Reading is a great way to bond with kids.  Sometimes reading a book aloud with your child can change a rough day into a happy one.  But reading aloud is only fun when it’s made interactive as well as interesting. 

Be a reading hero for your kids! Sharing here are few ways to make reading interactive for toddlers. 

1 Create a reading corner for your child  – Children these days are fascinated about their room, colour, décor & resources available to them. So while planning your kids room , create a reading area for you and your child to sit and read. Keep a nice rocking chair/ or a chair table with an attractive décor. Stack some interesting books and make it an attractive space for your kid.

2. Associate reading with real life- Making connections between books and your child’s own experience can help increase his or her interest in reading.

3. Use voice modulation while reading a book to your child- Change your voice to go with the characters and the action. This will make reading fun as your child will thoroughly enjoy it. Make sure you don’t rush. Give your child the time to understand the change of characters.

4. Show the pictures as you read- Pictures help children to expand their imagination. Not only do the pictures help a child understand and connect to the book but the illustrations also build in the mood to read further.

5. Ask Questions – Ask kids to point to pictures or tell what comes next. As they grow you can ask them questions about the story say, ‘would you have done the same thing as this character?’. Ask them to share their views or talk about their favorite character.

6. Use Puppets – Puppets can enhance conversations while reading. So you can make puppets of the characters. You can simply draw picture, cut them and paste on sticks. You can even act out the story with stuffed animals.

7. Post-Reading Activities– Kids love when their favorite stories come to life with various  activities. So try some post-reading activities like –

• Draw a picture together from the story 
• Frame a different story about the characters
• Retell a different ending 
• Tell the same story from a different perspective like The Seven Little Goats Story from the point of view of the Fox.
• Merge characters from different stories, What if The Three Little Pigs met Peter Rabbit?

These strategies will surely get your kids reading on their own in no time! Just remember, keep it light and fun. Books should make  children laugh and smile, transport them to faraway lands and develop their creative ideas and skills of writing. Remember, reading should not be presented to children as a chore, or a duty. It should be offered as a Gift

So how do you make reading interactive for toddlers? If you have anything to add to the list, do share in the comments below.

This post is a part of Blogchatter’s A2Z challenge – #BlogchatterA2Z  on the alphabet ‘G’. My theme for this challenge is ‘Books for Kids’. You can find all 26 posts on this topic under the hashtags #themomsagas_books on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.