Does your toddler wriggle away whilst you’re reading to them? Here are our top tips for engaging them in reading - lots of which are learnt from my teaching days! 

1. Cosy space and special guests

Make a cosy space that’s solely for story time. Choose a spot without many distractions, and invite your little ones teddies as special guests 🧸

2. Follow their interests

Select books about subjects your child is interested in or let them choose their own - even if it is the same time and time again! 📒

3. Add reading to a fav routine

Put reading with their favourite routine, like bath time. 🛁 You can read the first part of a story while they’re having a soak and the ending when they get out. 

4. Face-to-face

Show them joint attention by reading face-to-face instead of side by side. Watching your facial expressions will keep them interested and excited for what is to come! 👶 Also, by looking at them you will know when they start to look away and you will be cued to regain their attention!

5. You don't have to read every word

 Don’t feel like guilty about not reading every word on every page. You can talk about pictures, exaggerate individual words, and ad lib here and there 📖

6. Act it out

While reading, act out the main events in the story. Drive the bus, high five pretend characters and put on your best witch impression! 

7. Change tone and volume. 🗣️

Changing your tone and volume is important to keeping your little one's attention. Whisper some words and boom others. Use a deep voice on one page and a really high pitched one on the next.

8. Follow their lead

Follow your child's lead. Let them turn the page when they are ready and you can be silly by reading really fast or really slow 🐇🐌

10. & if they still wriggle away...

Play this game! Pretend the page of the book is stuck and say "oh no, stuck!" Pretend you are really struggling to turn the page. Coming to help you may just focus their attention back on the story! 

 Find our favourites reads here.