Physical Health: Sleep Basics

3rd Grade (Ages 8-9)


3rd Grade PJ the Panda holding a softball glove and wearing a softball glove.

This story describes sleep, what it is, how it changes over time and most importantly, why you do not act out your dreams. 

  • There are actually different stages of sleep that do different things.
  • People have different sleep needs based on their age. Babies sleep up from 14-17 hours a day (and there are only 24 hours in a day!), while older people, like your grandparents, may only sleep between 6-8 hours a day.
  • We have 2 kinds of dreams, the ones that are more realistic and occur during SWS (slow wave sleep) and the ones that are more bizarre and occur during REM (rapid eye movement). Your brain has a way to protect you from acting out your dreams that occur during REM sleep.