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A Bedtime Story About Feeling Left Out
Few things hurt a young child as much as being left out. A game starts without them, a party they were not invited to comes up at lunch, or two best friends suddenly want to be just two. Children often carry that feeling home quietly and it comes out at bedtime, when everything is still.
This story does not promise that everyone will always include them, because that would not be true. It names the feeling, gives them two small things they can try, asking to join or finding someone else who is on their own, and ends on the honest comfort that tomorrow is a new day.
✨ Or make one starring your child, free in seconds ↓
What will happen, in order
- Everyone is playing
- Nobody asked me
- I feel sad and small
- I can ask, or find a new friend
- Tomorrow is a new day
Read the steps together in the daytime, more than once. The free printable below has these steps at the top and the bedtime story underneath.
Ava and the Hopscotch Game
A free story to read aloud tonight
At recess, Ava ran outside and saw Lily and Grace drawing a hopscotch with chalk. One, two, three, all the way to ten. Ava loved hopscotch. She waited for them to say, “Come play!” But they didn’t. They just started hopping.
Ava stood by the fence. She felt sad and small, like a sock nobody wanted to wear. She went and sat on the bench and watched the other children play, and the morning felt very long.
That night at bedtime, Ava was very quiet. “Something happened today,” said Dad, sitting on her bed. Ava told him about the hopscotch. “I felt left out,” she said. “That’s a really sad feeling,” said Dad. “Everybody feels it sometimes. Even grown-ups.”
“Can I tell you two things that sometimes help?” said Dad. “One: you can ask. You can say, ‘Can I have a turn too?’ Sometimes people just forget to ask. Two: you can look around for someone else who is on their own, and play with them instead.”
Ava thought about it. “There was a boy on the swings by himself,” she said. “His name is Sam. He’s new.” “Maybe Sam felt left out too,” said Dad. Ava thought about that for a long time.
The next day at recess, Ava walked right up to the swings. “Do you want to play hopscotch?” she asked. Sam smiled a huge smile. They drew their own hopscotch, all the way to twenty. And that night Ava fell asleep straight away, because she had a new friend, and tomorrow there would be more hopscotch.
What do I say when my child feels left out?
Listen first and name the feeling without rushing to fix it. Then, if they are ready, talk through one or two things they could try next time, like asking to join or finding another child who is on their own. If your child is regularly left out or seems isolated, it is worth talking to their teacher.
Should I call the other child’s parents?
For a one-off moment, usually not. Being left out of a single game is a normal, painful part of growing up. If it is happening often, or it is deliberate and unkind, the teacher is usually the best first person to talk to.