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Kids reading activities


10 Fun Reading Activities for Kids

Home Seasonal Back to School 10 Fun Reading Activities

By: Britni Vigil

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These fun reading activities will make reading at home more fun for all ages! Perfect for anyone looking for how to make reading more fun at home! 

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I may not be a teacher, but I am an avid reader. I love reading, love it so much that when I was young my parents would ground me from books instead of toys.

Now that I’m a mom myself, I am so excited to share that love of reading with my boys. And over the next few weeks as we’re stuck at home, I’m planning to use some of these fun reading activities to make reading at home as much fun as it is at school!

Fun Reading Activities

I’ve put together not only ideas for fun reading activities but also specific examples based on some of my family’s favorite books! Have different favorite books? Use the general activity ideas and make them specific for you!

1 – Have a book themed day.

If you’re doing your own school at home, why not do a themed book day once a week. Pick out your favorite book and plan your day around it.

Here are just a few fun examples you could try!

  • Pajama Time – wear pajamas all day, play Pajama party games, eat breakfast for dinner (everyone loves this breakfast casserole), have a pillow fight. You could even do an entire Pajama Time party like this one?
  • Harry Potter – Make butter beer treats, play Harry Potter games, practice making your own homemade potions, and maybe even make some chocolate frogs!
  • Dr. Seuss Books – Talk only in rhyme for an hour, eat Green Eggs and Ham, play one of these Dr. Seuss activities, and make a bucket list of all the places you want to go!

2 – Act out your favorite book.

Set the stage with fun props, put on costumes, and start acting. Don’t forget to use different voices for each of the characters. Let your littles be creative and put on their favorite princess or superhero costume for the afternoon without cringing.

Or if you have kids in school that want to do the reading, have one person read while the other people act it out. You could even mix it up by adding silly things to how you act it out – use an accent, do it backwards, act like a dinosaur, etc.

3 – Create and play a game based on your favorite book. 

You could create a matching game with all of the opposites in Sandra Boynton’s Opposites. To get a match, you have to turn over cards with the two things that are opposite each other.

Or how about making yarn words like the words Charlotte spun in Charlotte’s web and see who can guess the yarn word you spun?

Or you could hide a golden ticket somewhere in the house and have kids go on a scavenger hunt to find the golden ticket like in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

4 – Write and illustrate your own book.

This one is great for practicing reading, writing, and art skills – all things kids would normally do in school. Give them blank pieces of paper or a journal and have kids create their own story or recreate one of their classic favorites.

5 – Read books to other people.

If you haven’t seen it already, Josh Gad (the voice of Olaf) is doing a nightly book reading over on Twitter here. Just because you can’t go to the libraries or meet up with friends to read books doesn’t mean you can’t do it anyway.

Call grandparents, friends, neighbors and read books aloud to each other in silly voices. This would be especially awesome if you have a grandparent or someone who’s on lockdown in an assisted living facility and just needs a pick me up.

6 – Make treats based on a book. 

Make your favorite chocolate chip cookies after reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or blueberry muffins for Blueberries for Sal. Here are some more great ideas to get you started – you could really do this one every single day if you wanted! Almost every book, especially children’s books, has some sort of food you could make!

  • Where the Wild Things Are – make these monster cookies
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar – make pizza loaf or chocolate sheet cake
  • The Rainbow Fish – make these rainbow donuts or these rainbow cupcakes 

7 – Make a craft from a book.

Try making a Very Hungry Caterpillar out of pom poms or Where the Wild Things Are masks. The possibilities are endless but here are some book crafts to get you started!

  • Bedtime shadow puppets to go with Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy
  • Lady Bug Craft for  The Grouchy Ladybug 
  • Horton Hears a Who Elephant for Horton Hears a Who

8 – Do a book scavenger hunt.

Pick out your favorite book and come up with 10 things that you have to find from the book. If your favorite book is Green Eggs and Ham, your scavenger hunt might include looking for a mouse (or picture of), a house, a fox, and a box.

Or do one of these fun scavenger hunt ideas that matches your book theme. For example, this animal scavenger hunt would be great to go with If I Ran a Zoo, and this dinosaur hunt would be good for any dinosaur books!

9 – Draw a scene from your favorite book.

Put a big sheet of white mural paper up on the wall and get creative. Channel your inner Harold and the Purple Crayon. Pull out a sketch pad and draw your best version of what you see around the room, kind of like in Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

10 – Make reading silly. 

Read books with different voices for the characters. Read out loud to your kids while doing dance moves. Have your kids read in loud, quiet, and dinosaur voices. Just change up the way you read to make it more of an experience than a chore.

And if all else fails, there are plenty of great reading apps, games, and websites out there that you can listen to books read out loud, do fun reading activities, and turn reading into a true game.

More Fun Ideas for Kids

  • Minute to win it games
  • Learning games
  • Best board games for kids
  • Spelling games
  • 50+ boredom busters

Don’t forget to pin these fun reading activities for later! 

Reader Interactions

25 Activities for Reading and Writing Fun

These activities have been developed by national reading experts for you to use with children, ages birth to Grade 6. The activities are meant to be used in addition to reading with children every day.

In using these activities, your main goal will be to develop great enthusiasm in the reader for reading and writing. You are the child's cheerleader. It is less important for the reader to get every word exactly right. It is more important for the child to learn to love reading itself. If the reader finishes one book and asks for another, you know you are succeeding! If your reader writes even once a week and comes back for more, you know you have accomplished your beginning goals.

Activities for birth to preschool: the early years

Activity 1: Books and babies

Babies love to listen to the human voice. What better way than through reading!

What you'll need:

Some books written especially for babies (books made of cardboard or cloth with flaps to lift and holes to peek through).

What to do:
  • Start out by singing lullabies and folk songs to your baby. When your baby is about six months old, choose books with brightly colored, simple pictures and lots of rhythm in the text. (Mother Goose rhymes are perfect.) Hold your baby in your lap so he/she can see the colorful pages of the book. Include books that show pictures and names of familiar objects.
  • As you read with your baby, point out objects in the pictures and make sure your baby sees all the things that are fun to do with books. (Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt is a classic touch-and-feel book for babies.)
  • Vary the tone of your voice with different characters in the stories, sing nursery rhymes, make funny faces, do whatever special effects you can to stimulate your baby's interest.
  • Allow your child to touch and hold cloth and sturdy cardboard books.
  • When reading to a baby, keep the sessions brief but read daily and often.

