In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday — which is March 2nd — March has been designated National Reading Month. It’s a great reminder of why books are so important, and also a chance to begin introducing your kids to a love of books as well.
I’ve always wanted to encourage a love of reading in my kids, but especially my boys. It’s pretty well-established at this point that boysread less than girls, and as a lifelong book enthusiast, I wanted to do all I could to make sure my kids, both boys and girls, love books as much as I do. But of course, reality has a way to smack some sense into us, especially when it comes to all of our lofty motherhood goals. We become moms, and we barely have time to read ourselves, and when our kids are screaming all over the place and we just want five minutes of peace and quiet, it’s so easy to just throw our hands in the air and let them have as much screen time as they want so we can get a break.
But it’s National Reading Month! So this is a good opportunity to start implementing some better habits, and we’ve got a few good tips and tricks.
READ: The Best Books I Read in 2022 — And How You Can Read More in 2023
- Have screen-free time: Start small if you need to, but encourage some time with no electronics — as a family. Everyone sits in the same room together and has a quiet activity. Encourage reading, but let them choose it for themselves. Mom and dad pick up a book, and have plenty of books available for the littles, too. Even if it’s just five or 10 minutes to start with, just think of it as laying the groundwork for what will come later.
- Visit your local library: Libraries are awesome, and it’s great to take your kids there. Take them there often. Not only do libraries often have tons of great programs for them to get out into the community and have some free fun, but there’s something exciting, especially for a kid, about getting to pick out anything you want and bring it home.
- Get free books: Do you have Amazon Prime? (Let’s be real, we all do.) Well, once a month, you can get a free book with their First Reads program! Download the Kindle app, right onto your phone, and then you can read really easily while, say, your kids are playing in the bathtub or you’re waiting for gymnastics class to get over.
- Encourage reading for the littles: Even if they can’t read yet, there are ways to instill a love of books into your smallest kiddos. Leap Frog has some fantastic ideas, like singing the Alphabet Song together and playing games with letters.
- Don’t discriminate: Look, any reading is good reading. It doesn’t matter what your kids want to read. Find something they love and encourage the heck out of it. My 11-year-old son loves comic books and adventure books, so I will make sure he has as many available as he needs to keep him reading. My girls want to reread the same princess books over and over again? Fine. They can read whatever they want — as long as they’re reading.
How do you celebrate National Reading Month?
