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A Not Scary Story About Monsters Under the Bed
Monsters under the bed are one of the most common fears of the preschool years. It often turns up just as a child’s imagination takes off, and the dark is the perfect place for an imagination to fill in the gaps. Telling them monsters are not real is true, but it rarely helps on its own at nine o’clock at night.
What helps more is a story where a child is worried, a grown-up takes them seriously, and they look together, with the light on, and find exactly what is really under the bed. The story below does that, and it is not scary at all: nothing jumps out, nothing is hiding, and it ends with a sleepy child and a found crayon.
✨ Or make one starring your child, free in seconds ↓
What will happen, in order
- Hear a noise
- Call a grown-up
- Turn on the light and look
- Only socks and a lost crayon
- Lights low, back to sleep
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.
Finn and the Thing Under the Bed
A free story to read aloud tonight
Finn was almost asleep when he heard it. A small scratchy sound, from under the bed. Scritch. Then nothing. Then scritch again.
Finn pulled his blanket up over his nose. “Daddy,” he called, not very loudly. Then louder. “Daddy! There’s something under my bed.” Daddy came in and sat on the floor. He did not laugh. “Let’s look together,” he said. “With the big light on.”
Daddy turned on the big light, and the whole room went bright and ordinary. Then Daddy and Finn lay on their tummies on the rug and looked under the bed, side by side.
There was one red sock. There was a book about trains that had been missing since Tuesday. There was a lot of dust, and a green crayon. And right at the back, curled up in a ball with her tail over her nose, was Pepper the cat, who had been chasing the crayon. Scritch.
“Well,” said Daddy, “that is the whole monster.” Pepper yawned an enormous pink yawn and walked out as if she had been invited. Finn laughed so much he got the hiccups. They put the sock in the laundry, and the train book on the shelf, and the green crayon in the crayon box where it belonged.
Then Daddy turned the big light off and the nightlight on, and the room was soft and dim again. Finn knew exactly what was under his bed now: a rug, and a little dust, and nothing else at all. He snuggled down, and Pepper jumped up and curled by his feet, and Finn fell asleep.
My child thinks there is a monster under the bed. What should I say?
Take the fear seriously without agreeing that monsters are real. Calmly checking together once, with the light on, often helps more than a long explanation. Keep it brief and matter of fact, then return to the usual bedtime routine. A dim nightlight can also help the dark feel less empty.
Is it normal for kids to be scared of monsters at bedtime?
Yes. Fears of monsters and the dark are very common in the preschool years, as imagination grows faster than a child’s sense of what is real. They usually fade with time. If a fear is severe, lasts a long time or affects daytime life, talk to your pediatrician.
Should I use monster spray?
Some families use a spray bottle of water as “monster spray” and find it helps. Others prefer not to, because it can suggest monsters might be real. Either way, a calm grown-up and a predictable routine are what do most of the work.