There are so many benefits to reading with children…
But it can be difficult to keep a group of children engaged! Here are a few ways to make your story times more likely to bring children in and offer them the benefits that books can bring.
- Choose high quality literature. If you’re bored reading it, they’ll be bored listening. Look for interesting illustrations, distinctive characters, fun rhythm and rhyme, and relatable elements.
- Keep the books that get a good response, and shelve the ones that don’t capture their interest yet. Rotate books out when they’re getting stale and keep trying.
- Use your local library to keep an active rotation and try out new authors, illustrators, and genres. Plus, children’s librarians may have suggestions for books to read next.
- Books belong everywhere. Yes, a bookshelf or basket of books is important for children to have access to, but keep books about physics and great buildings with the blocks, keep books about plants in a waterproof box outside, and keep cookbooks with your play kitchen.
- Story time isn’t a set time— it’s whenever someone wants to read! Allowing children to engage with books when they’re interested and ready, and children who are allowed to freely choose when to listen to a story will enjoy them more. Plus, you can’t always tell who’s paying attention just based on where their body is– plenty of educators have heard a child across the room join in the chorus of a story.
What’s your favorite book to read with a group of children?
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