20 Great Ways To Make Reading Fun For Your Kids
20+ Ways To Make Reading Fun For Your Kids
20+ Ways To Make Reading Fun For Your Kids
(When they would rather play outside.)
(When they would rather play outside.)
Hello Mama!
Do you wish you had a way to make reading fun for your Wild One who would rather be out digging for worms than sitting still? So did I! I was frustrated that an activity I love so much could be so unnatural for my child... through studying him and the way that he processes the world I learned a few things that I hope you will also find helpful in your endeavors to cultivate a love for reading in your child.
Before we talk about cultivating an environment that encourages a love for reading and fun activities that you can do to nurture curiosity and creativity in your child let’s look at a few foundational ideas.
First, we need to approach reading with the presupposition that “Passion is caught not taught”. This means that if we approach reading as something EXCITING and FUN... so will our kids!! If we approach the time we spend reading with our children as the great and valuable gift that it is, we are demonstrating to them that reading is something to be looked forward to. INVITE your child to join in you in an activity that you love and value!! SHARE a book that you cherish and embrace reading as a fun activity that affords you yet another wonderful opportunity to CONNECT with your Little Wild One.
Second, we need to be ENGAGED and ENGAGING. This seems like an obvious... but I distinctly remember the day that I learned this... I had been struggling to make reading a daily activity for my then two year old. I would pull out stacks of books, eager to read with him only to become frustrated when he’d only sit still long enough for me to read the first few words. I had no idea what I was doing wrong. Then one night my husband’s best friend came over for dinner. He asked our Little Bear if he wanted to read a book... I internally rolled my eyes expecting it to be a futile endeavor. But Little Bear was transfixed. He sat still long enough to listen to the entire book!
But what was different about this from all that I had been doing??
As I listened I realized that our friend wasn’t just reading word for word, as I always attempted to do... rather as he READ the text, he CONSTANTLY paused to ASK QUESTIONS, and INVITED our child to PARTICIPATE by pointing at illustrations or answering simple questions. He was inviting our Little Bear to become an ACTIVE READER and a participant in the act of reading. Up until that day I had just been trying to hurry through the whole story so I could pat myself on the back for finishing a book. I was so focused on the finish line that I became blind to the beauty of the journey itself.
I realize now that Dan Eldon’s declaration that “The journey is the destination” is particularly fitting when applied to the act of reading.
Before you read through the ideas and activities listed below, STUDY your child so you will know how to best make reading time SPECIAL for them! Every child is unique so what works for my worm-loving chicken-chasing little rascal might not be all that exciting to your little girl who dreams of being a unicorn tamer. You know your child better than anyone else... and with a little time spent in observation you can make reading MAGICAL for them!
Begin watching your child at play, at rest and all throughout their day. What makes them tick? What does he/she get most excited about? When are they most curious and willing to learn? When do they tend to get most frustrated? At nap time or when they’re hungry? What activities do they most enjoy? What topics spark their curiosity or imagination? What snacks do they enjoy the most? Do they enjoy different tactile experiences? What topics are The captivated by? What kind of art are they drawn to? Make a list of your child’s favorite things and try to incorporate one or two into your reading time.
Create a special ENVIRONMENT where you will read consistently.
This can mean building a blanket fort, dedicating a chair or corner of your room specifically to reading time or spreading out a blanket in the shade of a big tree. You can make your reading environment extra special by lighting bees wax candles or putting a record on to play quietly in the background. Perhaps you will offer a favorite snack and snuggle up together under a cozy blanket.
1. Place a bookcase in the main area of your home where books are lovingly displayed to ensure that a love for books and the joy of reading become part of the very feel of your home.
