Act One Adventures

Mmmmm ….. That feeling, when you are so immersed in a book that the whole world outside is completely shut out, the characters are leaping off the page into your mind’s eye, you can visualise the setting perfectly and the satisfaction when you have completed the story. I’m sure most of us would agree it is a great feeling. I’m sure we also probably agree that it is important to instil this love of reading into our own children from a very young age, especially when your read reports that reading as a pastime for our children has dropped since 2005.

So how can we make reading fun and something that our children want to continue with long after we turn the pages for them? How can we help to encourage independent reading as well as enjoying reading together. Here are my top tips for bringing books alive.

1)Talk about the book before even opening the cover. I know the saying goes “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” but it’s an important part in drawing any reader in. When I start a storytelling session the first thing I do is ask the children questions about the cover. Who is on there? What do we think the story is about? Do they recognise any words or numbers? Do they like/dislike the cover? We play detective and try and find some clues about the story. This can easily be done when choosing a book at the library or bookshop or off your own bookshelf and kids love seeing if they were right about the story. These activities also encourage speech and language development in younger children and can help to start developing independent reading skills in primary age children too.

2)Allow children to ask questions as you go through the story and talk about the pictures. With picture books and very small children point to a picture and get them to tell you what it is, ask them to point to things that are a specific colour etc. With older children maybe go back over the story at the end and get them to find a specific word (play detective) and count how many times they see it (if a short story book). Again all these things help with speech and language development and literacy and numeracy but they are also a way of encouraging independent reading later on.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt!

4)Look out for events at your local library or book shop. Many run sessions which may include an art and craft element or an author talk and many local libraries run reading challenges where children collect stickers etc often based around a theme. It can be a great way to kick starting the habit of reading regularly.

5)Don’t forget non-fiction! I find especially when children start school their thirst for learning new facts can be insatiable. Choosing a good non-fiction booked in a subject your child is interested in can be a great way of encouraging them to spot keywords. You can also follow that up with other activities e.g. spotting planets and stars on a clear night after reading about the Solar System or go on a nature hunt to try and spot some footprints or actual creatures from a wildlife book.

And remember they will get there. My son is 6 and is still not keen on reading himself but loves being read to. If we keep making it fun he will get there in the end and enjoyment of books is far more important in the short and long term.

I hope you have fun with some of the suggestions and that your child’s adventure with books continues for a very long time.