The Amazing Benefits of Reading to Your Kids

For as long as I can remember my son has always asked “Mom, will you read with me?” every night before he falls asleep.

There are so many benefits of reading to your kids during the younger ages. Reading aloud to our children is one of the most important things parents can do to help them succeed as they grow from baby to tween.

Now my son is older and I’m trying to soak up the reading days with his two younger siblings.

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Why is reading to your child important?

Reading to your child is important because it gives them endless benefits that cannot be replaced.

One-on-One Bonding Time

Story time is a time for one-on-one bonding. A time where you and your child can bond over reading!

What a wonderful thing to bond over?

You might find yourselves laughing, learning, or living in suspense while you read together.

Your little one has the opportunity to share their favorite books and characters with you and you can share your childhood favorites with them.

There might even be a favorite book you find together.

Then there are the times after reading for 20 minutes you turn to find your son or daughter snuggled up to you sleeping peacefully as they fell asleep to the sound of your voice.

Reading creates such precious times for bonding!

During Story Time Your Kids Learn (A Lot!!)

Whether your kids know it or not they are learning while you read together.

They may be learning to read watching the words and letters as you read to them.

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As they ask questions while you read they are learning new vocabulary and things about the world and different characters who are living different lives.

Some stories will teach them lessons like how to be respectful, kind, and giving. Little ones will probably be learning about colors, numbers, and things while you read.

Whenever my older son and I read aloud together I know he is learning about speaking aloud. When to pause and when to use a stronger or softer voice as the characters are speaking.

These are valuable life lessons as he might be asked to give a speech later in life that requires expressive use of language.

Imaginations Grow Through Reading

Reading a wide variety of books with your kids helps them grow their imaginations.

Books take them to different worlds and introduce them to different characters. Kids can escape on an adventure, mystery, or suspenseful tale that lets their imaginations grow.

Creativity is a big part of reading too! When children read the growth in their imaginations allows them to be more creative.

My kids often draw pictures of things we read in stories or recreate the stories with their toys. It’s really amazing to see this growth in imagination from books come to life in your kids.

You are Taking Advantage of Every Minute

Our kids grow and they grow fast. Being engaged in bedtime stories helps us as parents take advantage of the precious time when our kids are still kids.

There is something different to enjoy at each stage from board books, picture books, and then chapter books.

Watching your child grow between different types of books, genres, and favorite characters is something amazing to see during bedtime stories.

Bedtime stories are so important for all these reasons and more.

Choose a time that works best for your family to have story time. If you have multiple children, read to some at one time and some at another, split up different kids on different days, or split story time with your spouse.

With little ones it’s fun to have themed story times. We’ve read about all kinds of things from frogs, butterflies, and cats during story time!

Do you have a daily story time? What makes story time important for your kids? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!