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A love of reading doesn’t always come naturally. In fact, more often than not, it doesn’t! It’s something that needs to be cultivated. Here are some ways to help your kids love reading:
Don’t Stress.
It’s perfectly fine and normal if your child isn’t obsessed with reading. While I liked reading here and there as a kid, I didn’t often read for pleasure until after I graduated with my English degree. There is plenty of time for your child to fall in love with reading on their own time. The goal is to create positive experiences with reading, not force them to love it in order to check off a parental checklist.
Read aloud to them.
Read a compelling story aloud to your child as part of your bedtime ritual. Getting them into a good story through a read-aloud often influences them to continue reading on their own.
P.S. No one is ever too old for picture books. Here’s a list of my favorites!
Try audiobooks.
Yes, audiobooks count as reading! Harry Potter and the Circle Round podcast are always good options for entertaining audiobooks to listen to as a family, or for your kids to listen to on their own.
Invest in some good graphic novels.
Reticent readers often love the ease and accessibility of graphic novels. Here are a few my kids love.
Give them a reading light.
Once we say goodnight to our kids, they’re allowed to stay up for 20-30 minutes or so reading with their reading light. That extra stay-up time is an incentive for them to get into a book, and it helps them wind down at night. This is the light everyone in my family has.
Make reading fun.
Offer special snacks you bring out for reading time only. That has worked wonders for my kids! Another way we create positive reading experiences is by reading a book together as a family and having a party themed around the book afterward. (Our Narnia party will go down in our family’s history!) Read-a-thons and reading reward charts are other ways to motivate kids to read.
Lead the way.
Let your kids catch you enjoying a good book and take the chance to tell them about the story you’re loving. When my kids ask for a bedtime story, sometimes I’ll just give them a kid-friendly update of the book I’m currently reading. Beats coming up with an on-the-spot story from scratch, and it sparks their interest in reading too.
Need some good book suggestions for your kids? Start here:
6 books your kids won’t be able to put down
