Can you make reading a game?
I often read about how we should be encouraged, and encouraging of others, to find a love of reading.
The means and methods appear unimportant. If you can engage people with, and get them to enjoy reading menus, road signs, posters, cereal boxes, newsletters, obituaries, catalogues or operation manuals on its own is great, but will most likely lead to a reader expanding their enjoyment to books at some point.
As a parent it is certainly a philosophy I have thought about, one I was acutely aware of even at the conception stage of my child: How can I help my child enjoy reading?
The colours in picture books, and the practice of actually sitting and reading to a child from a very early stage, have been documented to have a huge impact, and I know from personal experience that they certainly help.
There comes a stage at which children look for more, they have many more distractions around them, yet at about the same time, become able to actually learn to read books for themselves.
It is perhaps at this stage where the nightly ritual of reading before bedtime can seem more like an extension of school for the child, possible becoming a chore rather than something they look forward to.
That is when making reading a game can help.
And by game, I mean that in at least two senses.
Some books have been turned into board games, the one I specifically think about is Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar.
A classic children’s book, for your classic children’s bookcase, very simple, but still incredible powerful.
The game can currently be picked up for under £10 in the UK, and is a very welcome tool to further engage children in reading, who also enjoy playing games.
I have seen it work, playing the game with friends and family, my son has gone and fetched his book, to help explain the rules, and also to get someone new to read his book to him.
(As an interesting aside, I have also just discovered Eric Carle’s blog, perhaps a tool to encourage the older ones!)
The other way in which reading can be turned into games, is simply to devise ones that involve reading in some way.
Another blog that I enjoy reading, and I know Geraldine does too, recently posted about this.
The B.A. Bookworm blog is written by Mindy, a parent of four, who started blogging to help others nurture their child’s ‘inner bookworm’.
There are some great ideas there, and the post to which I refer was about setting riddles and hiding them around your home.
I am sure similar games, and many, many others, have been devised by parents all over the globe, and it would be great if we could get a few of you to share yours with us.
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I’ve heard about the Hungry Caterpillar Game and it sounds like a lot of fun for the little ones.
Thanks for pointing out B.A. Bookworm, it is definitely a labor of love.
You have a great site, I can’t wait to get a good look around!