“We love doing this every year,” says Denise S. Chapman, Director of Learn ‘N Playday, as she reflects on her preschool’s commitment to the annual Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive. For over 10 years, Denise and her students have been at the forefront of this special event, which helps provide pajamas and storybooks to children facing adversity. It’s more than just a school activity for Denise—it’s a powerful way to teach her students the importance of giving back.
At Learn ‘N Playday, the drive has become a cherished tradition. “Our school is a HUGE advocate of reading to your children as a great form of education. It’s where vocabulary begins. It is also the start of memorization, creativity, and storytelling in children,” Denise explains. These values are at the heart of her preschool’s involvement in the Pajama Drive, where the students not only collect pajamas but also learn about the difference they can make in the lives of others.
Last year, Denise and her 70+ students took on the challenge with enthusiasm, donating over 200 pairs of pajamas. “Our students love bringing in the PJs for kids,” Denise shares. The school has made it a fun and engaging competition between classes to see who can collect the most pajamas, with the winning class earning a PJ party. In recent years, the preschool has set a collective goal, encouraging all the students to work together to hit their target and earn their well-deserved celebration. This year, they hope to donate even more pajamas and continue spreading joy to children in their local community and across the country.
The 15th Annual Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive, in partnership with Scholastic, is a special initiative that unites classrooms across the nation in a shared mission. Each pair of pajamas collected is matched by Scholastic with a brand-new storybook, up to 100,000 books. These donations go directly to children who are facing adversity, helping to create a comforting bedtime routine.
Bedtime is a critical time for children, especially those facing challenges like poverty, familial instability, or trauma. Establishing a consistent bedtime routine helps lower stress, promotes emotional regulation, and creates a sense of stability—key factors that help children process their day and prepare for the next. By providing new pajamas and a storybook, the drive helps set the foundation for restful sleep, which is essential for children’s physical, emotional, and cognitive development.
Participating in the drive is simple. Educators can register their classrooms and start collecting pajamas with their students anytime between September and December 6th. Once the donations are tallied, Scholastic steps in to match each one with a book, ensuring that thousands of children will receive not just the essentials of warmth, but the magic of a bedtime story as well.
As Denise and her students show, this drive is about more than just pajamas—it’s about coming together as a community to support children. “We’re excited to be part of something that brings so much joy, not just to our students, but to the kids receiving these pajamas and books,” she says.
If you are an educator or school administrator, we hope you can join Denise, her students, and countless others across the country by registering your classroom today. Together, we can make this year’s Pajama Drive the best one yet, one pair of pajamas and one storybook at a time.
Want to make a difference all year long and receive monthly impact updates? Join our monthly donor program, the Loop.