Have you considered creating a Book Corner for your Groovy Adventurer? We all know how important reading is for our precious little ones, but is there a special place in their room/playroom or your living area for their books? A book corner can be created in a very small space with just a little creativity! Making sure there is a storage place for his books (shelves, a magazine stand, drawers or even a decorated cardboard box), a comfy place to sit (a special chair, cushion or soft mat) and good light (all the better to see the pages with!) will be a great start to your new book corner. Try making some super special “bookmark corners” with your Groovy Adventurer (visit momitforward.com/corner-bookmarks-kids for some fun ideas and the step by step process).
Teaching your baby/toddler about how to take care of books is also important and regular visits to the library can help with this. Allowing your little one to be a part of the book lending process from carrying their books, handing the librarian their library card and bringing their books back on time will help them to form a respect for books. Don’t forget to teach creative little ones that drawing in story books is off limits, as well as any rough play with books!
The recommended number of books to be reading to babies, toddlers and pre-school children is a minimum of 2 a day (or 14 a week). A great way to get into this habit is to read at least 2 stories at bedtime as part of your evening routine. One study showed that children four to five years old who were read to three to five times a week had the same reading ability as children six months older (who are read to only twice or less a week). This study also highlighted that children who were read to often while they were younger achieved better results at school in many areas; including numeracy, problem solving, concept development, ability to attend to tasks and comprehension.
If you are looking for some new inspiration for reading, here are some of our (and our Groovy Adventurer’s) all-time favourites:
“I’m not cute!” – Jonathan Allen
“One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish” – Dr. Seuss
“The very hungry caterpillar” – Eric Carle
“Where the wild things are” – Maurice Sendak
“Love you forever” – Robert Munsch
“The tale of Peter Rabbit” – Beatrix Potter
Happy reading!!!
