Tempted to hand your toddler the tablet or stream a show for your preschooler? Thinking of letting your elementary schooler have the video game console that all their peers have? Here’s why you should skip the screen time and read out loud to your kid instead.
Reading Out Loud Benefits
There are countless reading out loud benefits. When we read to our children, we are…
- Supporting their cognitive development
- Investing in their imaginations
- Helping them to relax and unwind
- Building up their bank of knowledge
- Strengthening our familial bonds
- Giving them a leg up in their concentration abilities
- Nurturing them and showing them love
- Setting them up for academic success
- Encouraging them develop empathy for others
- Increasing their vocabulary and comprehension skills
- Creating treasured memories and special story references that only we will understand for years to come
Importance of Reading In Early Years
Back when my oldest daughter was in a half-day preschool program, her teacher told me something that stuck with me for years to come. We were chatting about the importance of reading in early years and she said…
“Whether or not a child is read aloud to in the preschool years is the number one determining factor for how they will perform academically for the rest of their school career.”
She went on to explain that young children who are read aloud to have an academic edge over their peers who don’t get reading time and spend several hours a day on screens. My daughter’s teacher was affirming something we were already doing at home. At the time, I spent much of my days reading piles of picture books to our preschooler and toddler. Even though I had a thousand things to do as a busy mom of littles, I knew that the importance of reading in the early years trumped my to-do list.
Our Experience With Books Versus Screen Time
I cannot count the amount of times that my children have walked away from a lovely picture book inspired to create, play, or ponder the important things of life. After reading Roxaboxen, my kids made their very own Main Street in our backyard, just like in the book.
They lined a winding path with stones and bricks that they had gathered as a team. They pretended to serve each other ice cream between the crook of a tree. They rode sticks as if they were galloping on horses and they traded rocks for currency in their little make believe town. That one picture book alone provided endless inspiration for imaginative play.
When Alfie planted a garden with his father in Alfie Outdoors by Shirley Hughes, my children did too. They dug around in the soil, sprinkled in seeds, plucked out weeds, and remembered to water at least once a day in the summer.
Harvest time was made particularly sweet by the story Bee-Bim Bop! in which a mother-daughter duo go to the market for fresh ingredients and cook up a meal rich in flavor and culture. Together, we sautéed fresh peppers from the garden right along with the character and her mother. All the while we kept the beat of the recurring refrain laced all throughout that rollicking picture book. We’d finish each other’s sentences with the words that were stuck in each of our heads on repeat.
After reading Christina Katerina and the Box, Amazon packages become treasures to my children. They weren’t concerned with what was wrapped inside those boxes. They wanted the box itself. Beneath our very own trees, boxes became spaceships, airplanes, canoes, hideouts, race cars, and so much more.
The feeling of my children warmly snuggled up against me as I read that book to them over and over again through the years conjured warm memories of when my own grandmother read it to me many decades prior. The sight of my kids chasing each other through the yard and taking cover in their boxes brought a similar joy as I thought back to times of my own simple childhood play.
It is good for a child to be free as a bird and more innocent than society might deem they should be at their age. Kids who are kept from excessive screen time and showered with quality read aloud time are some of the brightest humans I know.
After reading Home In The Woods by Eliza Wheeler, my daughter illustrated her own family of eight children in celebration of the large family she’d fallen in love with in the story. She went back to edit the third draft of a novel she’d been writing and added in extra siblings. Hours were spent dreaming up names, personalities, and adventures for the additional characters in her story.
The year my son asked for a pair of overalls and a pocket New Testament just like Bill Collins had in The Sugar Creek Gang series was a joy to my mama heart. There is a saying that we are most like the people we hang out with. Just like peers discussing the latest and greatest video game, the characters in the books our children read have the ability to sway our children in what they consider to be valuable.
I absolutely love the power a good book has to influence a child for good. While screens teach kids passivity, books awaken the mind. TV, video games, and tablet scrolling might satisfy a bored kid for a moment but in the long term, these activities condition our children to expect fast paced entertainment to stimulate their developing young brains.
