Surefire ways to spark your child’s imagination with books!

March is a great time to inspire your foster child to read

March is National Reading Month. Look out for events at your library, school, or bookstores to celebrate this important activity. Reading helps with brain development, reduces stress, and can be a helpful tool for young people dealing with trauma. It is vital to help a child (and you) thrive at every stage of life. 

For babies and toddlers, research shows reading is critical in helping them develop their language, memory, and reasoning skills. It provides a time for emotional connection between caregiver and child. When babies and toddlers listen to you read, they learn more words, which sets them up for success in school. Hearing more words and their context provides a more extensive foundation of knowledge to build on, helping youth learn new concepts faster and more easily.  

For tweens and teens, their reading habits can easily be affected by  the digital world and other obligations. But reading for pleasure can help them relax, reduce stress and depression, increase verbal learning, strengthen memory and speech development, and ultimately, help children succeed in their studies. According to a study by Yale, developing and practicing a love of reading through adulthood can help increase life span by two years! 

Reading can have real therapeutic benefits as well. Youth can identify with characters,  learn coping mechanisms for challenging circumstances, and heal from past trauma. You can work with your Cayuga Centers Treatment team for more ideas on how to incorporate books into your child’s daily routine. 

But how do you get your child to put down the electronics and open a book? 

Strategies to help your child want to read

Be a good reading role model

Let them see you read for pleasure and keep a book handy for downtime, such as waiting for appointments. Rather than picking up your phone and texting or playing games, reach for a book, and your youth may follow suit. 

Talk about the books you’ve enjoyed during meal times or car rides to make it a regular part of every day. 

Create a fun space to enjoy a story

Make book time truly special by creating a place where imagination can soar. It can be as simple as building a cozy fort with blankets or sheets and throwing some pillows on the floor.

For added fun, match your space to the setting of the story. For example, if a book takes place in the water, throw cushions into your tub and read there! A book about animals? Read in a quiet part of your local zoo. 

Do you have a tween or teenager? Take them to your local bookstore featuring a coffee shop. Or check out your local college library, where your child can see how the “big kids” enjoy their books.  

Meet your child where they are

While you can easily choose fun books for your baby and toddler, your older youth has their own interests and hobbies. Ensure you provide plenty of books highlighting the subjects that are meaningful to them. 

Do they enjoy comic books or graphic novels? That’s ok! Make  sure their reading material is at the appropriate developmental level. Did you know that many graphic novels and comic books are as complex as a full-length novel?

Older youth who are tapped into social media can leverage platforms like TikTok to follow #BookTok. However, we recommend using a platform like Commonsense Media to make sure the books are appropriate.

Other online platforms can help make reading more exciting, such as the Parent’s Choice Gold Award-winning website KidLitTV, which helps create fun new ways to reinforce children’s appreciation of reading.  

Develop positive associations with reading

Try not to use reading as a form of punishment. If you send your child to their room for a time out or to think about their actions, don’t say, “Go in your room and read a book.” Instead, you can have them write thoughts about the lesson you are trying to teach.  

Make reading time a special reward. If they had a great day at school, aced a test, or achieved something else, take them to their favorite bookstore or library to pick a special book. Make it feel like an event. 

See if your local library or bookstore has a reading club for your child’s age. Regular visits and regular reading times each day make it part of their everyday routines. 

In summary, take time to enjoy a story with your child, whether reading aloud to them or beside them, each with your own book. Let your imaginations take flight, and enjoy an adventure of words today and every day!