Do you want to get your kids excited about reading? If so, get ready for the countdown: ten days of ideas that will get you and yours into reading!
Silly is certainly in. I mean, with popular series like Captain Underpants, how could you possibly doubt the success of silly? My daughter recently brought home a chapter book called Snot Stew. No, it’s not about snot stew at all, thank goodness, but I suspect that the silly title was part of the attraction of the book. I know that I kept reading to figure out what the Snot Stew actually was!
How can you get silly while you’re reading? First, find silly books. Of course, not all books need to be silly, but I find that the ones with great rhymes, lots of exaggeration, funny plot twists, and silly characters tend to go over very well. For tiny children, I love the Sandra Boynton books. For older children, one of my favorite over the top books is Bark, George, about a dog who’s swallowed a lot of other animals and can’t bark. A very silly plot indeed.
Use voices when you’re reading out loud. Yes, I know you’re tired and it’s the end of the day. I’m tired too. A few months back, my daughter voiced her loud preference for daddy at reading time. Apparently he does voices better than I do. Since I tell stories at work, I was a little miffed. I may have been letting my tiredness get in the way of being really engaged in the reading. Since this is something that really engages my daughter, I decided to try a little harder!
Break up reading anxiety with funny books. Riddles, knock knock jokes, and Waldo are all engaging without being really reading intensive. Sometimes, it’s best to lay low and let the kids read something lightweight. After all, reading is supposed to be fun!
Theatersports are not really about reading, but they are about playing with language, plot, and thinking on your feet. They’re also terribly silly. If you want to break the ice before or after reading, playing theatersports is lots of fun, especially for extroverted children who love to act. My favorite is the random line generator. Start a skit, then throw a random line or scenario into the mix, and see what happens!
Other ideas in this series:
Cultivate down time from media