It’s World Book Day today. My children love books. But there’s the hypnotic pull of the television, their DS games, my ipad, the computer and the wii, which all vie for their attention. It’s a permanent battle of screen vs books. But there are some great ways to encourage kids to read or look at books instead of a screen.
First of all, support your local library (so many are being forced to close) and take out loads of books regularly. It costs you nothing and your kids get a huge variety. Which means you don’t have to read the same books over and over and over again.
Once you’ve got your book haul, set up a reading corner. You could just sit on a beanbag or pillow, but here are some ideas to make a very special book corner:
Peekaboo client Gander is the distributor for the P’kolino range – like these two fab pieces below that will encourage your child to get into books.
and one of these
I’ve also found a great way to get my children to not just read but talk about books, is to ask them afterward how they rated the books (we go with a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs sidewards rating scale – I’m pretty sure that’s how most major book prizes are awarded). And then we discuss how they might have changed the story if they’d written it themselves. They love using their imagination to change the ending (usually there’s more baddies dying violent deaths or mention of poo, but hey, they’re being creative!)
So how will you encourage your kids to read?