Reading to your children can be a great way of nurturing your child’s imagination, building their confidence and improving their vocabulary. More than that, it’s an activity that you can enjoy together, creating happy memories for you both. So how can you make sure that your child gets the most out of story time?
Start early
You don’t even have to wait until your baby is born! Babies still in the womb can hear sounds from 18 weeks, and if you read to your bump, they will recognise your voice and find it comforting once they’re out in the world. At the age of about three months, babies start enjoying the experience of board books and cloth books. Some of these are designed to be a multisensory experience – as well as looking at the pictures, your baby can press buttons to hear squeaks or animal noises, or feel the different textures in the cloth.
Make reading a story part of the bedtime routine
It’s a lovely way to finish the day together, and something children can look forward to. For older children who are going to school and leading busy lives, a bedtime story can be an opportunity to wind down and relax. Mum Jess Day says that reading books before naptime or bedtime meant that for her children, reading “was always associated with cuddles, warmth and togetherness. The children grasped that bringing a book and asking to be read to was a surefire way to get a cuddle and a parent’s full attention.”
Have a comfortable space in which to enjoy reading together
“Make it cosy, somewhere they want to retreat and curl up in,” says Liz Thomas, mum of three and founder of the charity It Tastes Like Love. “It doesn’t have to be fancy, but we have a little reading nook with cushions, blankets, cuddly toys and a small shelf of ‘this week’s books’, which are rotated. If I’ve got the energy, then hot chocolate too.”
Use the book to start a conversation
Stories can be a great way of introducing children to what can sometimes feel like a bewildering and complex world. One way of doing that is through Save the Children’s Wonderbooks series. Through stories based on the lives of real children the charity works with around the world – from Mexico to Syria, India and the Pacific Islands – Wonderbooks introduces young readers to themes such as the effects of poverty and climate breakdown, the global displacement crisis, as well as cultural diversity. By signing up to a monthly donation, you’ll get a new Wonderbook, Grown-Up’s Guide and a fun facts postcard each month.
Don’t just focus on the words …
Ask your child about what’s going on in the pictures. Is something happening that isn’t in the story? Has the illustrator put in any little jokes, or running motifs? Then once your child is old enough (say from about the age of seven or eight), you can look at art books together and make up the story behind the painting.
Bring the story to life by using your face, your body and your voice
You can use facial expressions to show surprise or anticipation, or use your arms to indicate size. Vary your reading tone from quiet to loud – or experiment with voices. Mum Rebecca Kiernan likes to adopt different accents for various characters: “Pigeons are scouse. Dogs are Brummies, for instance,” she says.
Let your child choose the books, and don’t worry too much about what they want to read …
If they prefer nonfiction to fiction, then go with it. For younger children (those under the age of five, roughly speaking), poems, counting songs and nursery rhymes can be a lot of fun, especially if they have repeated lines that the child can memorise and say along with you. Some children love graphic novels. It’s all about nurturing a love of reading, so let them choose what they enjoy, not what you’d like to read.
Don’t worry if they become obsessed with a single book
Some children choose the same book 10 days in a row, and that’s fine. Novelist Catherine Cooper says that when her son was little, he’d want the same story about a giant every night and would always warn her: “Don’t laugh when his trousers fall down.” The memory stayed with her, she says, and she even put it in one of her books.
Introduce your child to the pleasure of bookshops and libraries
Jaime Cox says that her three children always loved weekly visits to the library, and being able to choose their own books for her to read to them. “It really helps to get them invested in reading for life,” she says. Many libraries have regular story times, so a library outing can be a great way to combine the fun of choosing a new book with the quiet time of sitting and listening to a story. Similarly, bookshop visits can be wonderful in terms of inspiring kids to branch out more in what they’re reading, thanks to colourful and enticing displays of the newest titles, and well-recommended picks from staff.
Don’t feel restricted by the story in front of you
You can invent a subplot, or add the child as a character to the story, asking them what they would have done in the same situation. You can even include real-life friends and relatives too. One mum, Catrin Davies, remembers turning her own daughter into a character, Firefighter Kirsten. A child who had wronged her at nursery would get stuck up a pipe while the other firefighters had cake. Or you can ask what they think happened after the story ended – and create an afterlife for the characters.
Introduce your child to the big issues – like climate change and girls’ rights – with a Wonderbooks subscription. Discover more here
