Childrens Books & 10 Tips To Make Reading Fun!

Learning to read can be a challenge for some children. It seems that everyone from a child's teacher to Mom and Dad and even Grandma is excitedly waiting for the child to learn to read. All the pressure and expectations from the adults can definitely put a damper on the excitement for the child. This loss of excitement can lead to a child losing the desire to read. Here are a few ideas you can use to make reading fun for your child.

Popcorn Reading - This is a fun way for a child to be able to read the words he or she knows and to "pass" on the words that are causing frustration. While reading a book together, each of you take a turn reading aloud. When the one who is reading says the word "popcorn", it is the other persons turn to read.

Reading Buddy - Pair your reader up with an older "reading buddy" and have them read a book out loud together. We all have had times where an explanation of something made more sense coming from one of our peers or a sibling. This gives your child the opportunity to practice reading without an adult's watchful eye, thereby causing nervousness.

Highlight Heaven - Grab an older book and a highlighter and have your child highlight every word on the page that he or she can read. After all the words your child knows are highlighted on the page, take a moment and have your child look and see how many words he or she can actually read. This can be quite a confidence booster.

Flashlight Reading - Before your child is too tired at the end of the day, take some time and read in a dark room. Take a flashlight with you and read the book by flashlight. Little boys especially like this one.

Secret Hideout - What child hasn't built a fort at one time or another? If you don't already have a fort in your house or outside in the yard, help your child create one. It can a blanket fort, a plywood fort outside, a tree house, or even a simple under-the-bed fort. (Just make sure you both can fit - being able to get out once you've gotten in is helpful too!) Bring your child's favorite reading book, get comfortable and read away.

Reading Corner - Make a "reading corner" somewhere in your home. Let your child be a part of decorating it and picking just the right spot to place it. Add some bean bags or pillows, maybe a favorite poster on the wall or even some family pictures.

Take a break and just read to your child sometimes (no explanation needed here).

Picture Detective - Have your child flip through a book and look at all the pictures and tell you what he or she thinks is going to happen in the story. Read the story and see how close he or she actually was.

Pop-up Word - Pick one word that your child particularly has a hard time with and every time your child reads that word, both of you stand up. This will help him or her remember the word because an action is associated with it. This works particularly well with kinesthetic learners (a child who wants to move all the time and likes to touch and feel everything).

Star of the Story - Have you ever seen a personalized story book where your child's name is printed in the story? This is a unique way to get your reluctant reader excited about a book. In these kinds of books, your child's name and the name of his or her friends are printed in the story-line, making your child the star of their very own book! How motivating is that? They will have to read the book to find out what kind of adventure they'll be going on!

Sometimes all it takes to make reading fun is some imagination and a change of scenery.

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