Hello,
It's time to settle down and get ready to go to bed.
So make sure that you've brushed your teeth and that you're all set.
And then snuggling down in your comfy bed,
Perhaps with your favourite toy,
And take some nice deep breaths in and out.
And you might want to put your hand on your tummy or even your special toy and feel your tummy go up and down,
Up and down,
As you slowly take some breaths in and out.
And tonight we're going to go on a special sleigh ride,
A sleigh ride in our imagination that will take you across the world to countries near and far,
To places that you've never seen before.
So lying back with your eyes closed,
I want you to imagine that just outside your window a magical sleigh has arrived.
It's the most beautiful sleigh you have ever seen.
I want you to imagine what size it is and what colour it is.
It's got one seat,
Just one,
Ready for you.
And so when you feel ready,
I want you to take yourself to the sledge and have a good look before you sit down.
Notice how strong it is.
Notice its colour again.
This is a magic sledge,
So maybe it changes colour.
Maybe it's all the colours of the rainbow.
And at the front of the sledge is one beautiful animal and it can be any animal that you want that's going to pull your sledge.
It could be a beautiful horse or a reindeer.
It might even be a unicorn.
Just go to your animal and give it a nice stroke and a pat and say hello.
And then,
Carefully climbing into the sleigh,
You can even bring your special toy with you.
And as you sit down and strap yourself in,
Feeling warm and safe and cosy,
The sleigh starts to move.
And it gets faster and faster and faster until it takes off up,
Up,
Up into the night sky.
You notice the big round moon shining down and lots and lots of stars twinkling brightly leading the way.
And as you look over the edge of your sleigh,
You notice the place that you live down below,
Far,
Far down below.
You can see the place that you live.
You might even be able to see your school.
You might see a friend's house.
And then the sleigh takes us further away,
Out into the night sky,
Across a town and a city.
And if you look down below,
You'll see twinkling lights and everything seems teeny tiny down below.
You can see cars moving and they seem like toy cars because you're so high up.
And then the sleigh takes you across fields and if you look down below,
You might be able to see things growing.
And on and on the sleigh goes until it's in quite a cold place and you can feel a cool breeze on your face and yet you're toasty and warm.
And as if by magic,
Snow begins to fall.
It falls gently all around you and from where you are,
You can see it landing on the ground below.
It covers fields,
It covers towns,
It covers cities.
And the sleigh takes you around while you have a look at all these places.
The beautiful white snow covered fields.
All the bright lights of the city as the snow settles on the pavements and footpaths.
You can see the lights twinkling down below and up above you can see the stars twinkling too.
You hold on tight to your favourite toy and you look at the special animal that's pulling your sleigh.
It seems to be having fun.
It knows where it's going.
It knows what it wants you to see.
And feeling the snow land gently,
Maybe on your nose,
Maybe on the back of your hands and yet you still feel cosy and warm and safe.
And then as the sleigh continues its journey,
The snow starts to melt and now you seem to be over a desert.
It's very warm.
You look down and maybe you can see camels in the desert walking slowly,
Clip-clopping over the sand.
You can see huge big sand dunes,
Big mountains of sand.
And the sun's beating down,
Keeping everybody warm.
And your special animal circles around so that you can see every little part of the desert.
And then it moves,
Moves further out.
Out past the desert,
Over the ocean this time.
Beautiful blue ocean below.
If you look very closely,
You might see dolphins flipping and playing in the water,
Jumping up and out,
Chasing each other and having fun.
It's daytime now and the sky's blue.
The beautiful water twinkles and you might look down and see a beach below with lots of people on,
Lots of people enjoying the sunshine.
Perhaps a boat bobbing about on the water.
Everybody seems happy,
Having fun.
And the magic sleigh circles around again and heads off over the sea to a different place this time.
A place full of beautiful green forests.
If you listen carefully,
You can hear animals below.
Animals from the rainforest.
If you look carefully at the canopy at the top of the rainforest,
You might see some animals there too.
You just notice what you see.
Birds with the most beautiful colours,
Reds and greens and yellows and blue.
And listen to the sounds that they're making.
Perhaps monkeys chattering,
The birds singing.
And your magic sleigh takes you over the top,
Just dipping down a little bit lower so that you can see and hear all these beautiful things.
And then it starts to climb higher again in the sky,
Up and up and out past the rainforests and circling again and coming back,
Looking over a beautiful river,
A river that winds and bends.
And if you look down below,
You might see small boats on the river.
You might see people fishing,
Sitting at the side,
Enjoying the sunshine.
And looking down again,
What do you see?
What do you see that catches your eye?
Is it a special place?
Is it people?
Only you know.
Have a good look.
And then the sleigh takes up again,
Up into the sky.
And somehow things start to look familiar and you recognise places below.
In the distance,
You can see your home again.
We're almost back where we started.
Just notice how it's still dark.
Everyone's sleeping.
No one knows what kind of adventure that you've been on.
And gently,
Gently,
The sleigh takes you down.
It lands with the smallest of bumps and you take a big stretch and climb out.
And you go to the front of the sleigh.
And you go and see the beautiful animal that's taken you on this wonderful adventure.
Give this animal a lovely long stroke and a pat.
Feel its soft fur or skin.
Gently rub its nose and say a big thank you for taking you on the most wonderful adventure.
And then as you climb back into bed,
Just as you're about to fall asleep,
You hear your sleigh take off into the night sky.
And soon you're fast asleep,
Dreaming about everything that you've seen.
