Finishing a book can be a big deal! Finally recognizing a word or figuring out how to pronounce it can also be big steps in a child's reading journey. Find ways to celebrate these moments to encourage your child to make even bigger leaps and bounds.

Create a mode of celebration that works best for you. Making a way to see these accomplishments visually, whether through a sticker chart or a sheet with tally markets, can be highly motivating, as your child can see how much they have accomplished over a period of time.

Celebrate Your Accomplishments

Create a Routine

Designate a special time of the day that you and your child will read together. Whether this be right after school, before bedtime, or somewhere in between, having a reading routine can get your child ready and excited to snuggle up with a great read.

Having a routine reinforces that reading is something important that should be a part of our everyday lives. Carving out time for it can especially help families with busy schedules, and it ensures that you and your child are able to share some calm, quality time together.

Create a Routine

Share Your Thoughts

Share your reactions as you read. Share what you thought of the book or what your favorite part of the book was. Share something you noticed or a connection you made to real life.

Your child looks up to you, and sharing your thoughts about a book shows that you enjoy reading and thinking more deeply about what you read. Doing so can encourage your child to do the same, and it can be a great way to prompt a conversation about a book you just read.

Share Your Thoughts

Share your reactions as you read. Share what you thought of the book or what your favorite part of the book was. Share something you noticed or a connection you made to real life.

Rhyme, Rhyme All the Time

Identifying words that rhyme together is an important part of developing literacy skills. It helps children to make connections between words, and can often help them sound out new words that are spelled similarly. For example, if a child already knows how to pronounce "hat," they are better able to guess how to pronounce "bat."

As you are reading, take the time to see if there are any words that rhyme in your book. Point these out to your child and see if you can't think of any other words that rhyme with them. If there are no rhyming words in a particular book, select an easy word or two and brainstorm some words that rhyme.

Rhyme, Rhyme All the Time

Go on a Color
Scavenger Hunt

Before you start reading, ask your child to pick out a color that they want to look for in your book. Once you begin, see how many times you notice the color. Talk about the different things that color appears on. Try to see if it often appears next to other colors.

Looking for a specific color not only adds another fun element to reading, but it also reinforces your child's knowledge of a specific color. Talking about the color in ways like the ones suggested above will help your child to think more deeply and make interesting connections.

Go on a Color
Scavenger Hunt

Do a Book Swap

Get your child to exchange books with a friend. Ask your child to pick out one of their favorite books that they would like to share with a friend or a book that they think their friend would enjoy. Arrange for your child to give this book to a friend and receive one in return.

Sharing books with friends not only builds community and friendship, but it also encourage sharing. It also celebrating reading by encouraging your child to share their own love for a particular book and by exposing them to other great reads.

Do a Book Swap

Get (Arts and) Crafty

Hands-on-learning is so important for young children, so bring a book to life with some fun arts and crafts. This can be as simple as asking your child to draw their favorite scene from a book you just read, or you can get even more creative and tackle bigger projects like creating a map of all the places in a story or creating costumes for different characters.

For younger children, you can make cutouts of the alphabet or of characters from a favorite book and allow your child to play and interact with them. Just getting exposure to language and reading can make a big difference.

Get (Arts and) Crafty

Put Them in
Charge of Their Library

Give your child some independence in their library. Allow them to organize it how they would like (while still maintaining order, of course). Help them decorate the space or arrange the books the way they want to. After you're all done, let them know that it's their job to keep the books in order and their library looking nice.

Encouraging children to maintain their library on their own asks them to practice responsibility. It will help them learn not only how important it is to look after your own space, but also how valuable and special books are. .

Put Them in
Charge of Their Library

Incorporate Music

Children are especially in-tuned to music, especially songs that rhyme. Take advantage of this to help support your child's language learning.

Print out your child's favorite song and read the lyrics together. Even if they have the song memorized, seeing the words on paper will help them to connect sounds with letters.

You could even spice up reading time by transforming your favorite book into a song. This works especially well with books that already have a rhyming pattern. It's a great way to make reading time your own and create a special memory.

