(Guest Post) Turn Your Kids Into Bookworms

“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” – Margaret Fuller

By Stepf B

So I hate to admit it, but I am guilty of wanting my kids to be the best in EVERYTHING! I know this is completely unrealistic, but come on...we all envision these perfectly groomed well behaved children, right? Well, I finally woke up and realized that all I need to focus on is helping my children be the best version of themselves. 

I want my children, intelligent, kind, confident, brave, proud but most importantly happy! So to keep me sane, I will focus on building the parts of my children that I can directly affect. To give them the best starting foundation, I push reading! 

Reading, as they say is fundamental, and helping my children develop an early love of reading will give them the building blocks to having a great school career! I have 3 children, 2 boys, 5 and 4 years old, and one baby girl, 2 years old. My two youngest LOVE to read. They would let me read to them all day long, but my oldest however, can gets bored quickly, and wants me to move on to a more exciting activity. 

So I took it upon myself to get him to love reading like his siblings! Kindergarten starts in 3 months, and I can proudly say, he is learning to love a good book!!

Here are my top 10 tricks for making reading exciting:

1. Create a reading nook

   • I was in family dollar and they had a small PJ mask tent on sale! Bingo, my son loves PJ Masks, and he loves closed in spaces, so I took it home, created a sign that said, “Reading Zone.” He goes inside the reading zone everyday now! Simple, cheap, fun and effective.

2. Audible

   • Did you know Audible has children books!? The kids and I listen to children's book while we clean. (They love, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”) 

3. Movie time

   • Read the book then watch the movie. This gives my son a great incentive to read the book! Who doesn’t love movie night. This works great for all the old Disney movies too! I especially love the learning opportunity this activity creates because we get to compare and contrast the book to the movie. 

4. Act it out

   • I am naturally a very animated person, when I read to my kids I get all the way into character. This makes the book come alive. Then we all act it out together, so much fun!

5. Stash books in crazy places

   • A book in the refrigerator? What! That response it exactly what I use to spark some interest to read the ‘cold’ book that is all about the winter snow. The bathroom is another great spot!

6. Go to the library

   • Field trips make everything fun. Going to the library also adds an educational moment on responsibility. 

7. Repeat

   • Yes, keep reading the same books, kids love familiarity. Turn it into a game, what happens next?

8. Get cooking

   • Let them read everything to you, the instructions, the grocery list...it’s all reading and feels fun!

9. Parallel the books to your events

   • Our first family trip on an airplane, we bought books all about the airport.

10. Books are rewards not punishments

    • My kids hate the dreaded bedtime!!! “No mom, we want to stay up!” Well, I fixed this problem. I moved bed time up to 30 min, (which they didn't know), but allowed them to stay up if they wanted to read!

I hope these tips help you and your little one explore the joys of reading! Here’s to our kids being bookworms in the making.