Toddlers are natural wigglers! We found these tips helpful when we tried to read to our little ones.
Read at these key moments in your day: bathtime, bedtime, and drivetime. Engage toddlers with movements or sound effects that they can imitate. Keep reading, even if they don’t seem to be paying attention. Keep books in the play area. Finally, don’t feel pressured to finish a book in one sitting.
You might feel like giving up on reading “until they’re older,” but this really is beneficial to your kids now. Let’s look at how to do it.
Key Reading Moments for Toddlers
Read when wiggly kids are contained! I know it seems like they’re running everywhere.
All. The. Time.
But think about your day for a moment.
There really are several times throughout the day when they’re semi-contained.
Don’t feel pressured to read at every one of these times every day.
Good grief! That tires me out just thinking about it.
Just keep these in mind the next time you’re in one of these and decide if it’s a good time to pull out a book or not.
- Bathtime
This could include potty time if your toddler is already working on that!
Bathtime is a great time to read about swimming, mermaids, ships, or keeping our bodies clean. It’s also a great time to just read their favorites or something new.
Your littles might be inspired to imagine that their bath toys are sailboats in the sea or that they are the main character of the story and act it out while in the tub.
I’m cheering for you to fight the urge to be on your phone (at least a couple of times this week) while you’re sitting with them during tub time.
{spoken from someone who loves her phone}
Read a book to them instead. You can do it!
- Bedtime
This could include naptime, and I read to mine a LOT during what was supposed to be naptime, but mine NEVER fell asleep while I was reading!
Lol, it always looks so easy in the movies.
No, mostly I’m referring to actual bedtime.
The added reason it might work better here is that toddlers are learning that bedtime means they’re actually supposed to stay in bed.
I like how simply Scholastic said it:
Read to your child at bedtime when she is already expected to stay put.
Scholastic.com
I’m not always proud of the way I parented my kids, but I have to admit it was pretty effective in this situation.
“You can sit with me and we’ll read this book before you go to bed, or you can go to bed now. Which will it be?”
They would always choose reading the book. 😀
Toddlers don’t necessarily understand the cause and effect of this yet, but they pick up on it surprisingly early.
- Drivetime
Now you may be thinking…hold up, I can see reading at bedtime and bathtime, but I can’t read to them while we’re driving down the road!
You’re right. You can’t read to them while you’re driving, but audio books can.
We used the library collection when our kids were little, and that’s still a great option. You might be surprised what your local library has or has access to if you ask.
Epic! is also a really cool option. It has tons of great features in general, but I think it’s a fantastic way to listen to books while you’re riding down the road. They have books specifically for toddlers, too.
The link, below, takes you to the Epic! site if you want to check it out. It will open in a new tab, so you won’t lose your place here. 🙂
You can get a free trial to see if you love it like we do.
Once on Epic!, here’s how to access the audio books:
From a mobile device:
1. Access your parent/teacher dashboard (password required).
2. Click on the “Search” tab with the magnifying icon on the bottom of the page.
3. Enter a keyword, title, topic or author on the “Search Box”, or choose from the popular searches already appearing on the page.
4. Choose the type of books by clicking on the tabs below the “Search Box” (Read-To-Me or Audiobooks).
Source, helpdesk at Epic!
Get them moving!
Toddlers are programmed for movement.
So when you’re reading, add in hand motions or even full body movements as you read.
Your toddler is likely to imitate what you’re doing and become more fully engaged at the same time.
Some books, of course, naturally lend more to this than others.
We loved Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb and other Dr. Seuss books. The great thing about Seuss is the nonsensical-ness of it.
That means that the gestures you come up with don’t even have to make sense! Just have fun with it.
Your toddler would probably love it if you copy their gestures and let them come up with as many as they want.
Great toddler books are usually very repetitious.
One example is the book I Went Walking, one of my son’s favorites when he was a toddler. Every time you say “walking,” have your toddler walk around a toy or even you.
While you’re at it, make funny sounds or even sounds like what the book is describing…animal sounds are the most obvious to me.
{Side note}
Don’t be intimidated about making great sounds! I make the worst (not even kidding) noises, and yet my kids all understood where I was going and ended up making better ones than I ever could. 😀
Keep reading, even if they don’t seem to be paying attention.
At the toddler (and probably even preschool) stage, don’t force reading times.
If they’re happily playing, just keep on reading. Sometimes, they will drift in and out of the story.
To keep them engaged, try any of the following:
- Pause in the middle of a sentence for dramatic effect.
- Ask out loud–I wonder what’s going to happen next?
- Comment on the story–Those monkeys are so silly!
You might be surprised at the effect this has on your kids’ attention.
Keep books in the play area.
I’m a big believer in books being a part of every day life.
It’s a great literacy skill for kids to see that books are important, helpful, and fun.
By keeping books where your kids play, it opens opportunities for reading you might not have had otherwise.
You know how quickly toddlers can jump from one activity to the next?
I can’t count the number of times my kiddos would drop their toy because they saw a catchy book cover, grab the book, and bring it to me to read.
{all the heart eyes}
Now, this Norman Rockwell moment probably lasted all of two seconds before they hopped back up to do something else!
But I really believe that those little moments were planting seeds for when they later would sit for a long time for me to read to them and eventually for their own reading adventures.
Your day is coming! You got this!
Finally, don’t feel pressured to finish a book in one sitting.
Haha, I bet you’re laughing because with toddlers, there’s no chance of finishing the book in one sitting!
I hear you.
I’m just here, random voice on the internet, to say, IT’S OKAY!
If you’re [still] reading this, then it’s because your tot is doing exactly what toddlers are supposed to do: squirm…
And you’re being a good parent or grandparent or loved one because you want to do the best you can for that little tike.
What you do for the smallest among us does not go unnoticed (check out Matthew 25:40).
Thank you.
