Want to encourage your child to read more? Read this

encourage your child to read
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Did you know that reading for fun improves children’s brains and that it can also give them a maths advantage? These are just two of the benefits of reading for children. But the reality is there are so many more benefits of reading. So it’s a no brainer – you want to encourage your child to read. But the question is, how do you do that? Today I wanted to share some of the strategies I have used with out daughter. Here’s some you can try out to encourage your child to read!

Create a reading habit

It’s never to early to create a reading habit. You can read with babies, toddlers, preschoolers. Just because they can’t read yet, doesn’t mean you can’t create a reading habit. Read to them from as young an age as possible. For school age children, create a routine of snuggling up on the sofa when they get home and need to chill out, or have them read a book to you (as well as you to them!) at bedtime. You can also share reading a book by taking turns to read pages.

And here’s an interesting fact for you about the benefits of reading to children. Did you know that children who are read to for 20 minutes a day before age 5 will earn, on average, $500,000 more in their lifetime.

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Picture credit: In The Book

Be a reading role model

Do you make time to read? It can be super difficult to do so in this busy parent life. But children learn by mirroring. So create a tradition of reading the Sunday papers over breakfast. Or have a stack of books by your bedside. You may only read one or two pages before you conk out…but it at least send the signal that reading is part of your life too.

Create a reading corner

Finding it hard to tempt your child to sit down and read? Try creating a reading corner. Here’s one we created in our daughter’s bedroom with a high back Kids Bean Bag (£24.99) from Bean Bag Bazaar! It’s super comfy and lightweight and I challenge any child not to want to flop down and read in it. Then put up a series of children’s shelves and stock them up with books – we got ours from Argos.

encourage your child to read
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Visit the library

Encouraging your child to read doesn’t have to be expensive. You local library is an amazing and never ending resource full of books to tickle any reluctant reader. Most libraries put on a story time – so find out when that is and take them along. Get involved in their themed weekly challenges which usually run over the summer holidays. You get the picture!

Sign up to a book subscription service

But in reality, sometimes it can be hard work trying to convince your child to the library. Instead, why not look into a book subscription service like Reading Chest. Having some different reading material popping through your letterbox regularly can be quite exciting!

Have a lot of books in the house

As far as I’m concerned, you can never have too many books in the house. Having a large and varied collection of books in the house is likely to help create a reading habit.

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Read with them each night

I’ve spoken about the importance of reading at bedtime and I’ll say it again. It’s an amazing way of cultivating little minds at bedtime and is a powerful way to create a reading habit.

Get the book level right

Reading should be fun not frustrating, and frustration can really put a child off reading! If your child is struggling, consider dropping down a level or two until they are confident enough to progress.

Read when you’re out and about

Reading doesn’t always have to be about books. There are so many interesting things out in the wide world to read. Posters, adverts, train announcements and departure boards…the world is your reading oyster!

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Show an interest in their reading

Children crave our attention – fact. So to help encourage your child to read, take an interest in what they are reading. Ask questions about the book, the plot, the characters, what they think of it. Have a discussion. You get the gist.

Mix up the genre

Your child may prefer fact based books to stories. Or perhaps a comic or joke book may be more enticing. Experiment with different formats and genres to see what piques their interest.

Play reading games

Yes you heard that right! Reading. Games. Think book bingo, scavenger hunts and reading prompt games. They may not be a book but all are a great way to encourage your child to read. Check out Twinkl for lots of great reading game resources.

Smart ways to encourage your children to read more #literacy #parentingtips
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And now for the exciting part!

***GIVEAWAY***

Here’s your chance to win a children’s bean bag from Bean Bag Bazaar to create your very own reading corner to encourage your child to read.

Enter on our giveaways page here

*I was sent a complimentary bean bag by Bean Bag Bazaar

Picture credit: School photo created by rawpixel.com – www.freepik.com

42 comments

  1. Try not to get too hung up on what they are reading. My kids are working their way through two of the most popular series of kids books at the moment (Beast Quest and Rainbow Magic), I’m not keen on them but reading is reading!