As you read to your baby, your child is forming an association between books and what is most loved – your voice and closeness. Allowing babies to handle books deepens their attachment even more.

Activity 2: Tot talk

What's "old hat" to you can be new and exciting to toddlers and preschoolers. When you talk about everyday experiences, you help children connect their world to language and enable them to go beyond that world to new ideas.

What you'll need:

Yourself and your child

What to do:
  • As you get dinner ready, talk to your child about things that are happening. When your 2- or 3-year-old "helps" by taking out all the pots and pans, talk about them. "Which one is the biggest?" "Can you find a lid for that one?" "What color is this one?"
  • When walking down the street and your toddler or preschooler stops to collect leaves, stop and ask questions that require more than a "yes" or "no" answer. "Which leaves are the same?" "Which leaves are different?" "What else grows on trees?"
  • Ask "what if" questions. "What would happen if we didn't shovel the snow?" "What if that butterfly lands on your nose?"
  • Answer your child's endless "why" questions patiently. When you say, "I don't know, let's look it up," you show how important books are as resources for answering questions.
  • After your child tells you a story, ask questions so you can understand better. That way children learn how to tell complete stories and know you are interested in what they have to say.
  • Expose your child to varied experiences – trips to the library, museum, or zoo; walks in the park; or visits with friends and relatives. Surround these events with lots of comments, questions, and answers.

Talking enables children to expand their vocabulary and understanding of the world. The ability to carry on a conversation is important for reading development. Remember, it is better to talk too much rather than too little with a small child.

Activity 3: R and R – repetition and rhyme

Repetition makes books predictable, and young readers love knowing what comes next.

What you'll need:
  • Books with repeated phrases (Favorites are: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst; Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. ; Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss; and The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper.
  • Short rhyming poems.
What to do:
  • Pick a story with repeated phrases or a poem you and your child like. For example, read:
    (Wolf voice:) "Little pig, little pig, let me come in."
    (Little pig:) "Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin."
    (Wolf voice:) "Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!"
  • After the wolf has blown down the first pig's house, your child will soon join in with the refrain.
  • Read slowly, and with a smile or a nod, let your child know you appreciate his or her participation.
  • As the child grows more familiar with the story, pause and give him or her a chance to fill in the blanks and phrases.
  • Encourage your child to pretend to read, especially books that contain repetition and rhyme. Most children who enjoy reading will eventually memorize all or parts of a book and imitate your reading. This is a normal part of reading development.

When children anticipate what's coming next in a story or poem, they have a sense of mastery over books. When children feel power, they have the courage to try. Pretending to read is an important step in the process of learning to read.

Activity 4: Poetry in motion

When children "act out" a good poem, they learn to love its rhyme, rhythm, and the pictures it paints with a few well-chosen words. They grow as readers by connecting feelings with the written word.

What you'll need:

Poems that rhyme, tell a story, and/or are written from a child's point of view.

What to do:
  • Read a poem slowly to your child, and bring all your dramatic talents to the reading. (In other words, "ham it up.")
  • If there is a poem your child is particularly fond of, suggest acting out a favorite line. Be sure to award such efforts with delighted enthusiasm.
  • Suggest acting out a verse, a stanza, or the entire poem. Ask your child to make a face the way the character in the poem is feeling. Remember that facial expressions bring emotion into the performer's voice.
  • Be an enthusiastic audience for your child. Applause is always nice.
  • If your child is comfortable with the idea, look for a larger setting with an attentive, appreciative audience. Perhaps an after-dinner "recital" for family members would appeal to your child.
  • Mistakes are a fact of life, so ignore them.

Poems are often short with lots of white space on the page. This makes them manageable for new readers and helps to build their confidence.

Activity 5: Story talk

Talking about what you read is another way to help children develop language and thinking skills. You won't need to plan the talk, discuss every story, or expect an answer.

What you'll need:

Storybooks

What to do:
  • Read slowly and pause occasionally to think aloud about a story. You can say: "I wonder what's going to happen next!" Or ask a question: "Do you know what a palace is?" Or point out: "Look where the little mouse is now. "
  • Answer your children's questions, and if you think they don't understand something, stop and ask them. Don't worry if you break into the flow of a story to make something clear. But keep the story flowing as smooth as possible.
  • Talking about stories they read helps children develop their vocabularies, link stories to everyday life, and use what they know about the world to make sense out of stories.

Activity 6: Now hear this

Children are great mimics. When you tell stories, your child will begin to tell stories, too.

What you'll need:

Your imagination

What to do:
  • Have your child tell stories like those you have told. Ask: "And then what happened?" to urge the story along.
  • Listen closely when your child speaks. Be enthusiastic and responsive. Give your child full attention.
  • If you don't understand some part of the story, take the time to get your child to explain. This will help your child understand the relationship between a speaker and a listener and an author and a reader.
  • Encourage your child to express himself or herself. This will help your child develop a richer vocabulary. It can also help with pronouncing words clearly.

Having a good audience is very helpful for a child to improve language skills, as well as confidence in speaking. Parents can be the best audience a child will ever have.

Activity 7: TV

Television can be a great tool for education. The keys to successful TV viewing are setting limits, making good choices, taking time to watch together, discussing what you view, and encouraging follow-up reading.

What you'll need:

A weekly TV schedule

What to do:
  • Limit your child's TV viewing and make your rules and reasons clear. Involve your child in choosing which programs to watch. Read the TV schedule together to choose.
  • Monitor what your child is watching, and whenever possible, watch the programs with your child.
  • When you watch programs with your child, discuss what you have seen so your child can better understand the programs.
  • Look for programs that will stimulate your child's interests and encourage reading (such as dramatizations of children's literature and programs on wildlife and science.)

Many experts recommend that children watch no more than 10 hours of TV each week. Limiting TV viewing frees up time for reading and writing activities.

It is worth noting that captioned TV shows can be especially helpful for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, studying English as a second language, or having difficulty learning to read.

