Playing games or providing a creative platform of expression is a great way to provide additional practice with early reading skills in children.
Teaching the basic concepts to kids at an early age is quite challenging for parents. However, there are certain post-reading activities that can teach kids the very same concepts of reading and writing, in a way that is entertaining for them and improves their interest in getting to know a language better.
Sharing some simple and easy post-reading activities for a quality reading session.
Hunt the words game – This is a simple but super exciting game for toddlers. Make a list of words (or alphabets for young kids) and ask the child to hunt for them from the book. Specify a print feature that the child should look for. It is a super engaging activity for kids.
Illustrate a poem or text without words– This activity aids in improving the concentration of the child. it is an opportunity for kids to show how much they have understood while reading the book.
Arranging in sequence– This is an interesting activity. The parent can begin by writing the story in pointer format and ask the child to complete. The child can be encouraged to call out the sequence (helps in recalling the story book just read) and the parent can write. Flash cards can also be used.
Making Flashcards – The child can be kept engaged in making flash cards of the story read. Kids love this activity as it gives a creative expression to their ideas and allows them to flow.
Retell the ending – Tell the child to imagine a different ending and retell the same story from a different perspective like The Seven Little Goats Story from the point of view of the Fox.
Match dialogue to characters—Ask the child to match the dialogues with the characters who said them. A fun-filled engaging activity for both parent and child.
Question Game– Prepare a set of questions on the character that’s the hero of the story. Ask your child to answer them. This will help in improving the focus of the child as well as the parent will understand how well the child has understood the book read. Discuss the answers with your child later on. This will also tap the creative thinking skills of the child.
Draw a picture – Ask your child to draw a picture narrating the story together or draw a scene or specific characters.
Merge Characters – Read two stories and then merge the characters. What if The Three Little Pigs met Peter Rabbit? Ask your child to be innovative and think of a dialogue between characters or a new story.
It’s great if kids love to read and there are many ways to encourage reading. Parents can try out these post-reading activities and help children get more involved in the story. Activities that help children to summarise, reflect and question what they have read, are great. As parents it helps you to assess how much they have actually learnt and understood. This makes it easier for us to fill in the learning gaps. Such activities are interactive, help our children get more involved in the story and add to a quality reading session.
This post is a part of Blogchatter’s A2Z challenge – #BlogchatterA2Z on the alphabet ‘Q’. 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
