'I turned a normal bedtime activity into a successful side hustle'

“As a parent myself, it brings me great joy to offer other parents a well-deserved 10-15 minutes of peace to enjoy a cup of tea.”

When Victorian electrician and father-of-four Sam Ramsden began making up and telling ‘silly stories’ to his eldest daughter, Holly (now 7), he never dreamed this fun pastime would become a successful podcast.

“I’ve always loved storytelling. When my eldest Holly was two, I would lay on her bedroom floor at night and make up a bedtime story. My brain is a very exciting place, so this was something I loved to do. I would follow my thoughts wherever they led, and each night new adventures and characters continued to be created,” Sam tells Kidspot.

But it wasn’t until a family member suggested that he should record the ‘silly stories’, that Sam took the next step in his podcast journey.

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“One day my father-in-law pulled me aside and told me he thought I should turn these stories into a podcast. I had never even considered it, but with his encouragement and support, I started to try and learn how to make that happen,” he says.

“After hours of videos, podcasts, and audiobooks on “How to start a podcast”, “How to edit audio” and “What’s the best microphone” I felt like I was as ready as I would ever be. I sat on a table in a cupboard, surrounded by blankets for soundproofing, with my mic stand and computer. Then I pressed the record button and just started to talk. Silly Stories began!”

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Sam Ramsden with his wife and four kids. Picture: Supplied

"'Silly Stories for Kids' are the wild adventures that live inside my head"

While Sam initially only recorded the episodes with his friends and four children in mind, it soon became clear that Sam’s Silly Stories for Kids – which feature tales of kids riding unicorns and of garden gnomes, and dust bunnies that had come to life - were becoming very popular outside of his circle.

“As I kept recording and posting more episodes, the number of people listening just kept increasing and increasing and it became a real joy hearing from people all around the world who were listening to the little stories I was making up in a cupboard,” he says.

Sam believes a lot of this popularity has to do with the creativity and less structured approach to storytelling.

“‘Silly Stories for Kids’ are the wild adventures that live inside my head. I’m learning more and more that my brain is so different from the norm, and I’m so grateful for the way I’m made. I love fun, joy and a little bit of chaos - I feel like these stories show so much of who I am. The fact that I don’t do any planning or preparation before I press record means that these stories are a truly wild adventure where no one, not even me, can predict what might happen,” he explains.

“I mean, how can a story with three kids going to the footy end up with a battle on a train (led by a teddy bear) between an army of football fans, a crazy purple fuzzy creature and his army of paddle pop stick people?!”

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Sam started his podcast in a cupboard with bedding hung up to deaden the sound. Now he's got one of the most popular kids podcasts in Australia. Picture: Supplied

"We want these stories to have a positive impact"

Now, five years on from his first bedtime story to his daughter, Sam’s podcast series, Silly Stories for Kids has amassed 700,000 downloads since the first episode was released in November 2023 and recently topped the global kids podcast charts.

But it’s not just kids who are listening - the stories are reaching a new, much wider audience.

“We thought the podcast would be loved mostly by kids between the ages of 3 and 10 but have found that it extends to teens and their parents who end up listening even without their kids around!” Sam says.

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While the success is humbling, for Sam, it’s about the impact the stories have on kids that’s most important.

“We hope that ‘Silly Stories for Kids’ will spark creativity and joy and help strengthen family bonds. Whether it’s adding fun to the day to keep the home cheerful or helping the kids wind down for bed, we want these stories to have a positive impact.”

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What started as fun bedtime stories for his children turned into a fun side hustle. Picture: Supplied

"It brings me great joy to offer other parents a well-deserved break"

He also says that featuring on Yoto - an audio, screen-free platform for kids - which features amazing Aussie authors such as Zoe Foster Blake and Adam Hill - and global icons like Roald Dahl and Julia Donaldson, allows his goal of engaging kids with stories to flourish.

“Launching on Yoto fully supports this goal, as their audio devices are designed to help parents foster independent and creative playtime for their kids,” he says.

“As a parent myself, it brings me great joy to offer other parents a well-deserved 10-15 minutes of peace to enjoy a cup of tea.”

Silly Stories for Kids is available on Spotify and Apple Music, and now officially on Yoto, the award-winning audio platform and portable speaker system for kids.

Originally published as 'I turned a normal bedtime activity into a successful side hustle'