A really good use of holiday time is doing some reading – and that applies to parents, too of course!

Reading takes us away form the everyday and lets us experience another world which develops our creativity, understanding of others, sense of wonder and broadens our horizons.

In our article bank, there is an article about encouraging children to read - it includes ideas such as giving challenge books, choosing books about their interests and showing them you reading.

Some ways to have fun with your kids and books over the holidays are:

• set up a chart and record each book read by each member of your family. The person who reads the most in a week gets a reward of choosing dinner, buying a new book, not washing dishes for a week or whatever works in your family. If there is a big discrepancy in reading abilities, maybe count pages read instead of entire books
• read a book together – take turns reading, each of you read a particular character’s voice or someone reads it out as the others act out the story
• set the challenge that everyone must read the book before you can see the movie – and then discuss the differences afterwards
• for kids who love the internet or need to build computer skills, get them to search for reviews or information about a book they’re reading
• once a week, do something related to a book being read. For example, go a on picnic after reading Teddy Bear’s Picnic, or follow the characters in a story by going on a bike ride, baking a cake, visit a farm, walk to the park, do some craft work, invite friends over, cook a dinner party or…
• set up family discussions where you talk about favourite books and characters
• join in activities at your local library
• choose a book or story and rewrite the ending of it – you could make it a funny ending, sad ending, ridiculous ending or even a cliff-hanger

What other ways are there to bring books to life and enjoy them with your children?

Filed under: School holidays