To a baby? You will think. Reading a story seems older, but as we have said on occasion, it is never too early to bring our children closer to books and the love of reading. There are many ways to do it and indeed reading a baby does not seem the most common. However, it can be done and therefore we offer you a Decalogue of tips for reading a story to a baby.
Obviously, we are not talking about "Don Quixote" or sessions that the little one or us would not like. These are "readings" in quotation marks, where other matters matter much more than the story itself. Contact with books, with mom and dad, listen to new words... everything will make the kids benefit from this simple act and that little by little they understand reading as something pleasant.
Tips for reading a baby
It is important not to force reading, look for the right time. As we said in a previous collection of advice, the verb "read" does not support the imperative.
Search short stories. The attention of young children is limited, at first if they are not accustomed and can endure only five minutes, but soon we will notice how they show more interest and the sessions are lengthened.
Around the year the best books are those not only short but resistant, with color illustrations, that speak of simple and everyday topics ... From one year on, the amount of text to read can be increased.
Relax, enjoy, do not see it as an obligation, because children will notice and it will not be a pleasant time for anyone.
Use your whole body, move your hands, feet, get up and take up space ... We are small actors.
Use the voice, play with it, put different voices into the characters (which, of course, will be very few at these ages), emit thick, thin voices, sing, recite, speak softly, shout ...
Do not pretend that the baby is silent or still; we must understand the interruptions as part of the story and use them to their advantage, not understand them as something negative.
Repeat the sentences as many times as necessary. Listening to them again will make you discover things that you may not have noticed before and this increases your linguistic ability and the volume of vocabulary you are acquiring (even if it is in your first words).
If he asks you to read the same story over and over again, do it: he is sure to know the story and know what will happen next, and also increases his vocabulary significantly.
When they have a few more months and they already talk, you can play to change that story they like so much, say bad words, skip something ... because they are fascinated by the game of the absurd and we also use the much needed humor and laughter.
We just spent Book Day but any excuse is good to read to the baby, to approach the library or the bookstore for a special gift. Even in the broadest sense, because Reading is a gift for life that begins to be offered when they are little. Of course, nannies, songs, poems, children's songs ... are part of a world of fantasy and sonority that we should not forget.
