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I get asked all the time about things that parents can do to make reading fun for their kids. This list includes some of the best tips for raising readers and sharing a love of words, books, and reading!
Reading Aloud From the BeginningOne of the best ways to get kids interested in reading is to start reading to them from the very beginning. This list shares some tips for reading to kids as early as the first night home from the hospital!
One of the things you hear all the time nowadays is that our world needs more empathy. So teaching kids to be empathetic is an important task for parents and teachers. As those entrusted with raising the next generation, it’s our job to teach them how to be good human beings. Little Bookworm is a very empathetic kid. She is the first to run to help someone in need, and she often takes it upon herself to defend those who are being picked on. So I wanted to share how to use children’s books to teach empathy, and how we have made it part of our daily conversations.
If you are a regular reader on this site, then you know how often I talk about the importance of reading aloud to kids. The science backs up the claims that reading to a child every day has an incredible amount of benefits. It also sets kids up for success in many ways. But this doesn’t have to be just parents. Today I wanted to share why grandparents should read to their grandchildren too, and some fun ways to go about it – even if you have to be far apart.
I love teaching reading and writing with fun children’s books about language arts. Since Little Bookworm is currently learning to read, we have been learning about grammar, punctuation, and phonics with some fun characters like the ones in these kids books about language. We have previously shared lots of fun books about punctuation and grammar, and we are excited to share our new favorites today!
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This entry into the Language is Fun series, teaches kids about spelling and vowel sounds, and the magic of the silent “e”. The story follows the little letter “e” as he tries to prove that he can be a hero. He spends his days at school being quiet, but when he doesn’t show up to school one day, the other letters definitely take notice. As the letters try to make words together, they struggle to make the right vowel sounds without the silent “e”.
The brightly colored illustrations are adorable, showing the letters with expressive faces and personalities. Making the silent “e” into a strong, helpful character has been great for reminding Little Bookworm about the changes that the silent “e” makes to words while she is reading.
This adorable book in the Language is Fun series gives personalities to the various punctuation marks, making it easier for kids to remember the jobs that each mark has. The story shares the adventures of the Punctuation Family – the newest family in Alphabet City. As the punctuation marks embark on their first day of school, they meet with all the letters and start forming phrases together. But Comma isn’t sure that he fits in with everyone else. In the end, all of the letters and punctuation marks learn the important role that Comma plays.
The illustrations are full of bright colors, and the letters and punctuation marks each have adorable expressive faces. Kids will love the cute characters, while adults will appreciate the fun way that the story introduces the roles of punctuation marks to beginning readers.
The Word Collector
I’m sure it is no surprise to anyone who follows this site that I love creative book and reading gifts. I love to give them, and I love to get them. This list is made up of some of my favorite reading gifts for bookworms that I have found recently. No matter their ages, you are sure to find something fun for the bookworms on your shopping list!
For kids who love to read, this cute tote bag will give them a sturdy way to transport their dinosaur sized reading pile from place to place.
There are so many ways to make learning the alphabet fun. We are a big fans of silly alphabet books, and we have even practiced the alphabet in other languages. But we especially enjoy creating alphabet artwork and activities inspired by our favorite books. So this post is full of some of our favorite alphabet activities for kids inspired by children’s books! Click on the photo or title under the image to view the full activity post.
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Use items you find in nature to create the letters of the alphabet. This activity was inspired by the book The Anywhere Artist.
Strega Nona Spaghetti Letter SearchKids will love this fun activity that encourages them to dig into a bowl of pretend pasta to find the letter “meatballs” and identify the letters.
Encourage kids to practice making letter shapes with the pretend pasta and meatballs inspired by the Strega Nona books.
This activity, inspired by Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, helps kids work on their fine motor skills while practicing to create letter shapes.
Sprinkle LettersThis activity inspired by the book Grandma’s Kitchen uses colorful sprinkles to practice letter formation.
Letter Cookie Flipping
Imagine sitting down every day as a family to enjoy some quality family reading time together. Everyone rushes to snuggle up together and waits excitedly to start the story. Is this what happens in your home? Some days it may be. Other days it may be a bigger struggle. It definitely is in our house some days. If you long for the days of peaceful time reading to kids, but struggle to make it happen, then I am here to help. Today I’m sharing the most important tip for reading to kids.
