Teach your kids to love to read by encouraging a love for reading while they’re LITTLE. Here are a bunch of great ways to start:
Help Kids Love to Read
Read with your kids — no age is too little to start flipping through books together. Check out this great booklist by age I have over on The Realistic Mama. It’s a great resource to use if you are starting at your at home library or when borrowing books from your local library.
Teach the skills of sitting still and playing quietly — reading isn’t only about opening books, focusing and sitting still are huge parts too. Quite time activities are a great place to start. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Pipe Cleaner Bracelets — perfect for preschoolers to work on focus
- Paint Chip Puzzles — puzzles are great for problem solving another skill used later for reading
- And check out this list of 55+ More Quiet Time Activities
Make letter crafts to start early letter recognition.
Don’t rush it — they will learn when their little brains are ready and for each kid the timing is going to look different. Pushing too hard too early will likely cause your little one to miss out on the fun part of reading.
Learn letters and sounds in one week with this trick from Your Modern Family.
Take trips to the library — and bring home lots of books! We love keeping ours in a special book basket when not in use so they don’t get lost.
For older kids start a reading log — it’s the perfect visual way for your kids to see their success.
Keep lots of books around the house! And what better way than in an awesome book shelf?
10 Cool Bookshelf Ideas
Kids Room:
Bookshelves for the Kids Room using old wooden spice racks — by Wonderful Joy Ahead
Rain Gutters lining the kids bedroom — by Home Stories A to Z
Add shelves to the Side of Their Dresser — by On the Banks for Squaw Creek
Cubby on Wheels using an old skateboard — by Project Little Smith
Stacked DIY Painted Crates — by Crazy Little Projects
Around the House:
Love Bookshelf — by Do it And How
The Star is made out of individual boxes which create a gorgeous piece on your wall — by Apartment Therapy
Tree Branches — by Home My Design or if you’re feeling really organic use real tree branches!
Pallet Shelf is perfect for cookbooks in the kitchen — by Thriving Home
Upcycled Old Dresser Drawers — by Hometalk
I may have got a little carried away with all the cool bookshelves but hopefully my point came across: reading isn’t just about opening books, it’s about an opportunity to learn, have fun, bond, explore and create a whole world around your books! Be sure to follow us on Facebook for even more reading ideas!
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