How to Make Reading Exciting for Kids

Video Transcript

" Hi, I am Debbie with ExpertVillage.com and we are talking about reading to your child, reading to young children. Right now, we are going to be talking about ways to make your reading more exciting for your child, make it more interesting, and make them pay attention while you are reading. Using an animated voice when you are reading, using lots of inflection and getting excited and showing emotion is really important while you are reading. Using the rhythm, if you are reading those rhythm and rhyme books and those predictable books, follow a rhythm and let your child chime in on that. Using voices while you read is really fun and of course, fairytales are great for that like in The Three Little Pig when you are doing your wolf voice, the kids love it when you say, “Little pig, little pig let me come….Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin”. Let the kids be the pig, let them be the wolf, let them take turns and they are going to love it. The Three Billy Goat’s Gruff “Who is that tripping over my bridge” said the Troll, let the kids do that part. And then trip, trip, trip, trip, trip trip with the little medium size billy goat so they will get into that, predicting what is going to come next, being able to remember what they read and having a great time while you are reading. Another good thing to do while you are reading is using puppets; puppets are a great way to get your child’s attention and basically to have fun. There are all kinds of puppets on the market that go with books, if you go to your local bookstores, you can go online. Puppets with young kids is one of the best ways to get them excited about reading and no matter what they can see your mouth moving but they think that puppet is talking and they have a great time. This is a great puppet to use with Eric Carl’s The Grouchy Ladybug, so when you are reading – have your book, have your child with you and they can do the puppet after you have modeled it for them. But for example in The Grouchy Ladybug, “Hey you!” Said The Grouchy Ladybug, “Want to fight?” and that is a great way to get their attention while they are reading. Another fun thing to do to include the whole family is to have fairytale family theater. When you practice a fairytale like The Three Billy Goat’s Gruff, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, give everybody a part, give them some props, you can make little face puppets with paper plates, a great arts and crafts activity, and the whole family can put on a show. It is really amazing how important this is to young children and it is a lot of fun too. "