Read To Your Children

Do you read to your children? No matter what their age,children love to hear stories! Even babies will sit on your lap while you read. How do you keep babies and toddlers interested in books? Here are my favorite tips and ideas for fostering and nurturing your child's love for the written word.

Make hand motions to go along with shorter stories. Toddlers love clapping, stomping, and snapping. Not only will they have fun reading, they will find it easier to remember the words.

Use flashcards and flannel graph figures. Or make construction and contact paper cut outs. You can type words or draw pictures on them and tell the stories with the illustrations.

Tell the stories with puppets! Make your own simple sock puppets, or buy some adorable ones on line. Your toddlers will love this!

Let the kids draw and color pictures of their favorite scene from the book. They can compile their own book of pictures and "read" the story back to dad and grandma and grandpa.

Make up a silly tune and sing nursery rhymes to them. All babies love songs and what could be better than mommy singing!

Act out the book. Be the dragon! Be the scarred, quiet mouse. Be the big roaring lion. This really grabs a toddlers attention. They may never let you stop the story when you do this! You'll be hearing, "Again!" over and over!

These are only a few ideas that pull a child into a story in a way they will always love reading! Use your imagination and the possibilities are endless!!