Books, on the other hand, encourage contemplation, focus, creativity, empathy, and an appreciation for the simple things in life. Playing outside, gardening, cooking, drawing, writing, and repurposing cardboard boxes are simple activities that many modern kids who are used to excessive screen time might find boring. But young readers know the treasure trove of possibilities wrapped up in the little things in life.
A child who has been informed by story rather than by screens may sit beneath the shade of the tree, playing a card game with her sibling, and notice a rabbit frolicking by with great exuberance. This is no ordinary rabbit to the younger reader. Suddenly, she is Alice in Wonderland and the great white creature is leading her down a rabbit hole towards a zany adventure. The story playing out in her mind will take on a life of its own as she changes into her blue dress and excitedly asks her mother if she can paint the roses red, just like in the story.
Any read aloud mama will gladly say, “Of course you can!” and hand her a paint brush and a bottle of red paint, forgetting the white roses climbing the lattice and instead, prioritizing her child. This mom is not out of the loop. She shared many chuckles and quizzical glances with her daughter over their beloved read aloud sessions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Mom knows that the Queen of Hearts only likes red flowers.
Reading To Kids Matters
Amid many messes and interruptions over the years, I have persisted in reading to my kids because I knew that the benefits of reading out loud had the power to impact the rest of their lives. I wouldn’t trade the hours we’ve spent bonding over stories together for the world.
Why books are better than screens?
While screen time is associated with behavioral problems, irritability, and sleep struggles, reading can help children to relax and sleep soundly. Devices mesmerize children. We’ve all seen kids become passive on screens. When a child is entranced by a screen, they may not hear a parent call their name multiple times.
Books, on the other hand, encourage kids to actively use their brain. While listening, analyzing, and processing a story, a child’s mind is alert and active. Kids who are read to are not passively accepting information as is common when staring at a screen. While listening to stories, children wrestle through topics, consider characters’ perspectives, ask questions, and form their own informed viewpoints on the world.
Screens lure kids into a fast paced virtual world that does not accurately reflect reality, while books paint a vivid picture of the complicated world around us and both the joys and sorrows of humanity.
Too much screen time causes brain fog, whereas reading exercises the brain. While excessive screen time is linked to memory loss, reading can actually aide in improving memory. Many of us have noticed negative links related to screen time in our children, such as shortened attention spans and concentration problems. Reading has just the opposite effect. Kids who read have stronger abilities to focus, think deeply, and make clever connections between text and real life.
Grab my free printable Screen Free Family Bingo to connect with your kids!
Are Screens Really That Bad For Kids?
Yes. Screens really are that bad for kids. We all know it. We’ve seen it firsthand in our own children and in the preschoolers gazing at iPads in the waiting room at the pediatrician’s office. We’ve witnessed post screen time meltdowns at restaurants (and maybe even in our own living rooms). We’ve heard toddlers shouting for their parent’s smartphone in the grocery store. We’ve witnessed the increase in learning delays and the decrease in basic social skills. The problems with screen time for kids are no secret yet most of us have overused electronic devices anyway.
Here are some ways to get a break as a parent without giving your kid screen time:
Technology in and of itself is not evil. The internet is a great place for our kids to gather information, learn new skills, participate in virtual lessons from the convenience of our home, and communicate with long-distance family and friends. Tech has its rightful place in our modern lives. It’s a tool that we can leverage to accomplish specific tasks.
The problem is that most of us allow ours and our children’s screen time to get way out of balance.
We as parents often model excessive tech usage to our children which makes highly valuable albeit slow paced activities like reading unappealing. When we allow our kids to develop appetites for the ease, flash, and convenience that screens provide, books don’t stand a chance at holding their attention.
Our culture has replaced reading with overstimulating shows and tablet scrolling. We’ve traded outdoor play for violent video games. We’ve swapped authentic relationships for time on social media. We’ve substituted time in nature with time on smartphones.
Our children are watching and they know what we value.
It is no wonder that we are raising a generation of technology kids instead of a generation of thoughtful thinkers and readers. The hours that children once spent reading under the covers with a flashlight are now occupied in a dark rooms with video game consoles and fully charged electronic devices.
If we want to raise readers, now is the time to make some countercultural moves.
Reading Out Loud Tips for The Early Years
If you are convinced of the importance of reading in the early years but it feels like a train wreck in slow motion when you actually try to do it, here are some tips for you!
Go Against the Cultural Norm
Did you know that it is recommended that kids between 0 and 2 years old do not have any screen time? And for kids ages 2 to 5, screen time shouldn’t exceed more than one hour per day of co-viewing with a caregiver.
Despite these recommendations, we’ve all seen toddlers and preschoolers staring into iPads. Wearing headphones out in public instead of engaging with the world. Hiding in the turtle shell at the playground, scrolling on their parent’s smartphone, instead of swinging from the monkey bars with the rest of the children.
Kids today are using electronic devices at earlier and earlier ages, despite the data, our first hand observations, and the glaring red behavioral signs that they shouldn’t be on screens.
It doesn’t take an expert to reveal common sense. But even the experts have agreed that screen time is harmful for developing minds and still, the culture at large is not listening.
Screen time in the early years is affecting more than just behavior. It has harmful effects on literacy. Fast paced tech spoils the beauty of books and prevents important language pathways from developing as they should when it is overused. Toddlers who spend their days in front of a screen are missing out on parental connection, rich conversation with caregivers, and vital read aloud sessions with their family.
Kids who get a lot of time with tech also have trouble appreciating a simple, slow-paced story full of rich language. They expect quick transitions and the cheap dopamine hits that they receive from electronic devices.
Go against the cultural norm, be the odd ball out, and remove screen time altogether in the early years. Replace tech time with book time for your kids.
It is possible, it is doable, and it is so rewarding.
It’s Not Going To Look Perfect
Forget perfection. In the early years, most children don’t sit still for longer periods of time, especially if they are used to a lot of screen time. Just because they are moving or fidgeting, does not mean they are not listening to the story.
Many children process information better in motion. Also, you are increasing their ability to enjoy a story the more you practice having them join you for reading time. Put on a smile and make sure your kid knows that you treasure the time you are spending with them.
Get Your Kids Moving
Try reading out loud to your children after they have exercised and gotten their wiggles out.
Go on a walk, play at the playground, do some simple exercise, take a swim, have them jump on the trampoline for a while and then read the book.
Be Strategic
Read out loud to your young children while they eat their meals. There’s no better way to limit interruptions than to provide delicious snacks during story hour.
Other prime times to read to your kids is during baths, before nap time, and as you tuck them into bed at night.
Great Books for Toddlers
(0 to 2 years old)
- Goodnight Moon
- Moo, Baa, La, La, La!
- The Going to Bed Book
- Down by the Bay
- Jamberry
- Bear Snores On
- Bear Wants More
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear
- Panda Bear, Panda Bear
- Polar Bear, Polar Bear
- Baby Bear, Baby Bear
- Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
- Two Little Monkeys
- The Three Bears
- The Itsy Bitsy Spider
- We’re Going On a Bear Hunt
- Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site
- Quick as a Cricket
- I Love You, Little Pookie
- The Very Hungry Catepillar
- Dr. Suess’s ABC
- Jesus Loves the Little Children
- Jesus is With Me
- Where’s Spot?
- Dear Zoo
Great Books for Preschoolers
(3 to 5 years old)
- Corduroy
- Bee-Bim Bop!
- Sleepy Bears
- Angelina Ballerina
- The Rhyme Bible Storybook
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit
- The Snow Globe Family
- Little Nino’s Pizzeria
- If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
- A Little Prairie House
- Going to Town
- Prairie Day
- Going West
- County Fair
- Sugar Snow
- The Deer in the Wood
- Dance at Grandpa’s
- Winter on the Farm
- Christmas in the Big Woods
- A Farmer Boy Birthday
- A Little House Picture Book Treasury
- Alfie’s Feet
- Alfie Gets In First
- Alfie Outdoors
- An Evening at Alfie’s
- Alfie Wins a Prize
- Alfie and the Birthday Surprise
How do I stop my toddler from destroying books?
You want to prioritize reading aloud, you want to saturate your home with quality literature, and you want to give your toddler the freedom to flip through books at their leisure. The only problem is your toddler keeps destroying the books.
It is very common for toddlers to chew board books and rip pages from paperbacks. This can be frustrating for a parent who is convinced of the importance of reading in early years, but doesn’t have an endless budget for library fines and book replacements.
I feel you!
I am getting ready to order my one millionth copy of Brown Bear, Brown Bear as my most recently toddler has had his way with it and it simply had to go in the garbage bin. Since becoming a mom, I have replaced this book many, MANY times. It is simply a classic we cannot do without.
Here’s the thing about toddlers destroying books; it’s developmentally appropriate. Little ones taste, touch, and tug on pages to figure out what this reading thing is all about. New things are interesting to babies. The first place new toys and books usually go is right in their mouth as if they need to identify what flavor they might be.
Here are my tips for toddler’s destroying books…
Train Your Toddler
Just like we potty train and teach our young children they need to hold our hand on the sidewalk and they are not allowed to touch the stove, we can also train them in appropriate book etiquette. If they put a book in their mouth or begin to rip a page, tell them “no” and hand them something they can have during read aloud time such as a stuffed animal, toy rattle, pacifier, or snack.
Tuck Away Treasures
We have categories of books within our home. There are books that go in the bathroom book bin for kid’s to peruse during potty time. Books that belong in bedrooms for open access. Books on the bottom of our main bookshelves that preschoolers can reach with no trouble.
And then there are treasured book that go way up high or in our basement for special read aloud sessions with mom. We don’t treat the expensive, hardbacked heirloom edition of Mother Goose (that has been passed down through my husband’s family for generations) the same way we treat the used board book version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear.
If I put a picture book in the bathroom book bin, I know there’s a good chance that is will get wet or crinkled. But when I put a special book in the basement, I know that it is safe from toddler who are not developmentally ready to handle it with care.
Buy Used Books
For many years, we referred to ourselves as “the book rescue family.” We built up our first collection of children’s books through thrift stores, the used book option on Amazon, and my very favorite book website thriftbooks.com. Most of these books have been in fabulous condition for a fraction of the price of the brand new version.
When you get books for pennies on the dollar, it’s not as big of a deal if your toddler rips it in the process of learning to love reading.
Create a special book bin full of used for your toddler to freely enjoy.
Gladly Accept The Cost
There is a cost to everything. Sometimes I think about how clean my house would be if my kids were occupied by screens all day long. Screens are small, easy to tuck away, and they keep kids stagnant in one place.
But we have no television or children’s tablets in our family. My house is cluttered with books, artwork, baby dolls, Magna-Tile castles, and Lego creations. Though I clean all day long, there is evidence of life everywhere. That is because we live here, homeschool here, create here, and play here.
There is a cost to everything. The price of giving our toddler’s excessive screen time is typically behavioral issues, sleep problems, communication delays, short attention span, difficulty with independent play, and a distaste for the regular, less exciting business of everyday life.
The cost of creating a reading environment that our toddlers can thrive in, on the other hand, is that there will be book casualties. Books will be munched on and torn in the process of making lifelong readers.
This is a price I will gladly pay.
How Can I Get My Toddler to Read More?
Want your toddler to love books more than screens? Here’s how you can get your toddler to read more…
Eliminate Screen Time
I know it is tempting to turn to the electronic babysitter to get a break as a mom, but as parents, we either pay for our choices now or later. We can get an hour of quiet while our toddler watches a show and deal with their post screen time behavior issues directly afterward and their device dependency for years to come, or we can push through the challenging moments and not allow screens to be an option and create an easier tomorrow with a child who appreciates books, knows how to entertain themselves, and has a longer attention span than their peers.
Books can’t compete with the quick transitions and strategic dopamine hits that toddler TV and tablet games dole out on the regular. If we want our toddlers to love reading, we need to get screens out of sight and make books the most attractive thing in the room.
Create a Book Rotation
Keep books interesting for you toddler by creating a book rotation. Keep some books out of sight and out of mind for a while. Then, bring them out again afresh.
Stuff a basket with library books. Line the coffee table with “old” books you’d been hiding in your closet. Read an old favorite that your child had forgotten about. Hand them a book from long ago to peruse in their car seat on the way to run an errand.
Treat books as most people treat the latest blockbuster movie for kids!
Need more help making reading fun for your toddler? Check out this post:
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