New LEGOLAND Castle Hotel seeks storyteller

The LEGOLAND Windsor Resort are running a new competition to get another young fan involved in the new Castle Hotel. After seeking inspiration from children for a new model to include in the new themed hotel, the team behind the addition are now looking for a bedtime story that will be printed and placed in every room when the Castle Hotel opens.

As part of the announcement, the LEGOLAND Windsor Resort team shared stats on bedtime stories:

New research out today reveals that more than half of parents (55%) ban tech before bedtime in favour of traditional bedtime stories, with a ‘tech black out’ sweeping the nation at 4.41pm.

Confirming that the bedtime story continues to top parents’ lists of ‘must-haves’ for their child’s increasingly busy lives, 67% say it is still one of the most important parts of the day; twice as important as using technology for educational purposes (34%) and even more valuable than completing extra homework (31%).

The LEGOLAND Windsor Resort, the nation’s favourite family theme park, asked 2,000 parents with children between the ages of one and 12 about their story-telling habits to mark the opening of its new Castle Hotel and to launch its nationwide children’s bedtime story writing competition. The winner will see their tale published as a real-life book and placed in every room of the hotel when it opens its doors this July.

Conjuring up images of family life, the press release goes on to explain the contest:

The LEGOLAND Castle Hotel’s lead creative, Lily-Ann Bedder, comments: ‘‘Creating a magical bedtime experience for our guests was central to our plans for the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel. We put ourselves in the shoes of children and dreamt big to come up with the designs!’’

“The bedtime stories read by parents up and down the country every night help spark the imagination and creativity of children, and that’s exactly what we want to achieve with our hotel’s magical medieval theme. We can’t wait get a glimpse into the wonderful imagination of all the children who enter our bedtime story competition and we look forward to seeing the winning tale and its author in the hotel.’’

The research revealed that a quarter of parents (25%) read to their child single every night, spending on average 7,300 minutes a year reciting stories in a bid bond with their child (70%); improve their reading skills at school (56%); and even help secure their kids a better future career (14%). Other reasons for regularly reading bedtime stories include wanting to improve their child’s vocabulary skills (54%) and honing creativity (51%), with 47% of literary-lovers using the time as a good opportunity to relax and catch up on books they missed out on as children.

Children between five and twelve years old can enter the competition:

Dr Jessica Horst, Developmental Science at University of Sussex, comments: ‘‘Learning to be comfortable interacting with technology is important for kids, but it’s also important to have tech time in moderation. The LEGOLAND Windsor Resort’s research is encouraging as it shows most parents do have a good handle on balancing tech time with other activities.”

In an bid to get the nation reading more bedtime stories and to celebrate the opening of the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel, young LEGO fans are being given the exclusive chance to make their mark by creating the official bedtime story for the Castle Hotel, set in a magical world of fire breathing dragons and whimsical wizards.

Open to children aged 5-12 years old, the winner’s story will take pride of place in each room of the Castle Hotel. The winner and their family will also be among the first to stay at the new hotel when it opens in July.

Find out more and enter the ‘Castle Hotel’ bedtime story competition at the LEGOLAND Windsor Resort website.

A new NINJAGO land will open ahead of the Castle Hotel, with the former expected in May.