As parents it can sometimes be hard to constantly engage your toddlers in fun learning activities that can keep them happy and occupied. You are always asking your friends, relatives, the internet – anyone – what you can do when your kids are bored. So, here we are! We are here to give you some ideas about how can keep your child busy and happy in these pandemic times.
A really fun activity that you can incorporate in your day to day life is reading. Reading to and with your children is brilliant way to strengthen your bond with your child while teaching them new things!
Children who inculcate the habit of reading or being read to tend to be better with understanding emotions, are more empathetic and creative and also more confident in their own reading and speaking skills. It expands their knowledge and helps develop better social skills from an early age.
Here are some ways that you can introduce reading into your life that will make your child love to pick up books with you.
- Start with picture books. It helps the child visualise the words better and can help them feel more connected to what they are reading.
- Try to pick books that make the children active participants like books with pop out characters or puppets or even a book that can actually make sounds! Your little one is definitely going to love playing around with their book while they read.
- Nobody knows your little one more than you so pick books that you know they will love to read about. Topics and ideas that interest them like aliens or cars or princesses will keep them interested for longer.
- Ask your child to tell you a story! There is nothing more interesting than the story that your little one will come up with when reading so ask them to choose a book for them to read (definitely one with easy words!).
- Make reading a part of your daily routine. This will help your toddler realise that it is important like maybe at nighttime which is when they absorb the most information and it also helps them sleep at night.
- Talk to them about what they understand from their reading and if they have questions.
- Show them how important reading is by reading your own books! If their mom or dad can do it – they can definitely do it.
Reading gives children a window into the world around them and the world that sometimes they don’t yet have access to. It is a fun, informative activity that is a fantastic way to engage the young ones and help them develop a habit that is beneficial to them for life.