Using Hobbies to Encourage Reading

Trying to get a child to read and actually enjoy it can be one of the most frustrating things when it comes to teaching a child.  This is especially true for those parents and teachers that love to read.  It is hard to understand why the child does not love to pick up a book and savor what it offers on all those pages.  Do not be discouraged.  Reading can be encouraged just by learning what your child loves.

When it comes to your favorite pastime or hobby, you usually will read and listen about it for hours.  The same is true for children.  Reading needs to be something that they want to do and that can easily be done through their hobbies.  What does your child love to do or have a passion for?  Use that as a way to introduce the fun of reading to your child.

Does your child like to fish?  Give them a fishing magazine.  They might start out looking at the vivid pictures, but before long they will be discussing the newest lure or some new hot fishing spot that they discovered when they began to read the articles.  Even funny stories such as One Fish Two FishRed Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss will have children wanting to read out loud and giggle over the rhymes.

Do horses get your child all excited?  Get them a book on horses.  Start with the books that are more encyclopedia in style that describes the various types of horses.  They will begin to read the captions and want to know more.  Before long you can lead them to books such as Black Beauty or King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian.  

Is your child interested in cooking?  Get them their very own cookbook.  There are so many out there directly written for children.  They will enjoy reading how to create yummy cookies to share with the family and at the same time will be practicing their math skills.

Are dinosaurs your child’s thing?  There are probably hundreds if not thousands of books on dinosaurs.  Start with ones that are abundant in pictures and work your way to those that have more and more reading material.  If they really love dinosaurs, they will begin to want to read more about them instead of just looking at pictures of them.

So many kids love jokes.  Instead of trying to get little Johnny to read something that he has no interest in give him a joke book.   He will spend hours reading these jokes out loud.  Before you know it, he will not be stumbling over the words and will be reading with confidence. 

Remember that the object of getting a child to read is to make reading fun.  Do not dismiss a calendar, a magazine, street signs, board games, or anything else that catches your child’s eye.  Even though it might not seem like the reading material you were hoping your child would be enjoying, it is a step in the direction of loving to read.  Reading can be fun.  Help your child learn how much fun it can be.