The toddler years are the perfect time to start instilling a life-long love of books, reading, and learning!
Toddler brains are sometimes compared to sponges – they absorb everything! But in reality, toddlers are much more complex than that: they are not just absorbing; they are making connections and learning to make sense of this world. Not surprisingly, reading benefits toddlers in many important ways:
- Shows the toddler that reading is fun and important
- Teaches the toddler how books work (for instance, that they have a cover, that pages turn from right to left, that books convey information in both pictures and words)
- Teaches the toddler about narrative skills (stories have a beginning, middle, and end; characters experience changes in the stories, etc.)
- Exposes the toddler to novel things (from to different animals, places, tools, etc. to fuzzier concepts like emotions and appropriate behavior)
- Helps toddlers with important pre-reading skills, such as having a sense for sounds (phonics), expanding their vocabulary, and familiarizing themselves with the letters of the alphabet
- Allows the toddler and adult to have a calm, enjoyable time together
- All these things also help prepare a toddler for the day s/he will have to go to school.
How to Read With a Toddler
- Start now. Perhaps the child has been a reader since s/he was a baby. If so, great! If not, start now. The more familiar and more interested children are with books when they are young, the better of they will be when they are older.
- Read regularly. Try to read or share a book with the child on a daily basis. Studies show that the best prepared children have “read” 1,000 books before they start school (each time a story is read counts). One thousand might seem like a big number, but all it really means is reading a book every day from the time they are two or three. Five minutes a day is enough. (And if the child loves to read, more is definitely better.) This is just a guideline, however; the point is to make reading and books a regular part of the toddler’s life.
- Slowly upgrade the books. A young toddler might start by only reading those hard-to-tear board books. As children get older, they need to be exposed to books with thinner pages (not to mention longer story-lines!) Old magazines and used books are good ways to transition. Pop-up books and the like may look fun and pretty, but make sure the child is mature enough to handle one (and realize that parts of the book will break sooner or later anyway).
- Read boisterously. Toddlers are incredibly observant… and great mimics, too. That’s why it’s not enough to just read the words on the page. Adults need to use tone and energy, different voices, sounds effects ---whatever is called for that turns reading into a delightful experience worth copying. And as the toddlers get older – they will start doing exactly that: reciting phrases from their favorite stories, with all the tone and sound effects that they’ve learned.
- Expand on the book. Books are a great learning tool for toddlers who are busy figuring out their world. For younger ones, point illustrations out. Name colors and objects; count out loud. As children gets older, turn the table by asking “What’s this?” or “What color” or, eventually “How many?” Challenge even older toddlers more: “What happened?” “How does s/he feel?” “Why?”
- Be choosy about the books.
In short, it can be both easy and fun to raise a reader – simply by enthusiastically sharing books with toddlers on a regular basis.
The copyright of the article Reading Books With Toddlers in Picture Books is owned by Estela Kennen. Permission to republish Reading Books With Toddlers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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