A passion for reading is worth encouraging in your kids.
Reading is a great activity for supporting kids’ imaginations and for building knowledge. Studies show that reading can also help develop concentration, memory and communication skills.
So just how do you get a child passionate about reading? Below are a few examples of ways to develop a passion for reading in your kids.
How To Get Your Kids Passionate About Reading
1. Start reading to them young
You should start reading to kids as a toddler – or even as a baby. Some studies have even suggested that you should start reading to kids in the womb!
Reading to kids early gets them used to the idea of books and reading. Trying to encourage a kid to read at the age of 5 when you’ve never read to them before could be difficult, as the idea may seem foreign to them.
There are many books aimed at babies that include bigger pictures and interactive sensory parts. Check out this guide for some popular examples.
2. Read to them regularly
Reading should also be something that’s done regularly. In fact, it could be worth finding a specific daily book time in order to make reading a familiar routine.
The most common time to read to kids is before bed. This could be in bed or on the sofa before going to bed.
3. Add in some theatrics
It’s important that reading is a fun activity and not something that is seen as boring. When reading a familiar book, try to add in some theatrics such as playful voices or motions. Very young kids are particularly likely to enjoy this.
4. Let them choose their own books to read
While you may want to choose some books for your kids, it could also be worth letting them choose a few.
At bedtime, you could take it in turns each night to choose a book to read (having a choice ensures that you don’t have to read the same book every night!).
When it comes to buying books, take your kids with you book shopping. They can help to choose the books they want from the book store shelves. This gives your kids freedom as to what they want to read.
There are also many sites where you can shop for children’s books – click here to see more. There may be more choices online, and while looking at a website isn’t as interactive as visiting a physical book store, you can still show kids books and let them choose ones to order.
5. Assist your kids in reading aloud
Once kids reach the age where they begin developing reading skills, try to encourage them to read sentences aloud themselves.
You can start by getting them to copy you while pointing at each word so that they can begin to understand how the word looks and how it sounds.
Eventually, kids will be able to read books by themselves. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t still read to your kids – storytime can still be great bonding time.
6. Visit a library
To help immerse kids in the world of books, consider taking them on a trip to a local library. Seeing lots of books and seeing lots of people reading can help to reinforce that reading is a normal thing to do.
Libraries also often have fun kids sections where you’ll be able to choose from all kinds of fun kids books.
Librarians may also be able to recommend books for kids that you can borrow.
Investing in a library card could be worthwhile.
7. Listen to audiobooks
While an audiobook may not develop reading skills, it can encourage kids to appreciate books and stories. This in turn can lead to a deeper interest in reading.
There are many audiobook gadgets that you can buy for kids which may include headphones – these can be ideal for long car journeys. Alternatively, you can simply buy CDs of audiobooks or download audiobooks onto a device.
As with physical books, you can encourage kids to choose the audiobooks they want to listen to.
8. Set a good example
How regularly do you read books? If the answer is ‘never’, consider whether it’s time you picked up a book.
Reading books sets a good example to your kids. It shows your kids that it’s not just an activity for children, but an activity for adults too. Find a book that interests you and dedicate some time each day to read it – even if it’s just 10 minutes before bed.
