Little Moments, Big Benefits: Making Reading a Part of Your Day

How often do you read with your child? Reading together benefits children from birth. It supports brain development and early language skills while also strengthening the bond between caregiver and child. 

A recent study found that parents are reading to their preschool-aged children less frequently than they were before the pandemic. Common reasons for this include trouble finding the time, being tired, children not sitting for long enough, and children preferring screen time. 

Luckily, there are several ways to fit reading into busy, tiring days and make the activity more engaging for your child.

How to Make Reading with Your Child Part of Your Day

For busy caregivers, making reading together convenient can help the activity become a natural part of the day. Here are a few practical ideas to try with your family:

• Change When You Read Together: In many households, reading together happens before nap time or bedtime. However, if you’re too tired to read to your child at these times, try finding a different time that works better for both of you. Consider reading together early in the morning, during snack time, or even right after dinner.

• Keep Books Accessible: Making books easy to find is a simple way to encourage more reading. Keep a small selection of them throughout the house - in the living room, your bedroom, or anywhere your family spends time together. Before going to the doctor or somewhere where there may be a wait time, encourage your child to pick out a book or two to bring along and read together. This not only helps fit reading into the day but also presents an alternative to screen time.

• Have Shorter Stories Available: Having shorter stories available makes reading together more manageable. This can be especially helpful when it’s been a tiring day or your child won’t sit still for long. For example, some children’s books feature collections of stories that each take only 5 minutes to read.

3 Ways to Engage Children in Reading

What would a picture-perfect reading session with your child look like? You may envision sitting with them at the end of the day or reading a book from cover to cover. However, instead of focusing on what reading should look like, focus on making it appealing for your child:

• Bring Enthusiasm to Reading: Instead of seeing reading with your child as just another part of your day, think of it as an opportunity to experience something together. Showing you are excited about reading together can help your child become interested in it as well. Consider expressing excitement with an upbeat tone. For example, find a book about one of their interests, like dinosaurs, and invite them to read by saying “I found this really cool book about dinosaurs! Let's read it together!” Also, think about what would make you more excited about reading together, such as sharing a childhood favorite. Once your child shows interest, keep their attention by using different voices for different characters and reading with emotion.

• Get Your Child Involved: While some children may prefer to sit quietly and listen, others may be more interested in a story when they have opportunities to participate. For young children, this often starts with having them turn pages. As your child grows, asking questions is a great way to keep them engaged and build comprehension, emotional understanding, and critical thinking skills. It also gives you a chance to see how your child thinks and help them learn. You can ask questions like: 

  • What do you see going on in this picture? 

  • What do you think is going to happen next?

  • Why do you think the character did that? 

  • What would you do?  

  • How do you think this character feels? Why?

 There are also books where children make decisions that affect the path of the story, such as What Should Danny Do? 

• Incorporate Physical Action: Some children naturally have a lot of extra energy, so sitting quietly can be challenging. One way you can keep your child interested in a story is by having them mimic things that are happening. If the main character skips on the way home from school or jumps three times, encourage your child to skip and jump. Afterwards, praise your child and then guide them back to the story by saying “let’s see what happens next.”  

Reading together doesn’t have to look a certain way to make it valuable. In fact, the best thing you can do is find what works for you and your child. By adjusting your approach to fit your family, reading together can become easier and more enjoyable for everyone.