Reading Challenge
Kids and Reading
Reading is one of the best ways for me to relax – alone or together with my Daughter… 😊
Now as she is old enough for longer stories, and often opts for series, we spend even more time cuddling and reading. We just stop during the day for 10 minutes reading when she needs to relax a bit, or when I feel we need it 😅
She also likes to ask me to read while she is playing. Honestly, I thought she was not even listening… but it turned out that she remembered perfectly all the stories! We started this as a regular habit during the pandemic. Well sometimes “cheating” a bit with audiobooks. I also read and recorded some of her favorites, this way saving some time for working while allowing her to listen to a tale read by Mom. 😊
Why is Reading Important?
When reading, besides gaining important knowledge, and exercising our brains, we also make a huge step towards guarding our mental health!
As a Mother of a young kid, one of the most relaxing activities, my number 1 self-care routine is reading! Reading can reduce stress, and improve your memory – a win-win for busy Moms 😁
I always have more books being read at the same time… I do not say it is a good practice, just to not be afraid of starting a different one before finishing what you already read. Sometimes I feel like reading a romantic novel before going to sleep but finding 2 minutes during our morning rush for reading a short page of a daily quote or positive thought can also be a huge support for me to have a great start to the day!
Why is Reading Important for Children?
Besides cuddling and reading is a great experience for both of us, without a doubt, reading with children can be a great support for early literacy too. Building the habit of reading early age can help children to develop into good readers and writers.
On the blog of Fab Working Mom Life, you can also read about 3 no cost ways to encourage imagination with reading!
How to Raise a Child Who Loves to Read?
If you like to be a bit competitive – or just to set up goals for yourself, a reading challenge can be a great adventure.
Depending on your kids’ age and reading ability, there are various ways to read together.
- You can read the story to your kids if they aren’t reading yet, or just feel tired after a long day.
- With older children, sharing the reading is also a great option. Take turns – you read one page, and they read one page… this will take the pressure of reading a whole book alone off the kids.
- Listen to your kids reading you the story – or make them read to younger siblings or other kids. They will feel proud and stay motivated. True story 😊
I loved the idea I found on the Chaos & Wine blog about using a “hook” like a movie based on a great book to motivate the kids to start reading as well!
You can also play and set up different reading challenges, eg. pick a character from the story and make your kids try to figure out who it is by giving clues like “she has red hair” until they find it out… then swap roles.
Or choose retellings of stories that you already know. This will make it easier for the Little Ones to understand the storyline, but still count as an adventure! 😊
Feel free to use the Reading Challenge template below and make your kids color the special reading “tasks” completed 😊
If you are looking for more activities, you can check my other posts with a family bucket list, or get some activity ideas for traveling.
Takeaway
Besides building a great reading routine at the early ages can be really useful for the kids’ literacy, reading together is also an amazing way of family bonding!