February 2022
- Choose books with meaningful themes. If your child loves dinosaurs, choose dinosaur books…if your child loves trains, choose books about trains.
- Don’t read every word on the page – instead, just talk about what’s happening in the pictures, pointing out interesting details as you go.
- Don’t force your child to sit on you lap when reading books – instead sit face to face so your child can engage with you during this activity (it’s okay for you to sit on the floor and have your child sit in front of you)
- Use an animated voice and make a variety of interesting sound effects – your goal is to become the most interesting thing in the room
- Reduce distractions in the room by turning of the TV and placing other electronic devices (such as tablets and smartphones) out of sight.
- Keep a small basket of books in different rooms of the house; keep small books in a diaper bag: and keep a stack of small books in the car next to the car seat.
- Choose developmentally appropriate books – cloth of vinyl books for babies or kids who put everything in their mouth, board books for toddlers and preschoolers. Paper pages should be for children who know how to care for books without tearing the pages
- Select interactive books that have large flaps or touch and feel pages – giving something to increase your little one’s attention to the activity.
- Avoid asking too many questions when looking at books together – your child may dislike this high pressure, quizzing type interaction; the goal is to make story time enjoyable
- Read to your child every day…even if he or she doesn’t seem interested (this is how your child will learn that books are part of your daily routine.
