Reading to children: so many benefits

Some of the best parenting advice we received was about the importance of reading to children. A wise family member (and retired educator) encouraged us to consistently talk and read to our baby. There’s plenty of research on this topic (see list of resources). Just the other day the Toronto Star Kids’ Health section had an article by Dipesh Navsaria, American Academy of Pediatrics: ‘’Experts say sharing books is best gift of all for children’ (November 18, 2024). 

Knowing, as this article states, that: “starting from infancy, reading aloud helps build the foundation for healthy social-emotional, cognitive, language and literacy development,” we read to our baby daily (even before she was born, so she’d recognize our voices). Though she couldn’t understand the words, she’d start picking up the sounds and cadence of our language.

Similarly, from the beginning, we were advised to listen to and sing lots of simple songs to help with language and literacy. These songs we sang in the early years were foundational for literacy and are still both a comfort to our child all these years later, and cue to switch into sleep mode.

The recommendation: read daily.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends reading to children daily for 20 to 30 minutes, without screens (read our blog on the Impact of Technology on Children – Upper Canada Child Care for more on finding a healthy balance in this digital age).

The article referenced above says the experience of reading to children should be fun. Also, if a child loses interest, it is not necessary to finish the story.

Building the habit of reading pays off.

In the early days, we read to our baby even if she squirmed. But over time, as with anything you keep at, reading to our baby got easier. There was less squirming and more interest. It wasn’t long before we had a toddler who enjoyed sitting with us for extended periods to read.

Of course, the pandemic had more screen time than we intended, with online school and working from home. Fortunately, books and reading to our child remained constant.

Now we have a school ager who is an avid self-directed reader, who wakes up and wants to read first thing in the morning. While she’s happy to read to herself, she will often ask us to read. Our kid would have books at the table during every meal if she could, but we ask her to wait until we’re done eating (ok, sometimes we read to her while she’s eating…).

Read whenever, wherever.

Reading is a portable activity that can happen almost anytime and anywhere: indoors and outdoors. Our kid reads on the couch, on the floor, at the table, on the front doorstep, in the backyard, in libraries, in waiting rooms. The only place it doesn’t really go well is in moving cars…

Reading is a staple that anchors our day; if we’re busy, we know that at the least we’ll read a bedtime story, that connection time will happen. Warning: adults may fall asleep reading. But these days where many of us can’t get enough sleep, that’s not a bad thing.

Reading can be affordable and environmentally friendly.

Thanks to libraries, second-hand shops, and hand-me-downs, reading doesn’t have to be expensive, and books don’t have to take up tons of space: you can swap, pass them on, return them to the library, or donate them. Yay for environmentally friendly, affordable, accessible, and for ways to have less stuff.

Here are some of the many benefits of reading:

Cognition and Communication

When reading to children, we can learn so many things. Not only is there the variety of subject matter to discuss, and chance to explore concepts like making predictions about what might happen next; reading from a variety of sources also makes us use words, phrases, and intonation we might not otherwise. Often, a word appears in a story, and it prompts us to ask our child (or ask ourselves) “What do you think that means?”

Books stretch us further.

Creativity and Collaboration

Reading to children sparks imagination and creativity. We can encourage them to create their own stories and illustrations.  Kids appreciate when the adults in their lives take an interest in what they are doing, when they participate. When our child was younger, she would ask us to write down stories that she dictated to us, and she loved to hear us read the story back. Another idea to try is co-creating a story as a family, where one person starts the first line and then the next person adds a line and so on. An exercise in creativity and collaboration.

Our child is fortunate that her grandmother took the time to write and print out a story for, and about, our child, complete with blank spaces for where the pictures were to be drawn. That is something we’ll always treasure.

Calming and Co-regulation

Another benefit of reading is that it can calm us and help us to regulate, children and adults alike. When we need to shift the energy in the house, we often switch to reading together. It helps us slow down, listen, and be present.  Books are also a great go-to when we’re tired and don’t have energy to do anything else. Tip: if you’re too tired to read you can listen to a ‘read aloud’ recorded story.

Character Building and Connection

The Toronto Star article also noted that “reading can help develop character and values that are important to your family.” For example, you can choose books on kindness, resilience, diversity, integrity, perseverance, the list goes on. It’s a fun and relatable way to communicate about important things rather than sounding like a lecture.

Reading together allows us to connect with our kids. Of course, there’s the connection of sitting together or reading at bedtime. There’s also the connection that comes from asking children about and listening to their feelings and emotions. For example, if there’s bullying in a story, we can check in and ask if they have examples of this happening in real life, or what they think makes a good friend etc. With each turn of the page, there are more connections to be made. You are also more likely to trigger a real conversation with your kid as a story allows children to put themselves in character’s place and develop that empathy muscle.

The Toronto Star article sums it up nicely: books “…can help create wonderful memories…a shared reading experience, as a tender, magical and loving time spent with your child, is truly a gift. It speaks to the heart of what parenting is.”

Happy reading!

By Christine Tyrrell, Communications and Marketing Coordinator

For further reading about reading:

Reading Books to Babies (for Parents) | Nemours KidsHealth

5 Benefits of Reading – Junior Learning USA

Why Is It Important to Read to Your Child? – Child Mind Institute

Top 10 Benefits of Reading for All Ages | Markham Public Library