Reading! I feel like you either love it or hate it but for our children it is such an important part to help with their development. We have been so lucky with both our girls as they like to read - for now.
Reading to your children helps them learn communication and language skills, improved imagination and creativity as well as preparing them for their schooling years.
Below are three ways we made reading fun for our girls.
Let your child choose the book
I'm hearing you already, and we had the exact same with the girls, when you let them choose the book they want to read, it usually means one of two things, they take forever to decide or you end up the reading the same book over and over and over again. Reading the same book multiple times can get boring for us as parents but for your child, they love it! Reading the same words over and over again will help them with word recognition.
Ask them to read to you
Children love to make up stories so why not get them to create their own story from looking at the pictures on each page of their favourite book. Ask them questions about the images on each page and what they think is happening. This will not only help develop imagination but also improve their language skills and cognitive development.
Create a reading corner
If your place looks like ours, by the time the girls were two, our place could have doubled as your local library. I still don't know how we managed to have so many books. Creating a reading corner with your books allows the kids to choose their own time to read or flick through some books and imagine what each page is about. Now we have the play couches, the girls love lying on them and reading their favourite book.
I'm sure there are plenty of other ways out there that parents are making reading fun. Share your ideas with us @littleadventurers.au.