Bedtime has always been crazy for us. I just get dinner cleared and part way cleaned up and it’s bath time. Then, it’s pajamas, brush and bed. On those good days when my patience hasn’t worn thin through dinner, and I’ve had a shower, and we are running on time, the magic just happens, and there is enough of me still left to read a story I will finally snuggle up to my little ones and begin to read. That’s when things really get tough. One of them will inevitably want to turn the page too soon to see the pictures, another wants to pull the book out of your hands, or pull a sibling’s hair, or get out of bed or a drink of water. It’s a moving target for sure. I begin to wonder why I ever pulled out the book in the first place. I figure I’ll just wait until they get a little older. They do, way too fast and then my friends you have a whole other set of problems. So here are a few tips for reading to the toddlers you love every night.
- Read really short stories – Picture books or early reader books are always a good choice. I will also summarize the stories to get through them quickly especially if my kiddos are extra sleepy.
- Read short anything – I will read birthday cards, mail and toy catalogs, letters from grandparents and friends, board game instructions, short daily devotionals, scripture verses and cereal boxes. And of course billboards, signs, kiosks, store windows, and just about anything they can relate to or just to pass the time.
- Play games to keep interest – Ask questions like what do you think will happen next? How do you think that makes the main character feel? What is the problem here? What could the main character do differently? Is there a lesson we can learn from this story?
Sometimes I will pause and let the children see if they can finish the sentence.
I will ask them to point to a word or letter or ask them what they see in an illustration. - Follow along – I will purchase multiple copies of the same book so we can all be on the same page. I will read slowly and tell them when to turn the page.
- Listen to audio books – that way you can focus on the book itself, or runaway kiddos, or keeping the book from being torn to bits. You can stop the audio at any time and still keep your place. Or not use a book at all and just snuggle, or if you are me sleep right through it.
- Read math books – there are some really good math stories that get even your toddlers thinking about math. When their mind is working they are not bored. Even if they’ve heard the story a million times, they will still be engaged because their mind is. Here is a link to a really good list of math stories. 40 Children’s stories that foster math & Best Children’s Books for Teaching Math
- Read about emotions and behaviors – We love the Help Me Be Good stories by Joy Berry. I don’t know if they are in print anymore but they are simply the best. They talk about why a child might behave a certain way and describe the negative behaviors and then describe what they could do instead. When one of my children misbehaved in some way, I would sit them down and read the corresponding book. Usually, it was Throwing Tantrums. They were able to understand themselves so much better that way. Other books we have enjoyed are books with pictures of baby’s faces showing different emotions. Like Baby Faces by DK.
- Read or tell family stories – There are so many wonderful lessons to learn and entertainment to be had simply by retelling stories from your childhood or family. The great news is that it keeps your family history alive and for the children it’s personal, something they can relate to because they know the characters by heart. We have family history books on a lot of my husband’s family and it is a wonderful resource for our children. They long to hear the stories over and over again.
- Read Songs – Singing songs is a great way for children to learn language. We like to pull out our hymnals and have the children read along as they are learning to read. They have learned all the songs in church so reading and following along in the books is a great way to help them get acquainted with the written words that go with them.
- Read from the bible – You will see this all over the Farmhouse Book Co. blog. We believe that God’s word will speak to our children in ways that we can only begin to understand. It will inspire and teach them. We have even our littlest child try to follow along and find words they know and begin to read like the big children do. We also will just do bible fingerplays and simply tell stories from the bible to our children in our own words and what they mean to us. We try to apply these stories in everyday life.
- Use props, puppets and object lessons – A Hopi Indian tradition is to use strings to tell stories. Using puppets or small toys or trinkets to represent people or things from the stories will really help illustrate it for you and help keep the little ones engaged and using their imaginations.
There are so many benefits of reading to our children and it can be really difficult to do when they are little. The trick is to really be flexible. We don’t have to just read them a story the traditional way to reap the benefits. Simply telling them a story while you change their diaper or put on their pajamas will still help them develop good imaginations and language skills.