Activities for preschool to grade two: moving into reading

Check out Reading Rockets' new summer website, Start with a Book. You'll find a treasure trove of themed children's books, parent–child activities, and other great resources for summer learning.

Activity 8: World of words

Here are a few ways to create a home rich in words.

What you'll need:
  • Paper
  • Pencils, crayons, markers
  • Glue
  • Newspapers, magazines
  • Safety scissors
What to do:
  • Hang posters of the alphabet on the bedroom walls or make an alphabet poster with your child. Print the letters in large type. Capital letters are usually easier for young children to learn first.
  • Label the things in your child's pictures. If your child draws a picture of a house, label it with "This is a house." and put it on the refrigerator.
  • Have your child watch you write when you make a shopping list or a "what to do" list. Say the words aloud and carefully print each letter.
  • Let your child make lists, too. Help your child form the letters and spell the words.
  • Look at newspapers and magazines with your child. Find an interesting picture and show it to your child as you read the caption aloud.
  • Create a scrapbook. Cut out pictures of people and places and label them.
  • By exposing your child to words and letters often, your child will begin to recognize the shapes of letters. The world of words will become friendly.

Activity 9: Write on

Writing helps a child become a better reader, and reading helps a child become a better writer.

What you'll need:
  • Pencils, crayons, or markers
  • Paper or notebook
  • Chalkboard and chalk
What to do:
  • Ask your child to dictate a story to you. It could include descriptions of your outings and activities, along with mementos such as fall leaves and flowers, birthday cards, and photographs. Older children can do these activities on their own.
  • Use a chalkboard or a family message board as an exciting way to involve children in writing with a purpose.
  • Keep supplies of paper, pencils, markers, and the like within easy reach.
  • Encourage beginning and developing writers to keep journals and write stories. Ask questions that will help children organize the stories, and respond to their questions about letters and spelling. Suggest they share the activity with a smaller brother, sister, or friend.
  • Respond to the content of children's writing, and don't be overly concerned with misspellings. Over time you can help your child concentrate on learning to spell correctly.
  • When children begin to write, they run the risk of criticism, and it takes courage to continue. Our job as parents is to help children find the courage. We can do it by expressing our appreciation of their efforts.

Activity 10: Look for books

The main thing is to find books you both love. They will shape your child's first impression of the world of reading.

What you'll need:

Good books

What to do:
  • Ask friends, neighbors, and teachers to share the titles of their favorite books.
  • Visit your local public library, and as early as possible, get your child a library card. Ask the librarian for help in selecting books. Have your child join you in browsing for books and making selections.
  • Look for award-winning books. Each year the American Library Association selects children's books for the Caldecott Medal for illustrations and the Newbery Medal for writing.
  • Check the book review section of the newspapers and magazines for the recommended new children's books.
  • If you and your child don't enjoy reading a particular book, put it aside and pick up another one.
  • Keep in mind that your child's reading level and listening level are different. When you read easy books, beginning readers will soon be reading along with you. When you read more advanced books, you instill a love of stories, and you build the motivation that transforms children into lifelong readers.

Activity 11: Read to me

It's important to read to your child, but equally important to listen to them read to you. Children thrive on having someone appreciate their developing skills.

What you'll need:

Books at your child's reading level

What to do:
  • Listen carefully as your child reads.
  • Take turns. You read a paragraph and have your child read the next one or you read half the page and your child reads the other half. As your child becomes more at ease with reading aloud, take turns reading a full page. Keep in mind that your child may be focusing more on how to read the words than what they mean, and your reading helps to keep the story alive.
  • If your child has trouble reading words, you can help him or her in several ways:
    • Ask the child to skip over the word, read the rest of the sentence, and then say what would make sense in the story for the missing word.
    • Guide the child to use what he or she knows about letter sounds.
    • Supply the correct word.
  • Tell your child how proud you are of his or her efforts and skills.

Listening to your child read aloud provides opportunities for you to express appreciation of his or her new skills and for them to practice their reading. Most importantly, this is another way to enjoy reading together.

Activity 12: Family stories

Family stories enrich the relationship between parent and child.

What you'll need:

Time set aside for talking with your child.

What to do:
  • Tell your child stories about your parents and grandparents. You might even put these stories in a book and add old family photographs.
  • Have your child tell you stories about what happened on special days, such as holidays, birthdays, and family vacations.
  • Reminisce about when you were little. Describe things that happened at school involving teachers and subjects you were studying. Talk about your brothers, sisters, or friends.
  • Write a trip journal with your child to create a new family story. Recording the day's events and pasting the photographs into the journal ties the family story to a written record. You can include everyday trips like going to the market or the park.
  • It helps for children to know that stories come from real people and are about real events. When children listen to stories, they hear the voice of the storyteller. This helps them hear the words when they learn to read aloud or read silently.

Activity 13: P.S. I love you

Something important happens when children receive and write letters. They realize that the printed word has a purpose.

What you'll need:
  • Paper
  • Pencil, crayon, or marker
What to do:

Language is speaking listening, reading, and writing. Each element supports and enriches the others. Sending letters will help children become better writers, and writing will make them better readers.

Activities for grades 3–6: encouraging the young reader

Activity 14: Good books make reading fun

Stories for young children should be of all kinds – folktales, funny tales, exciting tales, tales of the wondrous and stories that tell of everyday things.

What you'll need:

A variety of interesting books

What to do:
  • An essential step in learning to read is good books read aloud. Parents who read aloud to their children are teaching literacy concepts simply by sharing books. Encourage your children to listen, ponder, make comments, and ask questions.
  • Be flexible enough to quickly abandon a book that does not appeal after a reasonable try at reading it. No one is meant to enjoy every book. And no one, especially a child, should be forced to read or listen to books that bore.
  • Even after children have outgrown picture books they still enjoy hearing a story read aloud. Hearing a good story read well, especially if it is just a little beyond a child's own capabilities, is an excellent way to encourage independent reading. Not all books are best read aloud; some are better enjoyed silently.
  • There are plenty of children's books that are twice as satisfying when they are shared a chapter at a time before bed or during long car rides. There are some books that children should not miss, books that they will want to hear many times and ultimately read for themselves.
  • Young children want to read what makes them laugh or cry, shiver and gasp. They must have stories and poems that reflect what they themselves have felt. They need the thrill of imagining, of being for a time in some character's shoes for a spine-tingling adventure. They want to experience the delight and amazement that comes with hearing playful language. For children, reading must be equated with enjoying, imagining, wondering, and reacting with feeling. If not, we should not be surprised if they refuse to read. So let your child sometime choose the story or book that they want you to read to them.

