How can we encourage a love of reading in our children?

Children "with more positive attitudes towards reading are more likely to read at or above the expected level for their age." (Clark 2014).

Here are our top tips on how can we encourage a love of reading in our children.

Start them young

Even the youngest babies will find comfort in hearing your voice as you read a story.

don’t stop!

And please don’t stop reading to your children once they can read themselves. It's not only beneficial for you to read to your older children but it's a lovely way to spend time together.

Read daily together

Make reading part of your daily routine. By reading to your child daily you will be starting the journey on them becoming lifelong readers.

Use their interests

If your little one loves trains or dinosaurs or fairies then read stories that feature them. Going to the library is a great activity to get out of the house and a great opportunity to explore new and different books.

go graphic or non-fiction

Magazines, comics and non-fiction books are a wonderful way to draw in children with their illustrations, short-form text and facts

bring stories to life

Use funny voices, change your tone to suit the story, read in unusual places to suit the setting in the story, use the story as a basis of small world play or craft activities.

Make books visible and accessible

Your child should be able to choose a book whenever they want. If you are worried about your child ripping the books, buy material or thick board books. And to be honest, cellotape can always fix a ripped page.

be enthusiastic

If you treasure books and are excited about reading them, then your children will want to read more. I appreciate this isn’t always possible but children copy the adults around them, so if you can, sit down and read a book - your children will copy you.

Our key aim at Little Hands Learning is to help you inspire your children to fall in love with books!

Isabell and Alex xxx