Instill a love of reading

There’s no overstating the importance of reading when it comes to learning and doing well in school. You might even say that when you read, you succeed.

Since it’s hard to excel in any activity if you don’t enjoy it, we can probably go one step further and say that when you love to read, you succeed.

If you’re a parent, a love of reading is an invaluable gift to give to your child. But where should you start?

As important role models in every aspect of their child’s life, parents can also serve as reading role models. Sounds like a lot of responsibility, doesn’t it? It’s all the more daunting if you don’t feel particularly knowledgeable about books—or if you just plain don’t like to read.

The truth is, being a reading role model can be very simple.
It’s true! As simple as reading with your little one for 15 minutes every night before bed. You could even opt for 10 minutes a day during their bath time or at breakfast.

There’s no “ideal” strategy. What matters is that you find one that works for your family, your schedule, your preferences, and your life. Period.

You should also know that reading a recipe or grocery list counts too. The same goes for playing a word-based board game or scanning the ingredients on a box of cookies.

You read a lot more than you think!

Opportunities are everywhere.
Is your child obsessed with comic books, manga, choose-your-own-adventure books, or sports magazines? All of those count as reading! Reading novels is great—fantastic, even. But it’s not essential.

What matters is helping your child fall in love with reading, and the fact is, not everyone is interested in the same genres.

With that in mind, I’ve got a challenge for you.
It’s something I tried with my 7- and 10-year-old boys, and they absolutely loved it.

Are you game?

All you have to do is try a different reading activity from the following list every day for two weeks. You and your kids may end up having so much fun that you make them part of your regular routine!

13 fun activities to inspire a love of reading

1. Make a meal from a cookbook.
2. Play a board game that involves reading (e.g., Monopoly or Scrabble).
3. Create a reading nook.
4. Design a treasure hunt (you can write clues for your kids, or vice versa).
5. Write and illustrate a comic book.
6. Replace words or sentences in a story with your own to create a new one.
7. Read the lyrics of a song as a dramatic monologue.
8. Pretend to do a newscast while reading out letters, texts, and emails.
9. Play the dictionary game: one player chooses a word from the dictionary and the others make up silly definitions.
10. Turn reading aloud into a game: read a story out loud as a family, with everyone taking turns reading a sentence at a time.
11. Play an improv game: act out amusing scenarios drawn from a hat.
12. Visit your local library.
13. Explore these and other educational video games on Alloprof’s website:
    • Book of Spells (elementary)
    • Magimot – French vocabulary (elementary)
    • Spellers – English as a second language (later elementary to early high school)
    • Allo Monde – geography (later elementary to high school)
    • PP L’Archer – French past participles (high school)

Alloprof has a tool specifically designed to help you stay on track during this challenge! Download it HERE.

Happy reading!