Give your child many opportunities to read and write stories, lists, messages, letters, notes, and postcards to relatives and friends. Since the skills for reading and writing reinforce one another, your child's skills and proficiency in reading and writing will be strengthened if you help your child connect reading to writing and writing to reading.

Activity 15: Artful artists

Children love to be creative when it comes to drawing, and illustrations add visual imagery to stories.

What you'll need:
  • Drawing paper
  • Pens and pencils
  • Magic markers or crayons
What to do:

Find a fable, fairy tale, or other short story for your child to read. Then ask your child to illustrate a part of the story he or she likes best or describe a favorite character. Have the child dictate or write a few sentences that tell about this picture.

Activity 16: Shopping your way with words

Use your weekly shopping trip as an opportunity to help your child develop reading and writing skills.

What you'll need:
  • Paper and pencils
  • Newspaper ads
  • Supermarket coupons
What to do:

As you make out your grocery shopping list, give your child a sheet of paper and read the items to him or her. If the child asks for spelling help, write the words correctly for him or her to copy or spell the words aloud as your child writes them.

Ask your child to look through the newspaper ads to find the prices of as many items as possible. Your child can write these prices on the list and then look through your coupons to select the ones you can use. Take your child to the supermarket and ask him or her to read each item to you as you shop.

Activity 17: Cookbooking

Cooking is always a delight for children, especially when they can eat the results!

What you'll need:
  • Easy-to-read recipes
  • Cooking utensils
  • Paper and pencils
What to do:

Show your child a recipe and go over it together. Ask your child to read the recipe to you as you work, and tell the child that each step must be done in a special order. Let your child help mix the ingredients. Allow your child to write down other recipes from the cookbook that he or she would like to help make.

Activity 18: Dictionary words

A dictionary is a valuable learning tool, especially if your child makes up his or her own booklet of words that are challenging.

What you'll need:
  • Paper and pencils
  • A stapler
  • Old magazines
  • Newspaper and supplements
What to do:

Encourage your child to make a dictionary by putting together several sheets of paper for a booklet. Ask your child to write at the top of each page a new word he or she has recently learned. If the word can be shown in a picture, have him or her look through magazines and newspapers to find pictures that illustrate the words and paste them on the correct pages.

Have your child write the meaning of each word and a sentence using each new word. Your child can then use some or all of these sentences as the basis for a creative story. Have your child read this story to you and other family members.

Activity 19: Journals

Keeping a journal is a way for your child to write down daily events and record his or her thoughts.

What you'll need:

Two notebooks - one for your child and one for you!

What to do:

Help your child start a journal. Say what it is and discuss topics that can be written about, such as making a new friend, an interesting school or home activity just completed, or how your child felt on the first day of school. Encourage your child to come up with other ideas. Keep a journal yourself and compare notes at the end of the week. You and your child each can read aloud parts of your journals that you want to share.

Activity 20: Greetings and salutations

Everyone loves to get mail, especially when the card has been personally designed.

What you'll need:
  • Paper and pencils
  • Crayons and magic markers
  • Stamps and envelopes
What to do:

Ask your child to list the birthdays of family members, relatives, and friends. Show your child some store-bought birthday cards with funny, serious, or thought-provoking messages. Your child can then create his or her own birthday card by using a folded piece of paper, making an attractive cover, and writing a short verse inside. Then your child can mail the cards to friends and relatives for their birthdays.

Activity 21: Giving the gift of reading

Reading a book is more fun when you have a homemade bookmark to mark your spot.

What you'll need:
  • Pieces of lightweight cardboard
  • Pens and pencils
  • Paper
  • Crayons and magic markers
What to do:

Provide your child with a piece of cardboard about 6" long and 2" wide. On one side of the bookmark, have your child draw a picture of a scene from a book he or she has read. On the other side, ask your child to write the name of the book, its author, publisher, publication date, and a few sentences about the book. After making several of these bookmarks, you might ask the child to send them to friends and relatives as gifts accompanied by a short note.

Activity 22: Let your fingers do the walking

The telephone book contains a wealth of information and is a good tool for reading and writing.

What you'll need:
  • A telephone book, including the yellow pages
  • Paper and pencils
What to do:

Have your child look through the yellow pages of the telephone directory, select a particular service, and write a clever or funny ad for it. Have your child read this ad to you. Help your child to find your own or a friend's listing in the white pages of the telephone book. Explain the different entries (for example, last name and address), along with the abbreviations commonly used.

Activity 23: Map your way to success

Children love to read road maps and this activity actually helps them with geography.

What you'll need:
  • A road map or atlas
  • Paper and pencil
  • Stamps and envelopes
What to do:

When planning a vacation, let your child see the road map and help you plan where you will drive. Talk about where you will start and where you will end up. Let your child follow the route between these two points. Encourage your child to write to the Chamber of Commerce for brochures about places you will see on your trip.

Activity 24: What's in the news?

Newspapers are a form of daily communication with the outside world, and provide lots of learning activities for children.

What you'll need:
  • Newspapers
  • Scissors
  • Colored pencils
What to do:
  • Clip out an interesting news story and cut the paragraphs apart. Ask your child to read the paragraphs and put them in order.
  • Ask your child to read a short editorial printed in your local newspaper and to underline all the facts with a green pencil and all the opinions with an orange pencil.
  • Pictures fascinate children of all ages. Clip pictures in the newspaper. Ask your child to tell you about the picture or list adjectives to describe the picture.
  • Do you take your child to the movies? Have your child first look up the movie page by using the index in the newspaper. After a movie has been chosen, have your child study the picture or text in the ad and tell you what he or she thinks the movie is about.
  • Have your child pick a headline and turn it into a question. Then the child can read the article to see if the question is answered.
  • Ask your child to clip food coupons from the newspaper for your grocery shopping trips. First, talk about which products you use and which you do not. Then the child can cut out the right coupons and putt hem into categories such as drinks and breakfast items. You can then cash in the coupons at the store.
  • Pick out an interesting article from the newspaper. As you are preparing lunch or dinner, tell your child that you are busy and ask him or her to read the article to you.
  • Many newspapers publish materials especially written for children, such as the syndicated "Mini Page," "Pennywhistle Press," and "Dynamite Kids." In addition, some newspapers publish weekly columns for children, as well as tabloids and summer supplements written by educators.

