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Star Wars Bedtime Stories

Tips for making up your own Star Wars Bedtime Stories to entertain the kids, while making wonderful family memories.

Click to read also: Star Wars Family Fun

how to tell Star Wars bedtime stories

Today you will hear from my husband Mike about telling Star Wars bedtime stories. Our four children have largely outgrown bedtime stories at this point, but these stories he used to tell them remain a highlight of their childhood.

May the Fourth be with you!

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Star Wars Bedtime Stories, by Mike

Over the past 18 months, I’ve told the kids 400+ Star Wars bedtime stories. The stories are not meant to fit within the “real” Star Wars universe; rather the stories are about bringing the characters into the kids’ universe. I wrote some tips on telling Star Wars bedtime stories over a year ago, but here are a few additional ideas:

R2D2 drawn by my five-year-old son

#1 Borrow storylines

After having made up a few hundred Star Wars bedtime stories, it has become challenging to find new stories that keep the kids entertained. I love hearing them gasp and squeal with the twists and turns in the story. The nights when the kids simply listen to my story in silence, I feel incredibly disappointed in myself.

Since it is hard to sustain a long series of original stories, I occasionally rely on storylines from other sources. Some of my favorites are the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems, which Johnny reads to me during the first 10 minutes of his Kindergarten class every morning (sometimes Lily comes along too, on the days she does not have preschool). For example, after he read Can I Play Too?, I told the kids basically the same story, but Chewbacca and Wicket were playing catch with R2D2, who has no arms. After he read Let’s Go for A Drive, I repeated the story but with a storm trooper and C3PO pretending to fly an X-Wing. The kids get really excited when they figure out what story I’m really telling.

#2 Borrow other styles

As you have seen on this blog before, our kids really love Bob Books. It was this book series that got Johnny started reading. The words and pictures are quite simplistic. There are no more than two colors, the pictures are just a step beyond stick figures, and there are no more than a handful of words on each page – and the kids love it.

So, on nights when the kids take a little too long to get ready and the story needs to be short, I use something in my “Bob Book Star Wars” series, which borrows from the Bob Books style. For example, “O.K. Vader. O.K. Obi Wan.” Telling an interesting story when you’re allocated up to four or five words in a sentence is a fun creative challenge. I also like the soothing style of Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.

#3 Let the kids react

The kids often get pretty wrapped up in these stories.

In their excitement, they will interrupt and start telling a piece of the story themselves. Most of the stories involve the four kids, and when I start describing how their character is handling the situation, they interject with what they would really do.

One time I was telling a story about how a little boy storm trooper started as a new student in Johnny’s kindergarten class. Some of the other kids in the story were making fun of the little boy storm trooper because he was different (since he was wearing a mask and a white plastic uniform). Johnny interrupted and explained that he went over to talk with the little boy storm trooper and to be a friend to him.

R2D2 drawn by my four-year-old daughter

I find it fascinating how the kids have used the storyline and characters in Star Wars in their art, storytelling, and play to better understand their own universe. Although they have only seen the movies only once with varying degrees of fast forwarding (they have seen Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi twice), this story has really captured their imagination.

What stories and characters capture your children’s imaginations?

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MaryAnne at Mama Smiles

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

14 thoughts on “Star Wars Bedtime Stories”

  1. What a lovely post and family tradition. My husband also tells our girls “stories without a book” at bedtime and they are favorites.

  2. Been telling bedtime stories to my two kids every night for a few months now. I’ve incorporated elements of stories that they are familiar with and building the two of them in the adventures as well. So far it has always been characters from Disney junior. I think maybe it’s time to introduce them to the stories from a long ago in a galaxy far away. Thanks.

  3. How lucky your kids are to have dad making up Star Wars stories at bedtime!! What a great way to get them interested in storytelling and reading too!

  4. Aren’t dads wonderful?! They are probably the bedtime storytellers (when at home) because the moms are w ee bit exhausted by that time and I think it is good that way – bedtime is such a special bonding time, I think.

    Recently my husband started the Diapers story series, out of the blue. Every single detail is remembered and they are passionate about it. :)

    MAy you continue to have bonding storytime, no matter the circumstances! :)

  5. Natalie PlanetSmartyPants

    Mike, you are a wonderful storyteller! Your kids are so lucky to have such creative parents. And what a great post for the Star Wars Day!

  6. That’s awesome you’re able to combine Star Wars with storytelling! I admit I don’t do too much storytelling with my kids but definitely need to start doing much more and initiate. My kid makes up his own stories and it’s adorable to hear. I’d like to encourage him to do more of that.

    Speaking of Star Wars, I recently threw my husband a surprise birthday party today… theme: Star Wars!

  7. My husband has had to limit story telling to the weekends, because the kids get so excited there is no way to keep it short. He uses their friends, their toys, our family and some characters he made up himself. I love listening in!

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