10 Tips to Encourage Kids to Read Books

Some kids love to read while others steer as far away from reading as they possibly can. That leaves parents racking their brains trying to figure out just what to do to get kids to love reading and the idea of it.

Forcing kids to read will only cause stronger resistance that you won’t want to deal with. So, from one parent to another, we'll share some creative ways to get children to really love reading.

Get your library ready because pretty soon you're going to have a certified bookworm on your hands. And once they get started reading and discover the joy and value of it, you won’t be able to check out enough books to satisfy their reading appetite. And that is a good thing.

Here are 10 effective tips to get your little ones to love reading and nosedive into a books!

1. Make it fun

Children's attention spans can run out quickly just like some adult's attention spans do. Make sure that you make reading fun for your child. You can start to develop your children's attitude towards books by reading books for them as a baby.

Keep your children actively engaged in the book by asking them questions about the pictures or having them guess what they think will happen next. By keeping your child engaged not only will their attention remains on the story, but it will also help them to flex their imagination skills by imagining and literally telling their own story ending.

It also helps if you come up with different activities that may relate to the story you are reading. Perhaps, have them make their own train set or put on a play showing what happened in the story.

Even having them spell different words in the story is a way to work on spelling skills and keep them entertained.

 2. Let them read to you

Kids have a very “look at what I can do” attitude sometimes, which is why you need to allow your child to take the lead.

Kids love when their parents read to them, but they especially love it when you let them read their books to you. It gives them a chance to show you how many new words they can read and say.

So, before you begin reading the book all yourself share some of the reading with your little one and watch their faces light up. 

3. Use different reading tools

You can find hundreds of ways to get your child to read that don't all involve reading a book. There are things like leapfrog and ABC kids sites that allow your child to play fun and interactive games while learning to read sentences.

However, that's not all they can do they can work on sentence structure and writing their own story on these sites, as well as get some extra help with word pronunciation and spelling. 

4. Use a reward system

Children are more likely to do something if they know there is a reward for them. Kind of like getting reading points at school will earn them school-wide recognition. Try to do the same thing at home. 

You a chart or graph system that keeps track of the number of pages and books your child reads. Whenever they achieve another chapter or a whole book allow them to document it with a star or some sort of sticker.

Then once they reach the desired goal, they should be able to choose some kind of reward. Or, you can use some other means of keeping track like a makeshift bingo card and every time they read a book, they get another bingo piece.

However you wish to reward them, simply understand that a reward system will allow your child to form the mental habit that reading is a great thing to do.

5. Let them choose the book

Ensure that you have books and magazines from different genres. That way as your child continues to read and gains a larger appetite for reading, they will be able to choose for themselves.

This also allows your child's interests to develop and guide them towards different books.

You never know they may choose books that you never expected them to choose. And those books might be on a higher reading level than you expected.

6. Talk about the book 

When you're finished reading the book that doesn't mean that all of the learning is over. Talk with your child about the lesson in the book or the story plot.

Then after you have defined some of the key pieces in the story compare them to other books that you all have read together.

This will allow your child to develop their mental ability to recall not only details from the current book but also details from past books that you have read. These conversations will help you realize which authors are becoming his favorite and which aren't.

7. Make time

If your children don't enjoy reading, then they won't take any time to do it. And with parents going to and from work, it can be difficult to constantly sit down and read with them.

Set aside a specific space of time where you and your children sit down to read. It will teach them that no matter how busy their day and schedule can get there is always time to read.

It will also teach them a very important lesson in prioritizing activities. Which will come in handy as they get older and become more responsible for keeping themselves on task.

8. Create a reading area

You should allow your child to create their own reading area. A place that is comfortable and really shows off their personality.

Let them know this is the space where they can come anytime and read or do different activities. This way they understand that all the materials they need are in the same place.

And who knows it may become their favorite place to be in. Before you know it you'll find them in their reading area without you having to prompt them to go there.

9. Be the example

Children very early on learn to mimic and do the things that their parents do. This means parents should be conscious of the things you do in front of your children.

They won't want to read if they don't see you as their parents enjoying reading. You should make it a habit to read a book or a newspaper in front of them from time to time.

Once they see you reading they will begin to mimic that. And pretty soon they will find that they enjoy reading and may start cozying up next to you while you all teas your books.

10. Go to the library 

Take advantage of all of the books the library has to offer to your children. They have books, audiobooks, and many other forms of reading material that your children have never heard of.

They also have storytimes for children at libraries that you can request a schedule for. Storytimes including singalongs and snack times are available multiple times a month at your library.

Some require you to register your child so that they have a list of all that will attend. So make sure to check with your local library for a schedule and registration information.

All in all, if you follow these tips and make it a habit to engage with them and stay involved in their daily activity they are sure to start to love reading!