There’s a general belief that if you do a task consistently for over 21 days in a row, it becomes your habit. The raising Readers Campaign was conceptualized with that idea and went on as a four weeks long campaign.
The first 3 weeks were to build the habit of reading among kids that incorporated various books related activities and the last week was for reflection & feedback.
A big kudos to all the parents who invested their time to introduce books to their kid(s). It’s almost next to impossible to raise a reader without the involvement of a parent/caretaker. So, to all the parents who participated actively in this campaign & gifted the joy of reading to your kid(s), you have my heart!
That said, if you are one of those parents who couldn’t make time for reading for your kid, please try doing so over the weekends or during vacation time. Take it slow yet steady.
I bet, books can help you have healthy and open conversations with your kid on taboo topics like gender bias, racism, adolescence, puberty, etc. all at ease, over the due course of bonding over books.
For some additional motivation,have a look at what these twoAdvanced Readers had to say:
Master. Shriyan’s writing!
Miss. Akshitha’s writing!
Also, do not miss out to check out these adorable videos on our channel, under the playlist “Raising Readers Campaign”.
Here’s a glimpse of what the parents of our participants had to say!
Parents’ Feedback
Raising Readers is a journey and we have, together, taken our baby steps. In the months to come, there will be posts on book reviews, recommendations and reading activities. So stay tuned!
Thank you for your support and feedback. Let’s raise readers together!
Raising Readers is a 4 weeks long campaign to help kids develop a love for books & reading. We hope you have started the reading journey with your kid and hope the tips and resources from previous posts have helped you along. If you haven’t checked them yet, read them all here.
Good news is, even if you haven’t started yet, you still hold a chance to participate and win. Read through the post to know more.
Remember, you can get your kid started in this beautiful journey of bonding over books anytime. It’s never too late to start but to make it sustainable for a lifetime, the journey has to be made enjoyable.
To make the journey enjoyable, here are two more activities that you and your kid can enjoy doing.
Activity 4- Create Your Reading Corner
The idea here is to create a vibrant reading corner, an atmosphere where even a hyperactive kid will be attracted to explore the space and books.
You don’t have to invest in a bookshelf or buy flaunt worthy books.
Just choose a bright corner in your home. Get creative and use the things you already have at your home to stack the books (it’s ok if just 2-5 books). Have one or two of their favourite toys (don’t overdo with toys!), a small notebook and some stationery. Maybe, add some of their drawings in the backdrop and TADA, there you go with an attractive reading corner for your kid.
This is just a suggestion to get you an idea but feel free to go creative in your own ways.
The point here is when you allocate certain space for reading and stick to it, over time, when kids grow up they tend to make that space their comfort corner and settle there with a book/activity on their own.
So keep it simple and easily accessible for the kid. Make sure to send a pic of your kid exploring a book in their new cosy book corner.
Activity 5- Character Play
Though character play may sound difficult, the rules are quite easy and flexible.
Dress up your kid in their favourite character from the book they are reading and help them say a line or two from it. Smaller kids can identify objects/characters from their favourite book.
What matters is that they have fun. If your kid is fussy about dressing up, maybe make a cut out of their favourite character/object and let them hold and identify it.
Sounds simple right? Do give it a try and send us a very small video of them saying the line/identifying objects all dressed up in their favourite character.
Surprise Contest for Advanced Readers
As a surprise element, for those who approached us asking if their kids who are already into reading can participate or not, here is an exclusive contest- “Reading IsMy Superpower”, for those Advanced Readers.
Reading IsMy Superpower
This contest is for Advanced Readers (kids aged 8+ who are independent readers and writers).
All they need to do is write a short essay between 200-300 words on the topic “Reading Is My Superpower”, telling why they love reading books and why others (especially younger kids) should read books too.
The best 3 entries will get prizes and also be featured in our Blog.
All those young readers participating in the Raising Readers Campaign, check out the contest activities (1-5) and send in your entries by the 12th of December, 2021, here in this Google form. For your convenience, here is a checklist of what’s to be uploaded for each activity.
Contest Checklist
Participants of the Advanced Readers Contest, send your entry in the Google Form here.
So, what are you waiting for? Participate and win exciting prizes!
Raising Readers is a 4 weeks long campaign to help kids develop a love for books & reading. We hope you have started the reading journey with your kid and hope the tips and resources from previous posts have helped you along. If you haven’t checked them yet, read them here and here.
Remember, you can get your kid started in this beautiful journey of bonding over books anytime. It’s never too late to start but to make it sustainable for a lifetime, the journey has to be made enjoyable.
One of the frequent queries that we received is what can be done to make a hyperactive kid sit and read a book?