Activity 25: Using television to stimulate reading

What child doesn't enjoy watching TV? Capitalize on this form of entertainment and use TV to help rather than hinder your child's learning.

Some important ideas to consider before turning on the TV: Limit in some way the amount of TV your child watches so as to leave time for reading and other activities. Decide how much time should be set aside for watching TV each day.

Serve as an example by limiting the amount of TV you yourself watch. Have time when the TV set is off and the entire family reads something. You may want to watch TV only for special shows. Before the TV set is turned on, encourage your child to select the programs he or she wishes to watch. Ask your child to give you the reason for the choices made.

In addition, watch some of the same TV programs your child watches. This helps you as a parent share in some of your child's daily activities.

What you'll need:
  • A TV
  • A TV selection guide
  • Colored highlighters
  • A calendar page for each month
  • Paper and pencils
What to do:
  • Ask your child to tell you about favorite TV characters using different kinds of words.
  • As your child watches commercials on television, ask him or her to invent a product and write slogans or an ad for it.
  • Encourage your child to watch such programs as Reading Rainbow. Urge older children to watch such programs as 60 Minutes and selected documentaries. These programs are informative. Discuss interesting ideas covered in the programs and direct your child to maps, encyclopedias, fiction, or popular children's magazines for more information.
  • Have your child name 10 of his or her favorite shows. Ask your child to put them into categories according to the type of show they are, such as family shows, cartoons, situation comedies, sports, science fiction, or news and information. If you find the selection is not varied enough, you might suggest a few others that would broaden experiences.
  • Prepare a monthly calendar with symbols such as a picture of the sun to represent an outdoor activity or a picture of a book to represent reading. Each time your child engages in a daily free time activity, encourage him or her to paste a symbol on the correct calendar date. This will give you an idea of how your child spends his or her free time. It also encourages a varied schedule.
  • Ask each child in your family to pick a different color. Using the TV listing, have each child use this color to circle one TV program that he or she wants to watch each day. Alternate who gets first choice. This serves two purposes. It limits the amount of time watching TV and it encourages discriminating viewing.
  • Devise a rating scale from 1 to 5. Ask your child to give a number to a certain TV program and to explain why such a rating was given.
  • Have your child keep a weekly TV log and write down five unfamiliar words heard or seen each week. Encourage your child to look up the meanings of these words in the dictionary or talk about them with you.

Parent Information

APPLICATION FORMS:

  • Preschool Application Form
  • Receipt for the provision of documents
  • Application form for training in an adapted educational program for preschool education
  • Application form for refusal of a seat
  • Application form for expulsion from the preschool group
  • Vacation application form

CATERING:

  • This link will take you to the Department of Education website, which contains regulations on catering and compensation for care and maintenance, memos for parents and an email address for questions.
  • ORDER dated 08.08.2019 No. 34-np "On amendments to the order of the Department of Education of the Yaroslavl Region dated 03.25.2014 No. 34-np"

Dear parents! You can see your children's daily menu at the link: Hot meals at school

Parent Information Corner

Dear Parents! Today we will talk with you on an interesting and exciting topic: “How to form an interest in communicating with a book, reading in preschool children”?

I don't think it's worth mentioning that there is a tendency in society to reduce the interest and need for reading. Especially worryingly, this affects children, who are more attracted to watching TV, playing games on tablets and computers. Yes, and many parents prefer electronic games of a developing and educational nature, rather than reading fairy tales to their child or doing them. But it is precisely the preschool age that is distinguished by curiosity and emotionality. It is at this age that interest in the book is born, the reader's experience is acquired. Therefore, to form a need for reading in a preschool child is a very important task for teachers and parents.
The process of forming a child's interest in a book and its content at preschool age is largely determined by how much parents are involved in this process, what is the attitude of the family to the book, how the process of reading at home is organized, and how much interest in what is read in kindergarten is maintained. From talking with children about whether parents read books to you, I came to the bitter conclusion that some parents do not attach much importance to the role of books in the development of the child, while others hope that the child will acquire the necessary reading experience in kindergarten. However, if this issue is not dealt with in a timely manner, it will be difficult to form an interest in reading in elementary school, and in some cases it is impossible.
One of the important ways to solve this issue is the systematic work of introducing the child to reading children's literature both in preschool and in the family. It is the family, with its unique atmosphere of kinship, intra-family relations, the love of parents, that provides children with psychological comfort. And the child's love and trust in his parents make him particularly susceptible to their influence. It is necessary to maintain constant cooperation between the family and the kindergarten and be a logical continuation of the work.
- An appropriate subject-developing environment is organized in kindergarten groups, at home there should also be a corner with books selected by the age of the children. There, the child, together with his parents, gets acquainted with new books and shares what he has read with the children in a group (with a demonstration of the book).
- If possible, take your children to the nearest library.
- Spend more time to familiarize the child with his native land, with his small homeland (tell us about the traditions of our ancestors, the history of the village, its culture, introduce the art of our countrymen, introduce the heroes of our village, spend more time in nature, each time paying attention to its characteristics). This will keep you in child interest in knowledge, motive to search for new information.
- It is necessary to help the child to be realized in independent creative activity. Read a fairy tale or story, draw the characters of the work or plot, bring the work to the garden, show and tell grandmother, etc.
- Choose a book together in the store, jointly discussing the need to choose a particular book, getting acquainted with its contents.
- Encourage and support the desire and participation of the child in various creative competitions (competition of poems, songs, dances, drawings; theater activities, dramatization games, role-playing games ...) while not forgetting to refer to additional information that can be found together in books (about the author of poetry, about the artist, the history of the origin of dance, tell about the theater and its work, play a fairy tale plot together, etc.).

