Top tips for reading to your child
Reading to your baby/toddler helps them with their development. If you can, read to your baby or toddler at least once a day. Try to do it at the same time every day, possibly before bedtime, but read to them whenever they want it.
Here are ten tips to make this reading time an enjoyable and learning experience.
- Your toddler will have a favourite book, and may always ask for you to read this book. Let your toddler choose the book they want you to read, even if you have read it every day for the past three months.
- Use different voices for different characters, raising and lowering your tone where it will create excitement.
- Read at a pace so that your toddler understands the story. That is, read slowly.
- The books you choose should be durable, made of cloth allowing your child to physically play with the book, without you worrying about getting pages ripped.
- Where you can, use physical props like puppets or body actions to help tell the story.
- Books that encourage toddlers to clap and sing along are a great deal of fun and create excitement.
- Interact with the content on the pages by pointing to pictures and naming them. Then ask your child to tell you what they are.
- Asking easy questions about the story helps your child to think about the story. Questions like, why do you think the boy is going to the shop? What will happen next?
- You could use your child's name as the name of a character in the book.
- Most importantly, show your child that reading is enjoyable and have fun.
Here are Lulla-buy's books for you to read to your child. https://lulla-buy.co.za/search?q=books