  2. Read with them every night is a great start. Also I am a bookwarm myself. The younger you start the better.

  3. We used to read a nursery rhyme book every night which was brilliant for reading skills. Repetitive books are also great for learning new words and phrases.

  4. My grandson Jamie, 3 in November, loves his books & stories & loves going to the library to get even more books! He’s a proper little bookworm. He’d love a reading corner with his own beanbag

  5. We read to our boys from a very early age,fiction and non fiction, I am a volunteer reader in school so my boys see me reading all the time which encourages them. Our local Library runs a 6 week reading challenge during the summer holidays which my boys enjoy. Read together leaflets, posters anything while out and about to help them learn new words. Above all make it fun x

  6. reading with children from an early age is essential, and letting them explore different genres is also good to widen their scope

  7. There are some great ideas here. My daughter is nearly 3yrs and she loves learning, but keeping her attention is a different matter. I will definitely be using some of these tips as she grows x

  8. brilliant tips,ive always encouraged my children to read as im an avid reader,i always have books by my bed,my eldest grandchild is just starting to read at school and hes coming on in leaps and bounds,the youngest one loves nanny reading to her and i enjoy it too

    • Read to and with them every day. Visit the library and read signs, labels, in fact any words you see day to day.

  9. Fab tips – I have always read books from day one to my kids and I am lucky they love to read. We have family time book reading, we put on voices to make it fun and keep them engaged. We also love to go to the library and the kids love to spend their pennies in charity shops to pick up some books! My daughter loves anything funny and my son loves books with flaps so it gives him something to do, Usborne books are our favs!

  10. Read with them and buy reading material that you know will interest them. That’s how we cracked it with my son – LEGO magazines!

  11. When we go on day trips, we sing along to the radio and then he reads to me, I love it. Especially when we have a funny book on the go! I’ve been thinking about getting my son into audio books though, I think he’ll enjoy them as well.

  12. My boys love to read. We’ve read everyday since they were tiny, and try to read all sorts of different books.

  13. My own children were always read to as children but never showed any interest in reading for themselves. My eldest was diagnosed as severely dyslexic & my youngest just wanted to draw all the time (he is now going to Uni based on that). My Grandson loves reading but my Granddaughter like her father is showing signs of Dyslexia. So we get her to try & read everything from labels on the yoghurts she enjoys to instructions on her kindle. We have downloaded apps on her kindle to help her.

  14. Always make time for it and try and make it fun. Things like craft projects inspired by what we’re reading, doing voices or acting bits out are all ways to keep it entertaining.

  15. I’m a big reader myself so always encourage my kids to read. I think it helps that they see me with a book all the time. My daughters, especially, when it’s cold outside, like to cosy up on the sofa, with a blanket and a hot chocolate and read with me.

  16. I think keeping it fun is key. Listen when they interrupt (and they will) and answer their question, keep it relevant to the book. Find books which correlate with what they are interested in at that time so it means something to them.

  17. Encourage them to read by playing I spy on road trips and getting them to read road signs, instructions etc

  18. some really good tips here. I think people forget that reading doesn’t have to be just about books. Getting children to read signs is a great way to get them interested not just in reading, but in the world around them too. Leo is three but ever since he was old enough to understand we’ve set him little challenges, such as to tell us when he sees a car numberplate that has the same numbers as Daddy’s. Also, remember, children can very often spot a mcdonalds from miles away, and the mcdonalds sign is just a big letter M. So instead of just acknowledging that it’s a mcdonalds, say something like ‘That’s right, M for Mcdonald’, You can do this with so many letters on shop signs.

  19. Great tips! I think anything that helps children in the future or leaves them with a love of reading is fantastic

  20. Fantastic tips, my girls are 7 and 2 and love story time, and I always encourage them, my 7 year old daughter is 18 months ahead on her reading and spelling tests and people always say how confident and well she reads, my 2 year old daughter’s speech is amazing too, and she is always singing, they have lots of books at home and we visit our local library every week xx

  21. l always try to get something l know interests them. No screen time read from a proper book. Were really lucky our kids love to read so we havent really had a problem thankfully

  22. Start from an early age, I read to my bump even and she loves it now. I always make time for a bedtime story too because even when I’ve had a bad day it makes me feel better too

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