When I became a grandma, one of the first things I did was to unbox all our children’s books. I was excited for books and reading to be part of their lives. Yes, I love reading. I also love to read aloud. And it turns out, there are many benefits to reading aloud to the children in your life, no matter the age.
I’m a retired high school English teacher, a gal with a million words to use in a day, and someone who always wanted to be on stage. Reading aloud comes naturally to me. I used to read aloud to our now-grown kids all the time. (I think they loved it!)
These days, I read aloud to my husband, especially when we’re on a road trip or during our morning devotions. As I mentioned, though, reading aloud to little ones is extra special because it comes wrapped up with countless benefits.
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The Benefits of Reading Aloud to Children
#1. Foundational Skills
Of course, one of the most obvious benefits of reading aloud to our kids and grandkids is that it helps develop foundational skills for life and academic success. Here’s a fascinating statistic. If you read five books a day to your kids before kindergarten, they will hear over a million more words than kids who were never read to. A million!
Just think about one childhood favorite, Corduroy (1964), and the words: shoulder straps, overalls, department, and escalator. What a delightful way to grow their little vocabularies! Without pencil and paper and a formal classroom setting, you are also helping them develop critical skills — speaking, writing, listening, concentration, and memory. And of course, reading skills.
#2. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Let’s peek into Corduroy again. He’s lost his button. Where could it be? Kids delight in finding the button along with this cute stuffed bear. While this is a simple “problem,” it gives you the chance to ask questions and help them analyze the situation. What would you do? Should Corduroy pull on that mattress button? (Since many mattresses today don’t even have buttons, you can give a tiny history lesson here as well–another benefit of reading out loud to kids.) What’s a night watchman? How can teddy bears even walk?
#3. Empathy and Moral Lessons
Yep, we want our kids and grandkids to learn kindness, honesty, patience, and so much more. Good books are one simple way to teach these qualities while being entertained. And without really trying. The Little Red Hen is a classic folk tale which we often read to our kids about a hard-working hen and her not-so-hard-working friends. Corduroy helps teach kids about caring for others and even budgeting. Yes, budgeting. Lisa counts what she saved in her piggy bank to go back and buy Corduroy.
#4. Imagination and Creativity
Books open up new worlds for kids which feeds their imaginations and sparks creativity. Even a simple book like Corduroy shows kids a different place to call home. Little Lisa lives in a big city apartment near a busy department store. She climbs four flights of stairs to go home. If your kids or grandkids live in the country or a small town, this is a new world to them. (And me!)
#5. Bonding and Unwinding
At the end of a busy day of math tests, soccer practice, meal prep, and piano practice, when we take time to choose a good book, cuddle up in a cozy chair or bed with our kids, everything slows down. Everyone breathes a little easier. Important conversations can happen.
#6. Love of Reading
Of course! When you show your kids that you love and value reading, they’ll want to mimic your behavior. Often, they’ll grow up to love reading, too.
Six Tips for Reading Aloud to Your Kids
- Start young and stick with it. You can read to kids even as infants. When they’re that young, just the sound of your voice will start the beginning of their understanding of language, so read whatever YOU want to read (even if it’s the latest Reese Witherspoon book pick, as long as you skip over the PG words, of course). As they grow in understanding, you can start picking books that will appeal to them.
- Aim for reading together at least once a day, but don’t pressure yourself. Do what you’re able to do.
- Ask questions to encourage kids to come up with their own ideas as you read.
- One-on-one reading time is great when possible, but time reading with other kids is also good.
- Read what interests them (even if that means reading the same book over and over).
- As they get older and begin reading on their own, stretch them by reading together books beyond their reading level.
My Favorite Books for Little Ones
Here’s a list of some of my favorite books for really little ones (infant to three) I used to read to my kids and now read to my grandkids. (I could have listed so many more!)
- Goodnight Moon (1947)
- Corduroy (1968)
- The Little Red Hen (1918)
- Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955)
- Where the Wild Things Are (1963)
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969)
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (1972)
- The Cat in the Hat (1957)
- The Runaway Bunny (1942)
- The Little Engine that Could (1930)
A Couple More Thoughts on the Benefits of Reading Aloud to Children
Audio?
I haven’t tried this yet, but since I’m an avid “books on tape” kinda gal, I wondered how many of these classic books you can find in the audio version. Lots of them! You can borrow or purchase many of these titles to listen to while you are driving with your kiddos. I certainly doesn’t replace the read-aloud-in-bed experience, but it might be fun to listen to the audio version of one of their favorite stories as you run errands. I’m going to give this one a try!
What if YOU don’t like to read?
Let’s say you stumbled upon this post because you feel like you SHOULD read aloud to your kids or grandkids. But you think, ugh. Reading is a chore. I’ll gently suggest you give this a try anyway. The benefits of reading aloud actually work on adults too.
What do you think? Were you aware of all the amazing benefits to reading aloud to children? What are your favorite books to read to the kids in your life?
Photo by Robyn Budlender on Unsplash
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