2. Keep a curated shelf or basket of seasonal or thematic books. If you’re studying birds for your nature study time include stories like E. B White’s The Trumpet of the Swan
and field guides about birds native to your area. If your child is easily overwhelmed by too many choices you might decide to rotate books according to theme or season and keep the books not in use neatly stored away out of sight. In our house we have books everywhere, but keep two primary areas on rotation. The first is a corner of our bookcase in our living room where we keep current favorites for our little guy to select from whenever he wants and the second is our library bag which holds thematic books that relate to whatever we’re currently studying... right now it’s packed full of books about hedgehogs and science experiments.
3. Create a reading nook in your child’s room to encourage them to enjoy reading books on their own. Since reading nooks are small, you can use them as a great way to add a little extra magic to their room while keeping to a budget. Let your child select a special thrift store chair and recover it together. Let them select a fun rug and soft pillows to tuck in a corner or transform a under utilized closet into a fantastic miniature fort complete with fun string lights. Our Wild One has a very simple reading corner in his bedroom comprised of a few wooden crates and a basket full of books set on the floor where he can help himself to whichever book strikes his fancy. The key is to simply make books easily accessible and close to a cozy place to sit.
Activities and ideas that cultivate creativity and curiosity:
4. Encourage them to find illustrators that they love and provide them with art supplies to recreate their favorite scenes. I remember long hours spent contentedly studying books by Jan Brett and trying to imitate her detailed style. By surrounding your child with well illustrated books you are nurturing a love for books even before they can read on their own. Do a little research about which medium their favorite illustrators normally use and purchase them as a sweet blessing and encouragement to create. If your little one loves Beatrix Potter look up tutorials about how to watercolor and watch them together.
5. Do your research. What authors does your child enjoy reading? Why not read up on some biographical information so you can understand their worldview and how it influences their storytelling. If your child loves C. S. Lewis read Surprised By Joy
or other biographical work, learn about England, study the world wars and investigate the Inklings of Oxford. As you learn fun and interesting tidbits you will find that it comes naturally to share them with your children, your research may even inspire fun projects and adventures!
6. Design (or look up) crafts and activities based on your child’s favorite book or book series. There are SO many fantastic book based crafts and activities out there on sites like Pinterest! But you can think outside of the box, or home, when it comes to activities. If you’re reading Tom Sawyer
or Huckleberry Finn, pack a picnic and visit your local river or creek. Build stick rafts and daydream with your little ones about what it would be like to drift down the river. If your toddler has a favorite farm animal book, visit a local farm in the spring to see the baby animals or visit your local farm store and start your own backyard farm by bringing some baby chicks home. The activities your do and the adventures you go on are only limited by your imagination!
7. Read aloud, even if your Wild One can read on his own. Reading aloud together helps cultivate both a love for reading and a connection between child and parent.
8. Make friends with your librarian and make going to the library a exciting outing. Growing up we visited the library at least once a week and we were each allowed to take home as many books as we could carry. This is a tradition that I’ve chosen to carry on with our Wild One. Sometimes we go on scavenger hunts for specific books like The Adventures of Lowly Worm
or for books that focus on a specific theme, most commonly dinosaurs or crafts. Once we collect a few more purposefully selected books I let my Wild One pick whichever books looks interesting to him so long as they are not scary and are age appropriate. He will inevitably pick the MOST random book and declare it to be his favorite of all time, last week it was a book about Leonardo Da Vinci and this week it was a picture book based on the movie Frozen.
9. Be their example. If you want to encourage your child to read the best way is to make reading a habit for yourself. Turn off the tv for a bit and grab a book. When your child sees you reading and enjoying a book they will be inspired to read a book of their own.
10. Make books a topic of conversation. When you sit down for dinner or are driving around town ask them about the books they are reading or that you have read together. Ask them about the characters, the plot, the pictures, their favorite parts of the book, and tell them about your favorite parts and your observations about the story.
11. Gift and regift books to your children. We all know that children love receiving gifts and the anticipation associated with unwrapping surprises... why not tap into this in order to inspire your child to love reading? Wrap up seasonal favorites and let your child unwrap one each day. The anticipation and surprise will help add a little novelty and fun. Try mixing in one or two new books with the ones you already own. Our library just did a “blind date with a book” event for Valentine’s Day and provided wrapped books for people to check out. You can find a number of Advent book lists online but this idea could be adapted to any season or theme. Bonus points if you use fabric or reusable bags to wrap the books.
