Throughout history, storytelling has been used to entertain and educate kids. However, it’s more than just a tradition – reading stories to your child could be key to their development. As more parents swap books for screens, a growing number of children are beginning to miss out on the benefits of story time. Below are just some of the key reasons to read stories to your child.
7 Benefits Of Reading to Your Kids
It teaches vocabulary and grammar
Books are full of new words that your child can learn and incorporate into their vocabulary. They also help to teach how sentences are structured and how tenses are used. As you read stories, children pick up on these things subliminally. The greater the variety of books you read, the more words and phrases you can expose your kids to as they grow.
It teaches facts about the world
Even works of fiction are often still full of facts. By reading stories set in different time periods and places, you can teach kids history and teach them about the world. It’s worth noting that there are many non-fiction books that you can buy for kids that incorporate stories. Consider these types of books too when reading to your kids.
It fosters a love of reading
Reading to your kids at an early age can help them to develop a familiarity around books. They are more likely to see them as normal and a source of comfort – encouraging your children to pick up books themselves as they get older. Reading to children is particularly critical once they reach reading age as it can help expose your kids to more text and help them to learn to read at a faster rate. A love of reading could benefit every other subject at school and lead to better knowledge overall.
It teaches morals
Kids’ stories often contain morals. Teaching these morals to kids early helps them to develop a strong sense of right and wrong. Kids who don’t receive moral lessons are more likely to misbehave as they are only able to learn what is right and wrong by testing boundaries. It’s possible to find books centred around certain messages and use these at key times in your life such as attending school for the first time, expecting a sibling or getting a pet.
It builds emotional intelligence
Reading stories can also teach kids how to manage their emotions. Specific stories can teach lessons such as how to overcome fear, how to control anger, how to cheer oneself up when sad, how to empathise with others and how to make people happy who are having a bad time. Some of the best children’s books are able to navigate complex emotions through common situations that kids are likely to encounter, while still keeping them fun. This post delves more into how storytelling helps kids understand emotions.
It encourages creativity
Story time encourages kids to use their imagination. It exposes them to new characters and worlds without showing the whole picture like a TV show or a movie. The illustrations may help to build a picture, but ultimately kids still have to visualise a lot of it in their heads. This can help kids to think more creatively – encouraging them to come up with their own stories and ideas. You can nurture this creativity by coming up with your own stories together or adding in funny voices and actions to books to bring them to life.
It’s a chance for parent-child bonding
Reading stories is a great opportunity for bonding with your child. Many of us lead busy lives and don’t get to spend as much quality time with our kids as we’d like. Reading forces you and your kids to focus on the same task together. By making it a routine, you can be sure to spend that quality time with your child every day. Together, you’ll both build happy memories together – which will further help to make your child see reading as a fun task.
Start reading to your child today!
A child is never too young to start being read to. While you may not see much benefit to reading to a newborn, it could actually help them get used to your voice and books. If your child is older and you haven’t read to them, you can still start today. Go book-shopping and let them choose their books. You can even incorporate technology if they are used to screens – look into eBooks or even consider sites and apps that allow you to create custom stories.
**Contributed post
London Kids Weekend Scoop (February 27-Mar 2, 2025) 
