Books For Baby: Setting Up A Reading Corner

My little Mr.C (who just turned 9 months) is starting to get really into books. They are currently one of his favorite “toys”. With that in mind we decided to tweak the bookshelves in his room and set him up with a “reading corner” of his very own. Here’s how we did it…

For shelves we used some very basic storage cubbies that we picked up at Target. I alternated between books and soft toys on the shelves to give him plenty to look at and play with. I moved all his board books to the bottom  shelves where they could be easily reached and put any books with pages that could be easily torn safely out of reach on the top (at least for now). By setting it up this way we don’t have to worry about the dismantling of the contents of the shelves. Now what baby wouldn’t love that kind of free rein? In this little reading corner, we encourage tearing things off the shelves! Believe me when I tell you, it’s one of his favorite things to do!

We moved his little lion chair next to the bookcase. He’s not really sitting in it yet but he sure loves to climb all over it Keeping in mind that baby will more than likely try using the bookshelves to pull themselves up I would also highly recommend anchoring them to the wall.

Since the babycakes began crawling he really loves to play in this space. Every afternoon after nap it’s the first place he wants to play. He’ll play for quite some time, not just taking the books off the shelves (although he loves that activity) but playing with the books themselves. Of course Mom is happy to read a few to him too! I’m hopeful this will continue to be a go-to favorite space for him as he grows. As you can see we are off to a great start!

Books open new worlds of imagination and discovery for children.  Here are some other wonderful posts about stories and reading for kids:

• Family Bedtime Stories
• Alphabet Identification Game
• Parent + Child + Reading = Our Club