You may be wondering why you need to make reading enjoyable for your child, especially if they are preschool age or younger. Let me set a scene for you: it’s Saturday afternoon, the baby is down for their afternoon nap and you are ready to cosy up with your preschooler and read them one of your favourite childhood books. It truly is an Instagram moment. Until, the preschooler decides that the book is useful for everything except reading. Is it a hat? Yes! Is it a seat? Yes? Does it fly? Alas, yes!
If this is you and you’re wondering how to make reading fun for your headstrong preschooler then you are in the right place my friend!
Maybe you are just hoping to read to your child every now and then as a bonding experience. Or maybe you are starting to think about when they are going to be learning to read and you want them to have some experience with books. These are excellent reasons to make reading enjoyable for your child.
Why Do I Need to Make Reading Enjoyable for my Child?
I’m sure you’ve figured out at this stage that if your child is not interested in something, they are not going to do it! Or maybe they will, but they won’t like it! And that means they won’t put in the effort.
Children, people of all ages in fact, are much more likely to learn new skills if they are interested in them. In the world that we live in today, reading is a fundamental life skill. Take a look at all of the times you read each day; on your phone, books, road signs, shop signs, logos, the list goes on and on.
While you may not appreciate it now, reading was a very complex skill for you to learn. Your teachers and parents put a lot of effort into it and it didn’t happen by accident.
While you may be of the opinion that someone either likes reading or doesn’t. I am of the opinion that there is a lot that we can do to foster a love of reading in our children. There are so many fun reading activities for kids and they will make reading enjoyable for your child!
Why is My Child Not Interested in Reading?
There could be a number of reasons for this. First of all, if your child is not interested in reading, don’t panic! There are lots of things that we can do to create an interest and even foster a love of reading.
One of the main reasons that children show little to no interest in reading, or find learning to read tricky, is because they have not fully developed their pre-reading skills. Having a good foundation of pre-reading skills will make learning to read easier and more enjoyable for your child. Download this simple checklist to assess your child’s pre-reading skills.
Perhaps reading and books have only just been introduced into your child’s life. At first glance, they’re definitely not as interesting as lego or playdoh!!
Maybe they associate reading with having to sit still when all they want to do is play. Again, check their pre-reading skills. Often a lack of interest is actually masking frustration at not being able to do something.
Or maybe your child simply hasn’t found a subject that they enjoy hearing about yet.
No matter the reason, there are plenty of fun reading activities for kids that will encourage our children to read or be read to.
How to Make Reading More Enjoyable
Remember, we are trying to create an interest in reading. Or if they are already interested, foster a real love of reading. Having an interest in reading will give your child a huge advantage when it comes to learning how to read.
Even children that find reading difficult are more likely to put in the effort to learn as long as they can feel the joy in reading.
Tip 1: Read Daily
You may need to build up to this if you have a very reluctant reader. When I say build up, I mean, start with a minute or two a day. Find a few really short books and read one a day for a while. Try to start with a little daily instead of a lot once a week.
Reading can quickly become a habit. Reading before bed is a great habit as it can be an excellent wind down activity. I also find it really useful as a chill out activity in the middle of the day for my preschooler. After he dropped his nap (a sad day in our house!!!) he still needed some chill out time in the middle of the day. Reading stories is really lovely for this time.
Tip 2: Let Them Choose The Book
This is such a great tip for a reluctant reader, it’s a simple step to make reading fun. Sometimes, as parents, we have an idea of all the lovely books that we want to read to our children and the messages we want them to hear. However, our children just want to hear about dinosaurs, volcanoes, dragons, unicorns and everything in between!
Letting your child choose the book is a sure fire way to get them interested. It’s important to note, that sometimes it may not even be a book. Comics, graphic novels and even the back of cereal boxes count. If they want to read it, read it!!!!
Tip 3: Use Your Local Library
As a follow on from my last point, use your local library. Where better for your child to choose a book than in a library. Even apart from the books, it’s a gorgeous little trip out with your little one.
There are often little play areas and reading corners in libraries. The librarian might be able to help you find a book, sometimes our little ones are more likely to listen to someone else’s recommendation!
