My most favorite part of our day is reading bedtime stories.
As my child grows, our storytelling has become more interactive and not as peaceful as I may have hoped. But like all things when dealing with toddlers, I accepted and understood that that is how they are.
They are little explorers and their curiosity gets the best of them. Its our job to teach them about life and help them learn about it. Reading is one of the best ways in doing that. To present it in a playful and creative manner while instilling knowledge.
On this post, we will know more about:
- The Importance of Reading to your Toddler
- How to Get your Toddler to Enjoy Reading?
- Our Favorite Books to Read
- Other Toddler Activity Ideas
- A Parent’s Take on Screen Time
Reading is a must for toddlers. It opens a whole new world and has so many benefits to their development.
The more we read, the more they hear and learn new words thus leading to speech soon. So the earlier we expose them to letters and words the better they can comprehend and read when they are ready.
Why is Reading Important for Children?
- Reading exposes them to new words thus expanding their vocabulary aside from the daily words they hear when we communicate at home.
- The stories we read offers them a setting, problem and solution scenario which they may apply in real life.
- Books introduces them to characters with values and stories with life lessons which can teach them to react positively in the future.
- Reading time serves as bonding moment and quiet time with your child.
- Sets the mood for bedtime so he can expect that soon it will be time for sleep.
Experts recommend reading to toddlers as often as possible, striving for at least one book a day. It doesn’t matter if your child keeps on asking to read the same book over and over. Remember, toddlers are creatures of habit.
That’s why we as parents should always make sure of the content and quality of the books we are reading to our child.
Of course, books with sight words and other concepts such as Alphabet, numbers and the likes are not referred here. Books with good values and moral lessons such as children stories, fairy tales and bible stories are the most recommended.
Related Blog Posts:
5 Reasons Why You Should Read To Your Child Today: Benefits of Story Read Aloud
5 Story Read-Aloud Tips for Parents: How To Capture Your Child’s Attention
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How to Get your Toddler to Enjoy Reading?
Make it a daily habit. A part of your day so the child will see this as a routine and expect the story time. Make sure to create a quiet space where your child can focus and listen to your voice.
- Make a reading corner or pick a spot in the room so your toddler can associate as book reading place.
- Let your child pick the book you will read. It’s better to layout the books in front of him or best if you have a book shelf.
- Assign him as the Official Page Turner. It may take time for them to do it at first, but practice makes perfect.
- Use animated voices for each character. Do grumpy voices on the villains, whiny for the stepsisters, sweet for the princess and give it your all for the animal sounds.
- Ask your child questions about the book. On the things he see in the page or ask him what will happen next.
- It’s okay if you are not able to finish the book or if you skipped a page. The important thing is, his exposure to the experience. Toddlers are notorious for listening without looking like it. They do. This is my proven theory in observing my toddler.
A quiet reading time can be evasive at times especially when dealing with toddlers. Don’t expect your toddler to sit still for a book. They are still on the discovery and grasping the concept of instructions age, things will be better in time.
Aside from Reading, here are more Toddler Activity Ideas you can do at home.
15 Developmental Activities To Do With Your Baby
Fun Activities that will Keep your Toddler Engaged for a Long and Productive Time
Now that we’ve emphasized the Importance and Benefits of Reading to Toddlers. Let me share…
Our Favorite Books to Read
These are our top picks at the moment. The selection will change soon for sure but I am glad that we’ve come across this books are they are truly lovely and educational.
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
Since mommy and baby is doing the reading and spending their quality time together, its wise to use this as time to teach them about a Mother’s love.
I have always loved this book for its message of how a Mother’s love see through time. As a young mom, it gives me a glimpse of how our relationship will change as he grows and finds a life of his own.
The Giving Tree
https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/products/books/hardcover-books/the-giving-tree-hardcover-book/p/BK1825/
Much like Love You Forever, it also teaches us the sacrifice we are willing to make for our child to the point of forgetting our own.
This is a sad story but the lesson is truly memorable. I remember reading this at age 10 and up until now, I feel sad whenever I though of it.
The Big Book of Alphatales from Scholastic
This is a compilation of stories featuring the Alphabet. I love how sort of a tongue twist this is. When I first read every story I am quite tongue tied but now that I am reading it for more than a year, I can recite it.
