There are so many fun activities that we can do with our children to get them excited about books and the world of reading. When kids are having fun, it is so much easier to draw them into something – like books! (This is one reason I think funny books are like potato chips. A kid reads a funny book and wants another, and then another…)
The very best thing we can do is to guide and direct them to enjoy it for themselves. When we are intrinsically motivated to do something, it is a much more lasting motivation. This will form an awesome foundation for their whole school careers and beyond.
A fun way to really dig into a story is to read it with your child and when you’re done, don’t just close the book! Make the story live on! How?
Ask questions like ‘what was your favorite part?’
Get your child to draw that favorite part.
After they’re finished, ask him or her to narrate the picture and that part in the story. If your child can write, have him or her write what they’ve told you on the bottom of the picture (or separate piece of paper).
Let him or her dictate while you write on the bottom of the picture.
Guess and engage!
Each time you turn the page of the book, look at the pictures with your child and have him or her guess what he or she thinks might be going on at this point in the story. It can be exciting to see if they got it right, because, sometimes they might get it so wrong that it turns the book into a super silly story. And what is more fun than the giggles?