As mothers, we are all about giving our children the best possible life we can provide for them. We seek to expose them to nature and educational apps, encourage them to play outside, and prioritize their needs over ours. We want them to grow up being kind, intelligent, and happy human beings. However, between prepping the healthiest lunches and organizing their activity schedule, we might not make time for one of the most critical parts of our child’s day — reading time. Let’s explore some of the unique reasons reading is essential to children!
5 Reasons To Read to Your Kids
Reading does so much for children, which research has proven repeatedly.1 More than simply highlighting the usual benefits of reading to your child, such as academic excellence, the following points will shed light on other ways reading books can benefit your child. Hopefully, this will convince you to make more time for this peaceful ritual.
1. Gives Them Less Gadget Time
You can probably still remember a time when the world functioned without smartphones. But your child will never know a world devoid of smart technology. Exposing them to books won’t make gadgets less attractive, but it will show them another form of entertainment that can bring much-needed peace to their day. And while using a tablet to read is an excellent use of technology, research shows that parents who share a physical book with their children tend to have a more positive experience than with e-books.2
2. Sparks Their Imagination
Children’s imaginations are already brilliant — you can only imagine how much stronger their imaginations will become when you expose them to books! Reading helps develop children’s imagination, playfulness, and freedom of expression.3 It also allows them to believe in unlimited possibilities for their lives. Having a sense of endless opportunities can enable them to create the best life they can imagine for themselves.
3. Teaches Them To Search for Beauty
Someone once wrote that to slow down time, you have to search for beauty. And what better way to seek beauty than in the arts, including books? As we know, our kids will grow up in a fast-paced world where everything is instant. Exposing children to reading teaches them to slow down and search for beauty daily. Picture books often have vivid, eye-catching illustrations that help kids learn to recognize physically and emotionally beautiful things. Meanwhile, literary texts often contain creative descriptions that allow them to recognize the beauty of language and stories.7
4. Creates a Stronger Bond
Reading time is an excellent opportunity to put aside distractions and bond with your child. You can both focus on the story as you interact and discuss its contents. You don’t have to wait until your child is a little older to start doing this! Start reading aloud to your baby as early as you can. This can help with the development of their language skills.6 The tone of your voice often changes when you are reading to your baby, which will help set the base for you to create a strong bond with your child.
5. Provides Valuable Exposure
There are only so many hours in the day, and you can’t possibly expose your child to everything firsthand. But by reading, you can provide your child with a window to different cultures and ways of life. This gives them a chance to understand how other people think and act. Picture books can help children notice physical differences and develop empathy for others.5 By reading to them, you also expose them to rich language that will stay in their minds without them realizing it.4
The possibilities for reading are endless! Read your children everything from classic stories by Dickens and Twain to the latest picture books you can buy online. You could even read them excerpts from Shakespeare, even if they are only 6 months old and simply babbling away. And don’t forget to read poetry as well. The more you read, the more they’ll learn to love reading!
