Beyond The Plot

Interactions for Making the Most of Story Time

As we’ve seen over the past few weeks, reading is a great way to bond with your children and help them improve language & literacy skills. As if this wasn’t enough, books play another critical role in the lives of young children; they allow children to feel new emotions & have new experiences in a safe, controlled environment. This helps children prepare for when they have these emotions & experiences in their lives and gives them a blueprint to deal with them. Children will pick this up naturally, but you can encourage the process by guiding them with questions & reading styles. Following these simple tips will help you create a more inviting space to connect with your child through reading.

Make It Interactive

Encourage your child to actively participate in the reading experience by asking them questions about the story, characters, or illustrations. Give names to & describe the emotions the characters are feeling. You can also ask your child to predict what might happen next or describe what they see in the pictures

Use Different Voices

Bring the characters to life by using different voices and tones for each character. This makes the story more engaging & entertaining for your child, helping them to connect with the characters on a deeper level.

Encourage Imagination

After reading a page or a section, pause and ask your child to imagine what might happen next or how they would feel in a similar situation. After the story, ask them how things might have gone differently if something had changed. This helps foster creativity & critical thinking skills.

Relate the Story to Real Life

Help your child make connections between the story and their own experiences. Ask them how they would react in a similar situation or if they have encountered something similar in their own lives. This helps children process those experiences & prepare to have them again.

Revisit & Retell

After reading a book, encourage your child to retell the story in their own words or draw their favorite part. This helps reinforce their understanding of the story and improve their memory & language skills.

Remember, the goal is to make reading a fun and engaging experience for your child, so feel free to be creative and tailor these tips to suit your child’s interests & preferences. Happy reading! 📚🌟