They can choose a couple of books and wait until you see how excited they are to read them when you get home!! The best part is in a couple of weeks, you can do it all again!
Tip 4: Reread Favourite Books
This can be a tough one on parents! As you know, when a child wants to repeat something it might be one time or it might be one thousand times! But this is not ‘make reading fun for parents’, it is ‘make reading fun for kids’! My son has had favourite books at different times, you would be amazed at some of the books I could recite by heart at different stages! But inevitably he moved on and I have forgotten most of them!
It may seem tedious but if they are enjoying it, keep going. If you really want to introduce them to more new material then offer to read two books, the new one first and then the old favourite.
Tip 5: Create a Reading Space
This is exactly as it sounds, create a little reading space in your home. Depending on how much space you have, you might be creating a proper little reading nook in your child’s room or you might just have one special cushion that they sit on to read in the living room.
It doesn’t have to be fancy, just something special to your child. Create an environment where they want to read. Let them choose the decor and encourage them to help create it. Giving them ownership of it will also make them more likely to use it.
Tip 6: Read in Front of Them
This is different to reading to them. This is where you take a few minutes as often as you can and sit and read your own book. I understand that you are super busy and finding five minutes can seem like a mammoth task at times.
However, this will benefit both you and your child. Firstly, it gives you five minutes where you stop, sit down and read that book that you’ve been talking about reading for months!
Secondly, it lets your child see the merit in reading. Children notice very quickly when we tell them to do one thing and do the opposite ourselves. If we want them to have an interest in reading, they need to see that we have an interest in reading too.
Tip 7: Get Someone Else to Read to Them
If it’s always you that reads to them, why not ask someone else. Sometimes kids just need a break from us!! Don’t take it personally, sometimes we need a break from them too!!
If there is an older sibling who is able to read, they are the perfect candidate! Both children will get something out of this. The older child will get to improve their fluency, maybe get a bit dramatic with voices, etc. and feel so grown up reading to their younger sibling.
The younger child will love this time with their older sibling and it’s also a great motivator for them to learn to read.
Alternatives are grandparents, family, friends, the postman, pretty much anyone you trust to do it so you can get five minutes to yourself!!!
Tip 8: Audiobooks Count
While we’re on the subject of other people reading to them. Audiobooks count! Some people will have you believe that you have to be reading physical books to get the good out of them.
While physical books are great for learning some of the pre-reading skills, audio books will give you most of the skills and will be more suitable for some children. Some children neither need nor want the pictures in the books.
Being able to listen to a story without seeing any pictures enables the child to create the entire story in their head. This is an excellent exercise in understanding and imagination. It is also exactly what they will be doing when they are reading books when they are older.
Audio books can be great in the car too. They’re super for long journeys, especially if you find that your little one gets motion sickness. The audio book can be a good distraction and is better than watching cartoons as this can exacerbate the motion sickness.
Tip 9: Use Books as Rewards
Let them see your excitement when you use books as a reward. Obviously choose a book/comic/magazine that they will love.
This creates a positivist association with books and reading. Sometimes reading can become a thing that we force ourselves to do every day and it starts to feel like a job to do instead of a joyful activity.
Keep the associations positive and light when it comes to books.
Tip 10: Find Reading Moments
Reading doesn’t always have to be sitting down on the couch reading a book from cover to cover. The majority of reading that we do as adults is on the go during the day.
Point out these moments to your child. Let them see how often you use the skill of reading. If your child has started learning their letters then why not ask them to spot some of those letters out and about.
Conclusion
Try some of these tips and let me know how you have gotten on. Have any of them helped increase your child’s interest in reading?
If you take the time to make reading enjoyable for your child you will reap the benefits. You are giving them the interest they need to help them to learn to read quicker and with less stress for both of you. When you make reading enjoyable, you make reading enjoyable for you and your child.
As your child’s interest in reading grows, so too will their pre-reading skills. Assess your child’s pre-reading skills here! If you’re looking for some ideas of how to improve their pre-reading skills, check out this post!