- Ask every day about what you read today? What poem did you learn? And let's remember the verses that you know with you! I like them so much. Showing your interest in the activities of the child, you thereby stimulate him to the manifestation of greater cognitive activity.
Dear parents! Try to be an active partner in all creative endeavors of the kindergarten. Take an active part in all activities with your children. Live this period (preschool childhood) together, not side by side. It is during this period that you need to have time to lay down and develop all the best, to form all the most valuable.
To form a child's interest in reading at this age through various activities means taking care of his intellectual, moral, spiritual potential, opening the way to the most important source of information - a book!

7 secrets of cultivating interest in reading.
1 secret. Read for yourself.
It is not our words that bring up a child, but deeds and the environment. A family where parents often read and discuss books is likely to grow up to be a good reader. Want to instill an interest in reading in your child? Read for yourself and read to your child, talk about what you read, discuss books.
2 secret. Learn by playing.
A person will never love what is given to him with difficulty. He will endure, but not love. If you teach a child to read, teach in a way that makes it easy and interesting for him, teach while playing. Only in the game can a child learn without feeling pressure, without experiencing stress and negativity. It is in the game that the best results are achieved at the lowest cost.
3 secret. All through interest!
The interest of the child comes first, not what you want or need. Read those books that your child likes, that are interesting to him. Read books by age! And if, in fact, you need to read something that does not delight the child, then help the child read and understand, read it together.
4 secret. Book design.
Pay attention to the design of the book. Children simply need illustrations in the book, good quality paper and clear type. It is very good if each page has a large illustration and some text. Because a large amount of text causes fear, tires the child and reduces the ability to understand the text.
5 secret. Use the Cassil method.
Find an interesting book and start reading. Get to a very interesting moment, where some kind of intrigue is created, a turning point in events, and suddenly remember that you need to do something urgently - stop reading. Leave the book with a bookmark and tell your child that he can wait until tomorrow or try reading on his own. Of course, the child will want to know the sequel, but not everyone will pick up a book and start reading. Someone will wait until tomorrow. But if the child took the book and began to read, then it is worth praising him and offering to read it together (line by paragraph). The next time the child will again take the book and begin to read it in the hope that you will immediately come to the rescue. But don't rush. Of course, it is necessary to praise him for his desire to read, but it is not immediately possible to come to the rescue. Let him read a little. And only then you offer to read alternating. And so every time you praise the child for the desire to read, but help to finish reading later and less. So gradually you will reach the moment when the child finishes everything himself.
6 secret. Read to a child!
Read to your child, even if he can already read. In any case, you will read better than the child, show him an example of correct and expressive reading, and help him better understand the meaning of the text. By reading with your child, you will get to know the interests of the child, his thoughts and desires better. And the child will feel your support and interest, which contributes to the development of mutual understanding. Joint reading also contributes to the development of mindfulness, because an adult can always ask a clarifying question, and the child needs to answer it.
7 secret. We develop interest through the situation of victory.
Ask your child problematic questions, provoke an argument and offer to find out who is right with the help of a book. Of course, the child wants to prove that he is right, and most likely, he will look for proof of his innocence. At first, of course, it is necessary to adjust the question so that the child is still right. This forms success and reinforces the feeling of pleasure from the process of finding evidence. The child understands that he read not in vain. There are many such controversial questions. For example: children from kindergarten know that a swallow is a migratory bird. And you say no, the swallow hibernates, only she hides under the bark of trees or burrows into the ground. And show that it is written in this book. Most children will prove what they were told in kindergarten or school. And you stand your ground and offer to find the answer in the book. Of course, you need to know in advance where you can find the answer and show the child this page or chapter. But how much joy the child will have when it turns out that he is still right! Be sure to praise your child for wanting to find the right answer and admit that you were wrong. Tell the child. Retell the most interesting moments from the books to your child and show where you can read the sequel. Tell interesting facts about the life of animals and plants, about transport and weapons - all this can be easily found in encyclopedias and show where you can read it. Come up with various tests based on the works of children's authors, for example, on Pushkin's fairy tales. Compose stories and fairy tales with him, write them down in the form of books and give them to friends.

If you rely on these secrets in communicating with your child, you will definitely interest him in reading. A reader is always an interesting and successful person.

Reading to children is wonderful, reading correctly is productive (effective) reading. The process of reading is carried out by teachers in regime moments, at GCD using one or another technology.

  • What is technology? This is a sequence of steps.
  • What is productive reading? Productive from the word "product".
  • What can be the product of reading? Result.
  • And what can be the result of reading? Perception of the text - emotional response - reasoning - a series of questions and understanding of the meaning of what was read!!!

And in order for a child to understand the meaning, it is necessary: ​​

  • Read emotionally, expressively, make logical stops;
  • pay attention to unfamiliar words and immediately explain them without making long pauses and not distracting the child's attention;
  • in the course of reading, you can ask, as it were, a question to the author. These are short questions - answers that can be learned in the process of reading, for example: “What will happen now?”, “How can this be explained?”, “Why exactly?”, “Why did he do this?” and a number of other questions. The question, as it were, “hangs” in the air, it does not need to be answered, but this question, questions begin to activate thought processes in the child’s head. Attention is activated, internal reasoning begins, interest in listening to reading appears.
  • reading commentary is a reading that is accompanied by explanations, interpretation of words, expressions, subtext in the form of explanations, reasoning, assumptions. Commenting is carried out in the course of reading, only this work with the work becomes motivated. Dear parents! I hope that this information will be useful to you. But this does not mean at all that every work must be read that way. Even if you take a book after a working day, just relax together, look at the illustrations, read and fall asleep, it will be wonderful. And if then, the next day, you talk about what you read, share your impressions with each other, then this will be 100% success.

Offers:

1. Read with children and keep a reading diary. Bring it to the group and tell the children before a quiet hour about what they have read, retell and show the illustrations.