To give you a glimpse, here are some of the titles so you’ll know what I’m talking about.
- The Adventures of Abby Alligator
- Detective Dog and the Disappearing Doughnuts
- Fifi Ferret’s Flute
- The Lamb Who Loved to Laugh
- Seal’s Silly Sandwich
- The Yak Who Yelled Yuck
- Zack the Lazy Zebra
Pete the Cat’s Big Easter Adventure by Kimberly and James Dean
I love the illustration and colors of this book as its so vibrant. Not only are we entertained by the story, it has good values and a useful book to teach colors and counting too. It also has free stickers inside that will surely be enjoyed by your toddler.
First Bible Stories
There are many Children Bible Story books available that has different drawings, approach and features it depends on you which one attracts you the most. It’s a good introduction to religion, Jesus and the fascinating story of The Creation.
My son’s favorite is Noah’s Ark because of the animals. He’s also interested in Daniel’s story when he was thrown to the lion’s pit and Jonah with the big whale. Everything with animals actually. He adores them!
When my Friend Cries and When my Friend Wins by Robyn C. Rodriguez
Join in the fun adventures of Pablo and Gail as they teach us about Empathy, Friendship and Good Sportsmanship.
The presentation and flow of the story is really engaging. My toddler have come to know these 2 and he refers to them as if they’re really his friends. He’s like “Mommy, basa Pablo”.
And can I add that the Author is also a Mommy and a Speech-Language Pathologist. She truly knows and love her craft that she did self-published her books so she can share these storybook to families.
Make sure to check her Instagram @robynchuar and Facebook page: Gail and Pablo This is a perfect gift for children to encourage them to read and become readers in the future.
Where is Baby’s Belly Button? by Karen Katz
This is one of the first books I read to my baby. He liked flipping the folds and pointing at the missing body part. Glad that it was a board book too, You know how a baby likes to throw stuff just for fun.
Side story: I remember it was my sister who opened me to the World of Reading. The first book I bought was Sweet Valley Kids and from there I started with Novels, Modern and Contemporary. I also collected Teen Magazines. I read Harry Potter, Twilight, The Secret and more. I still prefer reading paper books as I love the smell of new books.
Early exposure is key here. Reading opens them to a whole lot more in terms of learning and development. From speech, concepts, stories, characters, settings , literacy, object recognition… I can go on and on but for sure you know them already.
The bonding moment and memory of reading together is a treasure itself. For sure your child will remember this, that you took the time to read to them instead of letting a TV or gadget entertain them.
Screen Time is not bad. It depends on one’s usage and parental guidance that make it controversial. To learn more about the Screen Time, Parents and Child Triangle.
Read my post on Alternative Activities for Children Instead of Screen Time
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Don’t it make you feel proud that you are doing good parenting when your baby shows interest in reading or ask you for book time?
For the parents reading this, What bedtime story are you reading to your toddler? Any suggestions we can add in our library? Let me know in the comments below.
Let’s raise readers!
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9 Responses
I, myself, is a living proof of how books can greatly expand one’s vocabulary, heighten the imagination, improve memory and brain power through reading. I grew up on Sweet Valley Kids series and the Babysitters Club as a kid. When I was in high school I discovered other genres of books and has fallen in love with books completely. And to be honest, I learned my grammar and proper sentence structures from the books. My vast vocabulary of hifalutin words are also from reading. I would definitely pass on to my daughter the endless knowledge and learning she can get through reading.
Wow that’s awesome
My youngest (18 months) HATES reading, she throws books and hates when I read! But my oldest was like that too but now he’s 7 and he reads non-stop, so I don’t worry as much as I did the first go round. I just love reading with them though, I can’t wait until she gets interested in books!
Reading to our kids is so important. Love this!
Great post. I try to read to my toddler on the daily! I love the idea of using animated voices!
This is a great article! It includes all the reasons I make a point of reading to my toddler!
Such great reasons, I completely agree!
Reading time is so important. Keep it up! My kids are 6 and 8, we still try to read together at least 5 times a week. But now they are reading to me!!
Such an important message, thank you for sharing!