Incorporate Music

Children are especially in-tuned to music, especially songs that rhyme. Take advantage of this to help support your child's language learning.

Print out your child's favorite song and read the lyrics together. Even if they have the song memorized, seeing the words on paper will help them to connect sounds with letters.

Get Festive

Make reading even more fun by connecting it to the season or holiday you are celebrating. If you are reading a book during springtime, you might point out flowers or baby animals and talk with your child about how these things are signs of this particular time of year.

Connecting reading to different times of the year is not only fun, but it allows your child to explore the ins and outs of different seasons and holidays. It also helps your child to make connections between real life and what they are reading, solidifying reading as an important part of every day.

Get Festive

Explore a Special Word

Hone in on new or difficult vocabulary while you read. Pick a special word that your child has not seen before or one they have trouble pronouncing, and take a minute to focus on that one.

Grab some sticky notes or scrap pieces of paper and cover up the rest of the words on the page. Now, practice sounding that word out. You can also take a moment to discuss what the word means, name a few words that rhyme with it, or connect it to other words you have encountered.

Practicing this tip will help your child to focus specifically on the word you're exploring. It can also help make the process of tackling a new word less intimidating and can help them learn more about an object or idea.

Explore a Special Word

Hone in on new or difficult vocabulary while you read. Pick a special word that your child has not seen before or one they have trouble pronouncing, and take a minute to focus on that one.

Prepare to Share

Ask your child to prepare to share a book with a friend or relative. Get them to think about how they might describe the book, whether it be a short summary or something about their favorite character. They could also get creative and make a drawing of something that stood out to them.

Asking your child to share something about the book will encourage them to think more deeply about what they have just read. It will also get them excited about the book, and it will show that reading is an exciting thing worth sharing with those around you.

Prepare to Share

Share Your
Own Strategies

Even as adults, sometimes we encounter words, sentences, or even entire books that we struggle to understand. Share some of the strategies you use in your own reading practices with your child. These strategies might include re-reading, using context clues, or using background knowledge—whatever tools you use!

Doing this will not only provide your child with more tools in their literacy tool belt, but it will also assure them that sometimes everyone struggles with reading. It’s reassuring to hear that you can always keep learning and getting better, no matter how experienced you are as a reader.

Share Your
Own Strategies

Use Specific Praise

It’s always great to encourage your child and give them praise as they are reading. It’s important, however, to make this praise specific.

Instead of saying “wow, you’re a great reader!” pick out something specific that makes them a great reader. You could say: “You worked really hard to use context clues to figure out that tough word.” This phrase lets your child know that you are proud of them for their hard work and reinforces the use of specific reading strategies that they can continue using to improve. This will also communicate that you are not proud of your child only when they succeed, but also when they try their best.

Use Specific Praise

It’s always great to encourage your child and give them praise as they are reading. It’s important, however, to make this praise specific.

Play iSpy with Letter Sounds

Encourage your child to learn letters and their sounds by playing this version of iSpy. Start, for example by saying “I spy with my little eye something that starts with the letter B.” If your child is still learning their letters, support them by saying the sound that letter makes. In this case, “buh buh B.”

Playing this game will help reinforce your child’s phonetic awareness and can help them expand their vocabulary by identifying new objects. It is also a great game to have in your back pocket for downtime or on trips when you don’t have a book on hand.

Play iSpy with Letter Sounds

Celebrate Completing
a Book

Finishing a book is always cause for celebration! You just went on a big adventure and discovered something new. Find a fun way to celebrate your accomplishment.

It might be as simple as a special cheer or a shout of “hooray!” You could also develop a handshake, physical motion, or dance. You could even have a designated snack or visit a special location. Anything you chose will reinforce to your child that reading is important, fruitful, and exciting. Be creative and find something that is unique to you and your child.

Celebrate Completing
a Book

Finishing a book is always cause for celebration! You just went on a big adventure and discovered something new. Find a fun way to celebrate your accomplishment.

