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An open book on a table top with a cartoon line drawing of a pirate and pirate ship appearing to come out of the pages

5 Ways to Foster a Love of Reading in Children

It's good to share

Wanting to make reading fun for your kids? We take a look at some easy ways to foster a love of reading in children

It's good to share

I have always been a big supporter of reading to children, as well as encouraging them to learn to read independently. Not only is reading essential for brain development, it is also a fun activity that can be shared together. I think it is arguably the most important thing that you can do to promote learning in toddlers and young children.

For some expert insight into how to help make reading enjoyable, we have teamed up with Vicki, from Blossom Education, to hear about the methods that she has successfully used to promote reading to children…

A family with 4 small children, sat outside on a rug while looking at a pop-up book
Story time together

Background

Some children love reading, while others detest it. As adults, we find the same thing. As an avid reader, I sometimes struggle to comprehend how some of my friends and family members don’t find joy through the medium of the written word. If you’re like me, but your children aren’t, it can be disappointing to have offspring who don’t share your traditional hobby. However, there are ways to foster a love of reading in your children. Here are five suggestions:

A boy sat on the grass reading a book with colourful pictures inside
Always time for a book (photo by Francine Sreca)

#1 Read To Them Regularly

Segmenting and blending words can be tricky and take a lot of brainpower. Think about when children are learning to read. I bet there are times when they work so hard to decode the individual words that by the time they reach the end of the sentence, they have no clue what the sentence actually said!

Listening to a parent read can take away the stress of having to read the words by themselves. In addition, as adults, we are often much better at intonation and creating different voices for each character, so it can be way more interesting to listen to someone else’s storytelling.

Man reading a book to a young child on his lap
Start them young (photo by nappy)

#2 Audiobooks

This is a suggestion very similar to the one above. However, it is more versatile and requires less effort on your part. You can stick a CD or digital audiobook on while you’re on a long car journey to pass the time, or even build it into a daily routine. There are some wonderful options; some with famous faces reading stories with excellent character portrayals and at times hilarious accents.

Set of over-ear headphones, with 3 hardback books sandwiched in the middle
Listen to your favourites (photo by Stas Knop)

#3 Don’t be a Book Snob

“Hands up if you’re a bit of a book snob” (my hand has firmly shot up in the air!). It’s true; I struggle to understand why some adults choose to read poorly written novels (in the loosest sense of the word), like the Fifty Shades of Grey stories. Luckily, I don’t have to contend with my children aiming to read that sort of book, but children are in many ways the same. They will find a genre or an author who takes their fancy, and they might refuse to stray from these books. They are often cleverly written to hook kids and get them wanting every single book in the series.

Usually, these type of books are easy to read and based on characters that interest children, such as fairies, unicorns and spies. So, while we might beg and plead with our children to read more widely, actually, anything that grabs their interest can help foster that love of reading. Eventually, they will broaden their horizons. Persist with a bit of gentle encouragement, and you may be surprised.

An open book on a table top with a cartoon line drawing of a pirate and pirate ship appearing to come out of the pages
Inspire their imagination (photo by Tumisu)

#4 Films

I am firmly in the ‘book before film’ camp. However, sometimes it can be useful to watch films with your children first before encouraging them to read the corresponding books. After watching and reading, you could have fun by comparing the two and discussing the differences. Rating each is fun, too – use a system with star stickers.

#5 Use a Library

When I was a child, we regularly attended parent and child groups at my local library branch. As I got older, we visited weekly with school. I loved having my own ‘credit card’ for borrowing books – it made me feel so grown up and offered me an element of independence. Libraries are now often under-used community facilities that can still provide so much.

Fun at the library (photo by Susan Gerbic, under license)

Try to visit on a regular basis (when Covid-19 regulations allow). If you live in a rural location, you may even have a library van that visits – what excitement!

In Summary

These are five simple ways for you to encourage and support your children to love reading. Of course, there are countless more, but I hope that these may have offered you some food for thought for today.

About the Author

Vicki is a mum of two daughters and a qualified primary school teacher, currently working in a special school. She is also the founder and owner of Blossom Tuition.

‘This post was featured by Twinkl in their Creativity in Children blog

Children of Wanderlust Administrator
We are Rachel & John, parents from the UK with 4 small children. After persuing separate jobs for many years, including being an experienced science teacher, we have now moved to Spain for a fresh challenge. We have always had a passion for travel and exploration. Nowadays, that means bringing our 4 children, Savannah (9), Aurora (7), Easton (5) and Tiago (3) along with us. This oftens means taking a road trip in our beloved vintage camper, touring all corners of Europe and Morocco. We hope that you enjoy reading about our family adventures all over the world.

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