12. Personalize the books you give your children by adding a thoughtful note or fun bookplate.
13. Encourage your child to spread the joy of reading by encouraging them to lend favorite books to their friends or family members.
14. Help your child select their favorite book to gift a friend celebrating a birthday and think up small corresponding goodies to include with the book. For example if you are giving The Little Engine That Could
include a wooden train whistle or small toy train.
15. Build a neighborhood library in your front yard and encourage your child to be the “librarian” keeping it orderly and well stocked with fun books. Children thrive when they are entrusted with various responsibilities.
16. Create book themed scavenger hunts. If you’re reading Treasure Island
as a family, dress up like pirates and have your child follow book based clues to find a treasure.
17. Cater to your child’s interests. Is your little girl obsessed with dinosaurs? Pick out a book or two about the pioneering paleontologist, Mary Anning to read along side of all those encyclopedias of dinosaurs that she loves. The Fossil Girl
by Catherine Brighton is great for younger readers.
18. Host a book themed party. You don’t have to wait for your Wild One to have a birthday in order to throw a fun book themed party, network with some mama friends and read the same book with your Wild Ones and then get together for a fun afternoon that celebrates the story. We love the Little Bear
stories illustrated by Maurice Sendak and created a fun super relaxed birthday party for our Wild One. We ate forest inspired food and used forest inspired decor to pull it all together. A book themed party can be as simple or complicated as you wish. If you’re reading If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
invite friends over to bake and eat cookies... and make sure you have plenty of milk.
19. Create your own book club. Invite friends to join your club and organize monthly meetings to discuss the book you read. Encourage your Wild One to make decisions about what books, snacks, and activities the club will enjoy together. Greta Eskridge has some fantastic pointers for how to start a book club over on her blog.
20. Dress up. Children love imaginative play so why not create costumes together and act out the stories that they love. Acting out the story will help them to both learn the skills needed for narration and remember the story with greater clarity because they were able to “live it out” through acting.
21. Give them something to keep their hands busy. This may mean giving them paper and markers or watercolors so they can illustrate the story you are reading. You can encourage them to knit or crochet. Or you can make whip up a batch of special salt dough that they only get to play with at reading time.
Click the image below for the full list and a bonus mini book report page for your Wild One.
Reading Time Play Dough
To keep little hands busy during reading time whip up a batch of this fun dough. Make reading time extra special by only bringing the dough out when you read to your Little Wild One. To add a little extra magic to our reading dough we love to add glitter and use found items to create all kinds of fun creatures and creations.
When your dough is not being played with store it in a large ziplock or airtight container and place in the refrigerator. Ours has lasted in the refrigerator for over two months!! But I suggest making new batches occasionally so that the novelty doesn’t wear off.
Ingredients:
2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of salt
2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
1 tablespoon of vegetable or olive oil mixed with 10* drops of your favorite essential oil.
1 1/2 cups hot water (some recipes call for boiling water, but I’ve found hot tap water to work well too)
Food coloring
Glitter
* Make sure you use essential oils that are safe for the age of your child. Some essential oils are too strong to be used in your dough and can cause eye irritation.
Instructions:
1. Mix the flour, salt, and cream of tarter together in a large bowl.
2. Gradually add the hot water to the dry ingredients and mix together.
3. Add optional food coloring and essential oils..
4. Continue to mix until the mixture is a soft and not sticky consistency. Add extra water or flour if needed.
5. To make your reading dough extra special we love adding a few tablespoons of glitter.
6. Knead for 3 or so minutes until the dough is smooth.
Bring out extra buttons, pipe cleaners, google eyes, beads or cookie cutters and invite your little one to play as you read aloud.
