Disclosure – post in collaboration with Plusnet.

I hope that anyone stumbling across my blog would realise how much I love reading. I’ve always been a bit of a bookworm and love that I have two of my own little bookworms! My children just love to read and bedtime is a favourite part of the day for all of us, a time where we can sit and share our latest books together.

The importance of sharing a bedtime story

My children are now 7 and 9 and sometimes our story time does have to slip. Now the children are a little old they go to clubs which finish late, and on those nights we opt for a chat about our day instead of sharing a chapter or two. Sadly, it seems that we are not alone. Recent research suggests that the amount of ‘infrequent readers’ is on the rise between 6-17-year-olds and although the majority of parents say reading is a special time for bonding, the number of parents having the opportunity to enjoy shared storytime has been on a steady decline. 85% admitting that they don’t read aloud to their children every day.

Once Upon A Time Online with Plusnet & Larry Lamb

We were recently contacted by Plusnet who have teamed up with Larry Lamb to re-imagine a trilogy of classic fairy tales for our digital generation. The ‘Once Upon a Time Online’ series, specially developed for children under 10, has been launched by Plusnet to show how technology is a good thing, encouraging families shared desire for story time.

My children just adore technology but to be honest they usually use it to watch their favourite YouTuber for half an hour after they’ve done their homework. I’m not a big fan of them having too much screen time but I do love Larry Lamb so was happy to hear more about this collaboration. Plusnet gifted us some supplies so we could watch the three stories which you can find on Plusnet’s site.

We loved the modern re-telling of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk. The children knew the classic versions but I think they will remember the new versions they have watched! They still have the strong moral message that all fairy tales have, but they have been cleverly adapted for a new audience, reflecting the language and devices that our children know and love. The fact that Jack wanted to make viral videos was pretty funny to hear! These make a great bedtime story, although you can share them at any time in the day.

Re-imagining The Gingerbread Man

Plusnet asked us to recreate our favourite fairy tale at home, with a modern twist. You can probably guess which one we chose! The Gingerbread Man has always been a firm favourite and Big Brother couldn’t wait to re-write the ending in his own cartoon style.

In our modern version, the Gingerbread Man decides to use the power of his Amazon Fire to order a rocket blaster which he uses to escape the Cook, swinging away across the river.

He then orders a gingerbread house kit and bakes himself a gingerbread house to live in, away from all the people who want to eat him.

Big Brother has a great imagination so he enjoyed the challenge of re-writing a story he knows so well. If your child loves fairy tales, or you are looking for a way to encourage their storytelling skills, then take a look at Once Upon a Time Online. It’s fun for our little digital natives, and a great way to share technology and increase their oracy skills too.