It’s no surprise that pediatricians recommend reading to your kids from an early age. Doing so regularly “stimulates optimal patterns of brain development and strengthens parent-child relationships at a critical time in child development, which, in turn, builds language, literacy, and social-emotional skills that last a lifetime” according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. But if you’ve ever tried to read to a baby, you know that it’s not the calm, snuggly experience you’re hoping for.
When you picture a parent reading to their young child, the image that probably pops up in your head is a baby sitting on a parent’s lap with both of them facing the book. But this sitting position often leads to babies squirming out of your arms, tearing at the book pages, or getting distracted. Turns out, there’s a better way: The key to engaging them is turning them around to face you. “Your baby needs human interaction with the book to remain interested,” says speech-language pathologist Moira Chrzanowski. “The words and pictures themselves aren’t likely to do it yet like they can with older children.”
@rooted.in.language This tip will REVOLUTIONIZE story time with your baby!🌱👌📚 #rootedinlanguage #storybookreading #readingtobaby #languagedevelopment #parenting #homeschooling #languagearts #reading
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On her TikTok account @rooted.in.language, Moira modeled how this would look and also provided some other tips that will give you a much better reading experience with your baby.
- Face your baby. Hold the book like a teacher would when reading to their class. This way your baby has both the book and you to look at when you are reading.
- Get physical. This could be anything from touching them to getting in their face and smiling at them.
- Add sound effects. Animal sounds, different voices, and truck noises are a few options.
- Don’t read every word. You’re not trying to get them to memorize the story. It’s the interaction that you provide that is important, not the actual words on the page.
If you are looking to add to your baby’s library, this list of books for newborns has some of our favorites that would work well for this reading method, like Indestructibles: Touch Your Nose! by Amy Pixton and Crinkle, Crinkle, Little Star by Justin Krasner.
