“My child doesn’t like reading. He only enjoys watching cartoons and playing with his friends. In fact, he would rather do anything else than sit down to read a book.”

If you can relate with this statement then this article is definitely for you. We all know the importance of reading for children. Aside from developing their creativity and imagination, it also equips them with a great amount of information.

The problem however, is that some children do not like the thought of sitting down to read. They do not see it as an important activity worth their time. We all want our children to enjoy reading and learn from it don’t we? So here are some tips on how to get them to read voluntarily.

Set an Example

We know that in most cases children always imitate the actions of their parents or guardians. So in this case what should you do? Yes you are right, Read often! When they see you reading a number of times they will also want to read like “mummy” or “daddy”.

The moment they take an interest you can also go a step further and make a “reading time bonding session” where you get them their own tiny book and tiny chair and allow them to sit next to you and read as you read. Fascinating isn’t it? You can already visualize that scenario.

Read to them

Reading to children can spark up an interest in exploring the worlds they hear about from the books you read to them. You can make it even more exhilarating by using different voices for different characters and reading dramatically.

They often wish to get a repeat dose of the stories that impressed them the most. For that matter you will find them picking up these books and trying first to look at the pictures that are in the book. After that they will try to slowly read the stories on their own to try and relive the experience they had while listening to you read.

Make Books Readily Available

Having many books around the house, especially those with colorful attractive covers can be a great motivator for children to read unsupervised. Being that children are naturally curious and attracted to color, they will always want to know what is inside these interesting looking books.  It would be easier for the child to read if there were books to read. So go ahead and buy books for your children. Provide a variety that they can choose from.

Don’t Force Them Using Disciplinary Methods

Remember, children like doing things that are fun and anything that seems like it might attract punishment will be seen as a duty. We do not want to make them think reading is like a chore, no. Instead we want to make reading feel like one of those fun games they play with their friends.

Hey! Why not include their friends in a reading session once in a while? This will make them feel like part of a tiny community of readers and they can get to laugh, lose concentration for a while (because we know this has to happen) and slip right back into reading. This way you will also have helped other Mums to get their children to love reading. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.

Additional tip: reading with a relaxed mind helps retain more information than when in a tensed state.

Engage them in activities

It is always gratifying for children when they play games and get involved in fun activities. So in this case we can mix learning with a range of fun activities to get the children in a relaxed state before proceeding to the next chapter or short story.

Lucky for you there are books that have fun activities such as coloring, solving puzzles and matching pictures to their names among others. Activities help to break the monotony of just reading all through. It also helps to maintain the attention of the child by jogging their minds a little after reading a short story. This will definitely make them look forward to reading.

Now that you know what it takes to make your child love reading, you can go ahead and begin the process of purchasing books that will attract your child. The good news is, we have samples of such fun and engaging books.

Click the link below to see these glamorous books: https://shop.biblesociety-kenya.org/product-category/childrens-bibles/