Build Empathy

Help your child’s social and emotional development through reading. While you’re reading ask them:

What might you do if you were in this situation? Would you feel the same way if you were in their shoes? If you were (character’s name)’s friend, what might you do to help them? These questions will encourage your child to think empathetically and consider others’ emotions and experiences. It will also help them better understand the story and the characters through reflection.

Build Empathy

Help your child’s social and emotional development through reading. While you’re reading ask them:

Take A Field Trip

Try to connect what you are reading to real life by taking field trips or excursions based on a book. Visit parks, museums, stores, events, or different areas to explore the setting or plot of a book. If you are reading a book about different animals, you might take your child to the zoo. If you are reading one about artwork, you might take them to a museum.

Relating content in books to events in real life can help your child draw connections and better comprehend what they have read. They will be more excited to learn about these topics and will remember more about them.

Take A Field Trip

Word Scavenger Hunt

Go on a scavenger hunt for words when you read! Pick a common word (and, the, he, she, and they are great options), and have your child be on the lookout for this specific word throughout the book. You could also choose a word specific to the book (like tree in The Giving Tree) or the main character’s name.

If your child does not yet know the word, this is a great opportunity to sound it out and repeat it over and over again. If they do know the word, it will be an exciting way to stay engaged. Happy hunting!

Word Scavenger Hunt

Know When to
Switch Things Up

It’s okay to switch things up when a child seems disinterested in what you are reading together. It might be that they have gotten tired of reading and need a brain break. Or it could be that they aren’t interested in the particular book you are reading. Both are okay! Say yes to taking breaks or choosing another book when needed.

It is important that children see reading as something fun and positive. Reading things they find interesting and not pushing too hard will help keep reading time something to look forward to.

Know When to
Switch Things Up

It is important that children see reading as something fun and positive. Reading things they find interesting and not pushing too hard will help keep reading time something to look forward to.

Give a Job

When you’re reading together, give your child a job! You might ask them to find every red object or to read every word that starts with the letter “t” aloud. You could also ask them to help you turn the pages or to read every other sentence. Find something that your child can do to help you out throughout the entire book.

Having tasks can make children feel important and like they are more involved in the reading process, even if they cannot read themselves. This might also help children who have a hard time paying attention to engage with the book more easily because they have something they can focus on.

Give a Job

Learn More about the Author

You can learn a lot about a book from looking into its author. A lot of times, authors will draw inspiration from their own lives and experiences, and learning about these can give new perspective on a story. You might learn that your favorite dog is based off the author’s childhood best friend, for example.

Doing so might help your child to better relate to the story. They might also be more interested if there is a bigger story beyond the pages. Doing so might also connect you with a new favorite book by the same author.

Learn More about the Author

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Celebrate Your Accomplishments

Celebrate Your Accomplishments

Create a Routine

Create a Routine

Share Your Thoughts

Share Your Thoughts

Rhyme, Rhyme All the Time

Rhyme, Rhyme All the Time

Go on a Color Scavenger Hunt

Go on a Color Scavenger Hunt

Do a Book Swap

Do a Book Swap

Get (Arts and) Crafty

Get (Arts and) Crafty

Put Them in Charge of Their Library

Put Them in Charge of Their Library

Incorporate Music

Incorporate Music

Get Festive

Get Festive

Explore a Special Word

Explore a Special Word

Prepare to Share

Prepare to Share

Share Your Own Strategies

Share Your Own Strategies

Use Specific Praise

Use Specific Praise

Play iSpy with Letter Sounds

Play iSpy with Letter Sounds

Celebrate Completinga Book

Celebrate Completinga Book

Build Empathy

Build Empathy

Take A Field Trip

Take A Field Trip

Word Scavenger Hunt

Word Scavenger Hunt

Know When to Switch Things Up

Know When to Switch Things Up

Give a Job

Give a Job

Learn More about the Author

Learn More about the Author

Go on a Color
Scavenger Hunt

Go on a Color
Scavenger Hunt

Put Them in
Charge of Their Library

Put Them in
Charge of Their Library

Share Your
Own Strategies

Share Your
Own Strategies

Celebrate Completing
a Book

Celebrate Completing
a Book

Know When to
Switch Things Up

Know When to
Switch Things Up