Suggested Reading Activities
Reading is both fun and educational. The following tips can
help your child gain skills and knowledge from books and
have fun at the same time.
Learning from books
When reading to your child:
- Let your child ask questions about the book.
- Talk about how you can tell if the story is true or
make-believe from looking at the book.
- Let younger children interact with the story by making
sound effects for the cars, animals, or other characters.
- Talk to your child about the characters and why they
acted a certain way.
- Explain how a story has a beginning, middle, and end.
- Talk about the problem or conflict in the story and how
it was solved by the characters.
Building a love for reading
With younger children:
- Set aside a special time of the day or week just for
quiet reading activities.
- Take your child to the library to check out books and
listen to story hour.
- Journey into the world of fantasy by making up a story
about one of your child's favorite toys. Make it a
continuing saga.
- Act out a favorite story or use puppets to tell a story.
- Suggest your child dress up as a favorite storybook
character while playing make-believe or preparing for
Halloween.
- Help your child make her own book. Select a theme such as
jungle animals, changing seasons, or a day at the
beach. Illustrate it with magazine pictures, photographs,
or children's drawings. Use sturdy construction paper
for the cover, and write a simple sentence about the
picture at the bottom of each page.
- Record a story in which you and your child both
participate either by reading or making sound effects.
- Read a poem, and then have your child draw a picture or
make a collage about it.
- Start a rhyme and have your child finish it.
With older children:
- Read or suggest a book that was one of your favorites
when you were your child's age.
- Make bookmarks out of felt or colored paper and give as
gifts.
- Find books about past or future experiences in your
child's life. For example, read books together about
where you will be going on your vacation. Learn about the
geography, historical figures, or current events.
- Build or buy a book shelf.
- Start a book collection on a particular interest.
- Give a gift certificate to a local bookstore.
- Start a weekly family reading hour. Select a story of
interest to the entire family and have the adults and
older children read passages aloud. Alternate poetry,
humor, mysteries, adventure, and biographical sketches.
Written by Donna Warner Manczak, PhD, MPH.
This content is reviewed periodically and is subject to
change as new health information becomes available. The
information is intended to inform and educate and is not a
replacement for medical evaluation, advice, diagnosis or
treatment by a healthcare professional.
Copyright © 2006 McKesson Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved.