Lots of us read to our children. The benefits are well known and so for most of us it just becomes part of the bedtime routine. Many of us also read with our kids during the day, and certainly once they start school you’re encouraged to sit with them while they embark on their own journeys into the magical world of books.
When they’re babies and toddlers we know that reading improves a child’s vocabulary and language skills. Like anything in life, the more we do something the better we become at it and reading is no exception; it’s exercise for the brain! It improves concentration in children as they learn to sit still and focus on the story. And as well as teaching kids about the world around them, other countries, cultures and people, it helps them to develop empathy, when you encourage children to imagine how they would feel in the same situations as the characters.
When I was little, I adored reading. I would get lost in a book for hours! I would sit on bed and devour book after book, imagining myself entering adventures and magical worlds. As Thea starts to read more and more independently, I often wonder if she’ll grow to love reading as much as I did (and still do when I make the time!). So last summer, when we decorated a new bedroom for her, I knew I wanted to have some areas that could be cosy reading corners for her. A beautiful bed with lots of gorgeous throw pillows is one place of course!
And a cosy cushion filled teepee is another!
And a blank space on top of a good old Ikea Stuva storage bench, became another spot with the aid of an oversized floor cushion, some Great Little Trading Company shelves, and a wooden read sign we bought in a little shop in Rye last summer.
I guess I was working on the old ‘if you build it they will come’ theory. Create some spaces that you’d want to curl up in with a good book, and hopefully, we’ll create a child who loves to read.
And a child who loves to read? Well, the world is their oyster right?
