The Sleep Detective Pack

CBT-based sleep activities for children aged 8–11

Help children understand their sleep, manage bedtime worries and build healthier sleep habits — without making bedtime a battle.

The Sleep Detective Pack is a practical, child-friendly CBT-based resource designed to help children aged 8–11 understand what affects their sleep and develop simple strategies for dealing with common bedtime difficulties.

Rather than simply telling children what they should do, the pack turns sleep into a detective mission. Children learn to gather clues about their own sleep, experiment with helpful habits and develop strategies for managing worries and busy thoughts at bedtime. 

What's included?

The pack takes children and their grown-up through a series of practical activities, including:

• Sleep Detective Diary – track sleep patterns and identify what helps or gets in the way of a good night's sleep.
• Bedtime Routine Chart – create a consistent, achievable bedtime routine.
• Worry Time – learn how to put bedtime worries aside and deal with them during the day.
• Worry Monster – a fun activity for giving worries somewhere to go.
• Thought Detective – identify unhelpful bedtime thoughts and practise looking at them differently.
• Night-time Thought Cards – ready-made examples of common sleep worries and more helpful responses.
• Balloon Breathing – a simple slow-breathing exercise to help the body relax.
• Robot to Ragdoll – a child-friendly progressive muscle relaxation activity.
• The Cosy Cloud – a calming guided story designed for bedtime.
• Sleep Clues – practical sleep habits and things to try.
• Sleep Detective Certificate – celebrate progress and encourage children to keep using their new skills.

The pack includes a suggested sequence so that adults can introduce the activities gradually, starting with observing the child's existing sleep pattern before making changes. 

Designed to be used by grown-ups, not therapists

The Sleep Detective Pack is designed as a self-help and practitioner resource. It gives parents, carers and other adults a structured way to introduce CBT-based ideas without requiring specialist therapeutic training.

The activities are deliberately practical and accessible, with an emphasis on curiosity, practice and effort rather than pressure to sleep. 

A different way to talk about sleep

Children can become frustrated when they're told to "try harder" to sleep. The Sleep Detective approach takes the pressure off.

Instead, children learn that they can:

Notice → Investigate → Experiment → Practise → Discover what works

The aim isn't to make children force themselves to sleep. It's to help them understand their own sleep, reduce the things that can interfere with it, and develop skills that make bedtime calmer.

Important information

The Sleep Detective Pack is an educational, self-help resource and does not replace professional assessment or treatment. If sleep difficulties persist despite trying the strategies, or there are concerns such as significant daytime difficulties, severe anxiety, low mood, or loud snoring with pauses in breathing, professional advice should be sought. 

Recommended age: 8–11 years

Format: Printable PDF

Created by: CBT with Me