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This may seem obvious, but with the growing push for kids to read earlier and read more, parents can often feel the strain too. We are constantly being told that kids need to be reading by a certain time, should be reading a certain number of pages or hours a day, and a certain number of books per year. It can be hard to “loosen up” and take reading lightly when there are always new benchmarks being introduced.
But guess what? Meeting all of those benchmarks won’t mean anything if we don’t make reading fun for kids.
I am often asked how to get kids to read more. The answer is to make reading fun. We have to shift the focus from the amount of pages, words, books, or hours, and instead focus on fostering a love of reading. Once kids love reading, tracking the numbers will be easier and more fun, instead of a chore. Think about it in terms of your own reading. If you are reading something you enjoy, you can probably fly through it. But if it’s a textbook on something you don’t care about, each page can take forever!
There are lots of ways that you can make reading fun for kids and raise a bookworm. Reading to your kids is the first and most important step to raising a reader. From the very beginning, reading to kids helps them connect reading and books to positive feelings of love. In addition to this simple but lasting side effect, reading to your kids every day also offers you the opportunity to show them that reading can be fun, and to model the behaviors of good readers.
Don’t take your daily reading too seriously! Every read aloud doesn’t have to be a big life lesson or a lesson in reading skills. Some days my daughter and I read deep and meaningful books that help her learn coping skills or help her to deal with big emotions. Other days we happiily read the silliest books we can find and spend the day laughing at nonsense. Both types of books have a place on our bookshelf and in our daily reading. On those days when I am making silly voices and reading ridiculous books, she is reminded that reading can be a lot of fun, and those will become treasured memories to her. I still have fond memories of my parents reading silly books to me and my sister. And those nights spent reading made me the reader that I am.
Making reading fun can be easy!
In recent weeks, I have read lots of conversations online about parents worried about discussing uncomfortable topics with their kids. Racism, prejudices, slavery, and intolerance are just some of the topics I have seen argued about. While I recognize a parent’s fear of upsetting their children, I fully believe that reading about uncomfortable topics and talking to your kids about these things is crucial.
Picture your favorite reading spot. What makes it special? What helps you settle in for an afternoon of relaxing and reading? Today I am thrilled to share a list of amazing book themed candles that will transport you to your favorite reading nook, or even to your favorite literary places. These make great gifts for bookworms too!
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Do you struggle to get your kids excited about reading? There are a few reading “sins” that may affect a child’s love of reading. Find out how to fix these common mistakes while reading to kids.
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Fighting back when kids want to reread the same storyRereading the same book night after night can be exhausting for parents. You get tired of the same story and the same rhymes. You can repeat them without looking at the pages. While this may be annoying to you, hearing the same story over and over is actually really beneficial to kids.
Each time they hear the story, they pick up on more of the plot, the tone, the character development, the rhyme patterns, etc. They are able to start filling in some of the words on their own, especially if the text has a good rhyme. They will also be able to retell the story in their own way, which is an important skill to develop. Plus, the comfort of hearing a favorite story over and over again adds an emotional level to your reading time, which helps them tie reading to positive feelings.
So instead of forcing a new book on them every night, give in to the repeated stories. (Although I have been known to send certain books on vacation after a while, to be found again sometime later on).
Not letting kids read graphic novelsThere are a lot of people who believe that graphic novels aren’t “real books”. This is also common when discussing comic books. However, I completely disagree with this argument. Are they reading? Are they putting the screens away and reading stories on the page? Then don’t stress!
There are so many milestones and guidelines for kids and reading, that we often worry about what they “should” be reading. But as adults, we don’t exactly read what we “should” be reading all the time either! Sure we could only read the classics, or brilliant texts on philosophy or ethics, but sometimes we want to escape with a romance novel or a thriller too. Reading should be enjoyable. If we force kids to read what they “should” be reading and discount what they want to read, then they will grow to dislike reading as a whole.
Telling kids that memorizing a story isn’t reading