2. Daily repeat the verses learned in the garden with the children.

3. Organize a children's book corner at home.

Pedagogical conditions for fostering interest in reading in children of senior preschool age

References:

Galkina, IA Pedagogical conditions for fostering interest in reading in older preschool children / IA Galkina, EM Teper. - Text: direct // Questions of preschool pedagogy. - 2020. - No. 2 (29). - S. 1-4. — URL: https://moluch.ru/th/1/archive/155/4811/ (date of access: 12/16/2022).



Consider such a concept as a condition. In the philosophical dictionary, the concept of “condition” is considered as “a category that expresses the relation of an object to the phenomena surrounding it, without which this object cannot exist. The object itself appears as something conditioned, and the condition as the variety of the objective world relatively external to the object. The conditions represent the environment, the environment in which the latter arise, exist and develop” [7, p. 118].

The main condition for the implementation of the main educational program of preschool education in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard for Preschool Education are: psychological and pedagogical, material and technical, personnel, financial conditions and developing subject-spatial environment.

The development of children's interest in books and reading is one of the main tasks of preschool education. This process must begin at an early age. It requires hard work from teachers. A preschool child should communicate with a book every day at home, and in a preschool educational institution all the time [4, p. 151].

One of the main conditions in the development of interest in a children's book in children is a subject-spatial developing environment and qualified teachers. Psychological and pedagogical conditions and requirements for personnel provide for a number of teacher competencies.

Involving children in various forms of activity, developing children's curiosity, the child's interest in their own activity. For each specific child, the teacher should be able to choose the forms of pedagogical support, which is defined in the Federal State Educational Standard for Preschool Education as an individual approach and “providing equal opportunities for the full development of each child” [6]. Also, the teacher must be able to competently organize a subject-spatial developing environment, in accordance with the federal state educational standard for preschool education and the general educational program of a preschool educational organization, and create conditions for free children's play.

The subject-spatial developing environment is created by teachers to develop the individuality of each child, taking into account his capabilities, level of activity and interests. To accomplish this task, the subject-spatial developing environment should be:

- rich in content;

- transformable;

- multifunctional;

– accessible;

– safe [3].

A book corner is being created in the kindergarten group in order to form children's interest in fiction and to cultivate a careful attitude to the book. There is a book corner, at the height of the children and as they grow up, the corner is regulated. Literature for the corner is selected according to the age characteristics and needs of children [6]. Books should be with a small amount of text, large colorful illustrations, several copies of the same title.

Book repair materials are best stored nearby. Books for preschool children should be of different genres. At this age, children need to be taught to listen to stories, poems, follow the development of the action in a fairy tale, and sympathize with positive characters.

The attention of children is drawn to the imagery of the language of fairy tales, stories, poems, they are attracted to the repetition of remembered individual words, expressions, songs of characters [2, p. 237]. Samples of rhythmic speech are provided by folk tales, songs, nursery rhymes, riddles, they introduce children to the colorfulness and imagery of their native language [4, p. 34].

It is very important for children to show a lot of pleasant things related to reading: you can read yourself or listen to others read, you can read and beat works. In order for a child to want to turn to a book, it is necessary to form the motivation for reading activity. “Disinterested but interesting reading is what makes one love literature and broadens one’s horizons” [5, p. 47].

Forms of work to familiarize children with fiction outside of class help to develop interest and love for the book, to educate future readers. The development and improvement of the ability to understand literary works and the formation of interest and love for the book occurs throughout the entire period of childhood. At an older age, a new stage begins in the literary development of the child. He acquires the ability to understand the text without the help of illustrations. Children are already able to understand events in the book that were not in their own experience. The child develops the ability to perceive a literary work in the unity of content and form, comprehend the verbal image, treat it as an author's device. There is also the ability not only to notice an expressive, vivid word, but also to realize its role in the text.

The possibilities of children allow solving new, more complex tasks in the formation of aesthetic education and understanding of works of fiction. The integration of the educational process is an important condition for its effectiveness. The perception of literature by children is inseparable from the game, and other types of children's activities. The figurative impressions received when listening to works of art are fixed in the game. You can play the game with musical accompaniment, which introduces the atmosphere of literary works.

Not only kindergarten teachers should read to children, but also parents at home. The family is given a leading role in the upbringing of the younger generation - it is in the family that the spiritual and moral foundations of the individual are laid. And it is the family, according to S. A. Denisova, that is the environment where interest and love for the book is formed from early childhood [6, p. 31].

It is in the family that the habit of reading is born. A good book in the hands of parents and their children is a good sign that a reading atmosphere and spiritual unity will reign in this family. In the family, the personality of the child is formed, his initial attitude to various activities, including reading [4, p. 39one]. Joint readings of children and parents, necessary for the development of interest and love for books, bring together and help to better assimilate the content of the work.

The initial stage of introducing children to reading, reading-listening to literary works. Looking at illustrations together with adults and listening to reading, the child actively thinks, worries about the characters, anticipates events, establishes connections between his experience and the experience of others. Adults and children are brought together by joint reading, it stimulates and fills with content rare and joyful moments of spiritual communication, brings up a kind and loving heart in a child [3, p. 19].

For the educator and parents, the most important task is the selection of works of art that help the formation of a literary taste in children. It is not always easy for parents to navigate the abundance of books intended for children's reading. When choosing a book for children, you must adhere to the following rules:

- the expediency of using this work in a children's audience;

- belonging of the work to genuine art;

- the artistry of the illustrations and their correspondence to the content of the work, preferably publications with illustrations, where the images of animals and people are as realistic as possible.

For children's reading, works are selected that help to reveal the richness of the surrounding world and human relations, beauty, teach to understand the beautiful, form their own opinion in the child. Choose those works whose characters are close and understandable to children. When choosing works, the characteristics of children are taken into account: susceptibility, the desire to imitate the characters they love.

An important condition for the development of interest in a book in children is work with parents, which is carried out in the form of thematic meetings, individual conversations, consultations, and the involvement of parents in activities held in a preschool educational organization.

Parents are told about the dangers of early accustoming the child to TV and computer games, about the inadmissibility of replacing them with direct communication between the child and parents. To promote the formation of interest in the book, the organization of reading club meetings in the kindergarten group, where parents can be invited and children and parents can compose fairy tales [3, p. 96].

The group can provide visual information for parents about the work of children's writers [6, p. 128]. The website of the kindergarten contains a constantly updated list of literary works for home reading.

