to dream about as they drift off to sleep.
8. Tales from the Lilypad
Suggested age: 3 to early tweens
Tales from the Lilypad is filled with vivid and robust rearrangements of classic stories and fables. Each is told by Lily the Frog as she sits atop her swamp-side lily pad abode.
This cute and clever podcast makes it fun to revisit the childhood classics you grew up with, retold and reimagined with new, original, and often humorous twists.
9. Peace Out
Suggested age: 6 to adult
Peace Out is for any child who needs help finding a bit of peace. We found it to be a perfect introduction to calming the mind and cultivating self-regulation.
These calming bedtime stories teach mindfulness with guided breathing exercises. There's no magic formula for getting kids to relax, but the kid-centered meditations on Peace Out definitely come close.
10. Bedtime History
Suggested age: 7 to adult
The calming voice of Breck, the host of Bedtime History makes these short bedtime stories interesting and calming all at once.
Each Bedtime History tale focuses on one inspiring and educational tale pulled from history.
The episodes give bite-sized history lessons on inspirational figures like Nikola Tesla, Sacagawea, George Lucas, and Rosa Parks. Other topics include space exploration, the Grand Canyon, and great feats of engineering like the Transcontinental Railroad.
11. Little Stories for Tiny People
Original stories, written by kids.
Suggested age: 2 to 10
Little Stories for Tiny People starts kids out giggling and leaves them dozing. Each original story has a run time of about 15 minutes or longer and is performed with a whimsical sense of humor and story that kids love.
Each episode has a goofy tone with quirky characters and features original kids' stories and poems that will delight the tiny people in your life.
Bedtime sleep apps for kids
12. Sleep Meditations for Kids
- Suggested age: 3 to teen
- Cost: Free, with in-app purchases
Created for children of all ages, Sleep Meditations for Kids is created by a yoga and Montessori teacher.
This app skillfully guides children to the creative part of their mind through a number of carefully scripted story meditations. Each meditation story has subtle sound effects and gentle music and for deep relaxation.
13. Nighty Night
- Suggested age: 2 to 6
- Cost: $3.99 on iOS, free with in-app purchases on Google Play, and free on Amazon
Nighty Night is an interactive bedtime app that lets little ones help a menagerie of animals get ready for bed. Filled with beautiful animation, your kids watch the animals fall asleep in their stalls. They’ll hopefully be inspired to do the same.
The producers of this app have created three themes: Barnyard Animals, Circus, and Forest. The short videos in these apps will keep your kids coming back for more, so expect to download all three!
14. New Horizon: Kids Meditation
- Suggested age: 3 to tweens
- Cost: Free
New Horizon: Kids Meditation may be one of the best kids meditation apps out there.
This meditation app for kids uses imagery that children immediately relate to, like balloons, flying unicorns, and the "greatest treehouse" ever. Filled with calm and gentle assurance your kid will instantly be set at ease and find peace after listening.
15. Moshi: Sleep and Mindfulness
- Suggested age: 2 to 10
- Cost: Annual subscription is $39 and allows users to unlock new stories weekly. Free 7-day trial.
Moshi hosts a collection of calming audio tracks and stories that expertly help kids drift off to dreamland. Children can choose from stories, music, white noise, or guided meditations and even create their own playlists of favorites.
This app expertly takes kids through the transition of being awake to asleep. Each bedtime story starts off engaging the child’s mind and imagination and then lulls them to sleep with dreamy melodies.
16. Headspace for Kids
- Suggested age: All ages
- Cost: Free for basic features; $12.99 a month to upgrade. Free 7-day trial.
Headspace has created quick, but effective, kid-centered versions of its popular meditations that are short and sweet, and easy for kids to relate to. The meditations are customized based on age: 5 and under, 6 to 8, and 9 to 12.
These are perfect snippets of mindfulness that we like to do in tandem with a bedtime podcast. We'd say these are less effective for getting a child to sleep, but perfect for mitigating a meltdown and teaching a kid how to self-regulate and regain control.
17. Calm
- Suggested age: All ages
- Cost: Free for basic features; $12.99 a month. Free 7-day trial.
Beware, if you don't leave the room when you start the Calm app, you may end up dozing off with your kiddo and not wake until morning. Each story includes a soothing mix of words, music, and gentle sounds to help your little one drift off into dreamland.
Each story begins by helping kids quiet their minds with a few slow breaths and mind-quieting exercise. After your child is asked to take their first cleansing breath, the somniferous tone never wavers. Stories are read aloud by people with soothing voices, including celebrities like Matthew McConaughey. A handful of stories are offered for free for you to try out.
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