How to Take Care of Your Books for Kids
It can be a chore for kids to take care of their books. Sticky fingers and short attention spans often lead to books being stained, torn or destroyed. That is why you should train children to take care of books at an early age. It just takes a little patience. If you lay down a few basic rules as soon as your kids learn to read though, the tendency to take care of their books can soon become second nature.
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Instructions
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Train kids to wash their hands before they sit down to read a book. Little hands pick up all kinds of strange contaminants and books easily get damaged. Paint, glue and chocolate stains are just some of the things you can avoid in your kid's books, if they know dirty hands are not allowed.
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Teach your children not to eat or drink anything while reading a book. Beverages get knocked over and sticky fingers rub against pages. Tell them, if they want a drink or a snack, they must put the book safely back on the shelf and take a break to do so.
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Show kids how to turn pages correctly. Grasp the top right-hand corner and slowly turn the page over. Demonstrate how to lay it flat against the opposite page and smooth it down carefully. Explain a book can get damaged if they turn a page from the middle and flip it over quickly.
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Buy your kids plenty of bookmarks, so they always have one available to save their place. Use of an item other than a bookmark, to mark where they left off reading, is an easy way to damage a book.
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Ban reading in the bath or around any body of water. Books do not react well to water or humidity and can easily be dropped. Once a book falls in the bath, or off a chair and into the swimming pool, it's impossible to repair to its former state. Teach your children about appropriate places for reading to ensure their books remain in good condition.
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Talk to your kids about the damage a pet or a younger child can do to a book. A dog can easily think a book is a new chew toy. Toddlers love to draw on things, and tiny fingers do a lot of damage to the pages of a book. Make sure your child understands not to leave books unattended, if there are pets or children younger than him in the home.
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Create a storage area for your child's books that is his alone. A child is more likely to take care of his books if he has a special place to keep them. A pretty plastic box that can be securely closed or cool bookshelves are wonderful incentives. Avoid humid places, like a basement, or ones that are too dry, such as a bookshelf above a heating unit. Choose a place with a controlled temperature, so books do not warp or dry out.
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Tips & Warnings
Do not make your kids so scared of opening a book, for fear they will damage it, that they never read at all. Just teach them a healthy respect for books. They are there to enjoy, but also to take care of.
References
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