I have been an avid reader since I was a kid, and I still read every chance that I can. Although I have less time for it now that I have kids, I share my love of reading with them as much as I can. Both my kids love reading, but sometimes things like required reading for homework can get a little boring. Here are my tips for getting kids interested in reading by using some creative strategies. Literacy is such an important thing to instill in our children!
Read together.
Make some special time together for reading. My daughter loves alone time with me, snuggling in her bed. It is a treat to have just the two of us and not her sister, so we get cozy and read.
Find reading materials other than books.
My kids often have a lot of fun reading materials other than books, and will often get totally absorbed in reading something else.. without even realizing they are reading. One of my daughter’s favorites is National Geographic Kid’s magazine, which we get from the library. She loves looking through the magazine and reading about cool animals and other interesting things, and even I will find myself checking it out with her.
Audio books.
Sometimes kids enjoy listening to a book on tape while they read along. My daughter wanted to read Little House on the Prairie, but it was a little above her reading level, so we found the book on CD at our library. Every night she would get in bed to listen to a few chapters on CD, and it was a lot of fun for her.
Library programs.
Check to see if your library has any reading programs. This could be anything from reading with a book buddy to a kid’s book club, and most libraries have a summer reading club.
Find topics your child likes.
There are so many books out there – is your child into a certain TV character or an animal? You can likely find a book, fiction or non-fiction, that has something that really peaks their interest.
A book of their own.
My kids love having their own book collection. Many of these are from places like library book sales, garage sales, consignment shops, or hand-me-downs – but a book of their own is a treat. Sometimes we even give them books as rewards or gifts, and they are excited about adding to their bookshelf.
Read a book that has been made into a movie.
This can be an incentive to read a book before or after seeing its movie counterpart. After seeing Mr. Popper’s Penguins, my daughter was excited to read the book, but it can be fun to read the book first, so you can see how it was interpreted for the movies.
Get your child a book light.
Getting my daughter her first book light took me back to my childhood, reading under the covers at night. The allure of reading in the dark and even sneaking in some reading time can make reading fun. I often find my kids sneaking in a book or two after bed, and although they lose a little sleep, they gain a lot as far as fostering a love of reading.
These are a few of the ways we have enjoyed reading. Do you have any ways reading is fun in your household?
Cherish your moments where you snuggle and read books together. My little snuggle bug is off to college. I miss her. Time flies fast.
These are great ideas to motivate kids to read! I love our reading times together 🙂 I like the idea to get them their own book light and audio books. Thx!
What great ideas. My daughter is so independent its been hard for us to get her to read. One thing we’ve found, because she’s obsessed with the iPad, we read her a book on it. She sat and listened and liked swiping to change the page.
We haven’t done audiobooks. I think we should definitely try that! Great tips!
I remember licing my book light as a kid! This are great ideas to interest kids in reading, which is super important!