Stories for ages 3 to 5

Three, four and five are not the same child, but they share a body that wants the picture to move and a mind that can build the picture from a sentence if you give it time. Meera, in Minie's world, is 4 and is with Nani. That pair is a good picture of this age: a small child, a familiar adult, a courtyard, a tree, nothing that requires a chapter summary.

What to play

One short story. If they say again, the same story is allowed. A new story every thirty seconds is a feed wearing a story costume. Hey Minie is voice-first. They do not need to read. They can ask Minie a question: what colour, who, where. The library includes titles such as The Red Raincoat. Point at a real raincoat if you have one. The word lands in the room.

What the adult does

• Sit where they can see your face for the first week. Audio is new. Your face tells them it is safe to only listen.
• Keep questions concrete. 'How did the character feel about the economy' is a joke, but the real version of that mistake is common.
• The fingerprint-locked section is for you. A 4-year-old is not the audience for a dashboard about their TV time.
• End while they are still willing. Stopping on a win teaches tomorrow.

Screens are very gripping at this age. The WHO's guidance for under-5s is the one to read if you want a public-health anchor: less sedentary screen time, and for 2- to 4-year-olds no more than an hour. Your house rule can be stricter or, for a sick day, briefly looser. Say the rule before the story, not after they have found the next video. More swaps are on the screen-time page.

Language

This is a strong age for a home language, because school has not yet taken the whole day. Hindi, Telugu, Kannada or English: pick the one they hear from a person. Repeat a line. Do not demand a sentence back.