During childhood, there is an active development and improvement of the ability to perceive literary works, the development of interest and love for the book, the child is formed as a reader. The specificity of working with children lies in the fact that, while forming new valuable qualities, not to destroy the existing ones: creative activity, non-patterned perception, emotionality, sincerity, joy and voluntariness of classes.

In the formation of interest in reading among preschoolers, both traditional and innovative methods and techniques are used.

Reading or telling the educator from a book or by heart are traditional methods. Reading conveys the thoughts of the writer, preserves the language of the author. Emotional contact with children, the interest of the educator and expressiveness, increase the impact of the artistic word on children. Repetition of reading is one of the methods of deepening the understanding of the content. Repeat the reading of the individual, most significant parts. Poems, nursery rhymes, short stories are repeated more often. Familiar stories and fairy tales children like to listen to many times. When re-reading, it is important to accurately reproduce the original text. But one of the modern technologies today to increase the reader's interest of preschoolers is a book trailer - a small video (up to 3 minutes long) that tells in an artistic form about a book [1]. The goal of book trailers is to foster interest in reading (to tell about the book, to interest the reader), to draw attention to books with the help of visual means typical for movie trailers [2].

It can be in three main versions: film or cartoon, presentation or a combination of these forms. Vivid visual and sound images, quick picture changes, brevity are the distinguishing features of book trailers.

In modern education, the booktrailer is widely used in the library environment, as well as in school education - as an innovative method of increasing interest in literature and reading. In the practice of preschool education, the issue of using a book trailer, according to the results of the analysis of literary and Internet sources, remains unexplored, there is no technology for working with children of preschool age.

All this led us to the development of a technology for using a booktrailer as a means of generating interest in fiction in children of senior preschool age, which implies the inclusion of booktrailers in the process of perceiving literary works, where it acts as a motivation for further acquaintance with the work.

The main stages of technology implementation:

  1. The episodic use of a booktrailer as a motivational tool within the circle of children's reading.
  2. Inclusion of the booktrailer as a means in various structural components of the activity: OOD (organized educational activity), circle of children's reading (regime moments), evening entertainment for children (leisure activities)
  3. Creating a booktrailer with children (with the help of a teacher)
  4. Interaction with parents on the use of book trailers in work with children of senior preschool age: a master class for parents on creating book trailers, assistance and support of the teacher at the stage of independent creation of a book trailer by parents.

The first stage of the implementation of the technology included occasional demonstration of book trailers in sensitive moments - a circle of children's reading in the evening. The selection of works on the basis of which the book trailers were demonstrated was carried out in accordance with the plan of the educational process. The work is based on the algorithm for using the booktrailer in working with children:

  1. View Booktrailer
  2. Booktrailer content conversation aimed at further perception
  3. Perception of a work of art (reading)

Before perceiving a literary work, children were asked to view the book trailer for this work. After watching, the teacher organized a conversation with the children on the booktrailer, which made it possible to clarify the initial ideas and aimed at further perception. Next, direct perception of the literary work (listening) was carried out. Such episodic inclusion of book trailers in the educational process made it possible to see the reaction of children, to assess the level of their interest. For the demonstration, ready-made booktrailers were taken, which were adapted for children of older preschool age.

The second stage provided for the inclusion of the book trailer in various structural components of the activity (OOD, regime moments, leisure activities). When the booktrailer was turned on during sensitive moments (children's reading circle), literary works were selected that did not have a vivid and dynamic plot, as well as works intended for long reading.

As part of organized educational activities (OOE), we used book trailers as a bright motivational component. The selection of literary works for this was carried out taking into account the program content for the perception of fiction. In addition, we included a booktrailer in the plan of evening entertainment with children, which were dedicated to the work of specific authors (G. H. Andersen and others).

In the course of literary leisure, the educator told the author's biography, a book trailer based on his work was shown, after viewing which the children could comment on which work they liked and which made them want to read. A literary game was organized based on the author's work, or a dramatization based on works. In addition, an exhibition was organized in the book corner of the group, where children could look at books and illustrations.

Third stage. Gradually, the children began to show interest in the booktrailer, began to ask questions about how the booktrailer is created, so the children were invited to become the creators of the booktrailer. For children, a situation of choice was created - the choice of the genre of the work, we will create a joint or individual booktrailer, collect illustrations, or draw our own drawings, how the video will be dubbed. In the course of this activity, we created a book trailer based on the works of Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass.

The fourth stage of work is cooperation with parents to create a booktrailer to generate interest in fiction. First of all, we considered this issue at a thematic parent meeting dedicated to the problem of declining interest in the book.

Introduced parents to a new ICT tool - a booktrailer; a selection of the most successful booktrailers was demonstrated. A master class on creating a booktrailer was organized for parents. Then the parents were asked to create a book trailer of the child's choice together with the children. The children had ideas and initial skills in creating a video, so the parents only helped, prompted and made the installation. At the leisure event “My Favorite Book”, some book trailers created by children and parents were presented.

The practical implementation of the technology made it possible to determine the optimal conditions for its functioning - first of all, this is the presence of appropriate conditions, compliance with the stages of implementation of the technology, and, of course, orientation to the activity of the child. The effectiveness of the book trailer as a means has been proven experimentally - there has been a qualitative increase in the indicators of the level of formation of interest in fiction. The successful implementation of the technology is evidenced not only by the results of the experimental part of the study, but also by the demand and positive assessment of the presentation of work experience in the city's preschool educational institutions. The methodological recommendations developed on the basis of the results of testing are an addition to the technology and make it possible to competently organize the system of work, think over the content, adapting it to a specific group.

Literature:

  1. Booktrailer as a tool for book promotion: a methodological guide Comp. O. V. Rykova - Vologda: VOUNB, 2016. - 23 p.
  2. Booktrailer as a way to promote the book: a methodological guide / Nat. b-ka, Res. Buryatia, Department of Method. provision of municipalities. libraries; - Ulan-Ude, 2015 -16 p.
  3. Gritsenko, Z. A. Origins and causes of non-reading // Preschool education. - 2008. - No. 4. - S. 33–41.
  4. Gurovich L.

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