If your child is a striving reader or has trouble finding books that capture and hold their interest, employing different strategies can help turn things around and make read-aloud time a more relaxing and fun experience.
Once your child associates reading aloud with positive emotions, they will be more likely to turn to the activity to self-soothe, unwind, or have fun. But, building those associations takes practice.
Making read-aloud time more exciting (which is also a great way to bond) or incorporating independent reading time into their schedule will also improve their listening skills, reading comprehension, and vocabulary.
If you’re looking for tips on how to read aloud with your child, here are some fun ways to make it more memorable for your child to instill a lifelong love for the activity.
Turn Reading Aloud Into a Game
If your child loves puzzles and games in general, turning their read-aloud into a game is an entertaining and more interactive way to spark their interest in reading while building literacy.
Crossword puzzles, word searches, and word games are great for incorporating reading into game night for children in any grade level.
For example, create a grocery list and turn food shopping into a scavenger hunt for your child, or challenge them to scope out certain words (think: signs, license plates, stickers, etc.) during a trip to the store or your commute and read them aloud when they find them.
Alternatively, you could challenge your child to pick a number of words in their favorite read-aloud and try to find those words wherever you go!
Playing games will not only make reading more fun, but it will also expand their vocabulary and help them make real-world connections.
Let Them Take Center Stage
Putting on a play for your family with your child based on their favorite characters or read-aloud stories will allow their creativity to shine. Whether you choose to make it a casual weeknight production or a more elaborate show with homemade costumes and props, your child will love to entertain a small audience of their closest friends or family members as the main character.
Give them the opportunity to share their ideas and enough time to practice and get things exactly how they want it all to look. Giving them creative freedom will also do wonders for their self-esteem and confidence in their own abilities as they explore different aspects of acting, like body language, facial expressions, and more.
Sing!
Singing about their favorite stories also gives your child a wonderful opportunity to showcase their talents while challenging them to rewrite it into a song for you or others. Songs also encourage more complex literary concepts, like the use of rhyme, symbolism, and voice, which will, in turn, set them up for success in their reading and writing.
Plus, giving them the opportunity to use their voices in this way will give them the freedom to explore different avenues of expression, which can lead to even more new interests!
Get Crafty
Painting or illustrating elements from their favorite read-aloud stories, poems, or picture books is a great way for your child to closely examine and interpret their favorite literature. Visual art encourages a sense of wonder and imagination while also engaging their critical thinking skills. You can also encourage critical thinking by asking open-ended questions.
Crafting pictures based on stories is a great way to discuss various important points in the books they’re currently reading while examining different voices and themes and more closely. Set out paints, crayons, pastels, or anything you’d like, and make literary art together!
Get Others Involved
Whether you’re involving family or your child’s friends, getting together to read and play games around a shared love of books will make the experience more enjoyable and create lasting memories for your child. In this way, if you both talk about and model good reading habits, it will encourage your child to read on their own.
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