Well, here is the short answer. You need to make the kid ENJOY the book and not just read the book. This can be done easily and here are a few things that you can try:
Personal Bonding
For a kid, reading time is more about bonding with their parent/caretaker than the actual reading. It is about creating a memory.
So fix a time every day to bond over books. Read the book aloud. It can be in any language. All that the kid seeks here is comfort from your presence and voice.
Sensory experience
When starting out, opt for colourful picture books or touch and feel or sound books (you can find resources on where and what to buy, here). Let the kid explore books for their pictures and texture first, like they do with a toy.
With an appeal to their senses, exploring books becomes more enjoyable.
Involve others in the family too
It can be more fun when kids get exposed to different ways of storytelling. This can happen when people of different ages, say, a grandparent, a sibling or a friend can all read out the same story to the kid at different times or occasions.
Book conversations
Bring conversations around books in your day to day life. Say if you just read about traffic signals in the book, make sure to show them the traffic lights while you are on a drive.
Activities around books
As simply sitting and reading a book can tend boring for starters, you can club reading with other activities.
You can include some craft works related to the topic or playing a sport mentioned in the book, or list out things mentioned in a book and identify them in your home, or have pretend-play sessions on the topic around the book.
Hope these help you get an idea of how to make book reading an enjoyable activity than a mundane chore. To help you get started, here come activity 3 of the Raising Readers Campaign.
Raising Readers Contest
We hope you are aware of the ongoing contest and as part of it, here is your Activity-3.
Activity 3-Accessorize Your Book
This is going to be super easy and super fun. Here’s a video on DIY Kawai Origami Bookmark, video courtesy: Roshna Salim.
All you got to do is take some time out, sit with your kid, get your hands on paper and colours and little glue and make this bookmark together.
Take a pic of your kid helping or making the bookmark and also a pic of your kid holding their favourite book accessorized with this bookmark. Keep them ready for uploading.
We are so eagerly waiting to see those proud creations and happy smiles!!
Hope you have got your videos and pictures ready (check out this content checklist picture ) from the previous activities. In the next few days, there will be a few other activities. Once everything is done, you can upload your entries here: Raising Readers Contest Form.
Now that you are determined to gift the joy of reading and books to your kid are you wondering where to find the right kind of books? Are you worried about the cost of board books? Or wondering about how would you manage with space if you were to pile up books on the long run for your budding reader?
Fret not. We have answers to all your queries. Here are a few tried and tested resources, practices and tips that can make your reading journey enjoyable, affordable and sustainable.
How to find the right kind of book as per your kid’s age and preference
While just starting out with a reading journey, it can be difficult to understand which book will get your kid lured to reading. While some prefer comics, some picture books, some may prefer touch & feel books.
With a plethora of options out there to lure you as a buyer with their attractive reviews, it gets confusing and overwhelming for a parent/caretaker to pick the right book.
This is when a book reading community can come in handy. One such community (we bet, there was no looking back or searching for another community after joining this!) is Kids Book Café (KBC).
KBC is your one-stop destination to discover children’s books (well, they have one day of the week dedicated for grown-up reads too!) through peer recommendations and reviews.
The biggest plus of the community is its founder, Asha Chaudhry (a certified community builder) who gets to understand e-v-e-r-y kid’s likes and dislikes and never fails to surprise us with her impeccable book recommendations. (And no, this is not a sponsored post!).
Join their active FB group to find a treasure trove of book recommendations. The members there are quick to respond, non-judgmental and always encouraging. The perfect place to get all the queries answered in the journey of raising readers.
Also, did I tell you they come up with amazing book offers and contests exclusively for KBC kiddos from time to time? Join now!
Where can I buy affordable children’s books
Here are some of our favourite places for buying books. Again, this is not sponsored and the mentions here are just purely out of the personal experience.
If you have any particular suggestions on where to buy from, do tell us in the comments section.
Affordability is a problem? Here’s what you can do
We have come across concerns over board books & touch and feel books being unaffordable for many parents/caretakers and here are some solutions you can try.
Library subscriptions
One of the best, time-tested solution to have access to various books at affordable rates is to have yourself enrolled in libraries.
While public libraries may be more cost efficient, private or independent libraries have vibrant collection and subscriptions are competitively priced too.
It’s highly recommended that every kid has access to library as it helps them explore different genres and grow to understand their preferences much better. More so, when a kid picks a book of their own choice, in 99% cases they tend to enjoy and finish the book.
So help your child have access to library. I bet it won’t be much costlier than your TV subscription and also the returns are high here. Choose wise!
Pre-loved Books
For those who wish to own a colorful physical books but not in a place to buy them first hand, here are links to some tried & tested places for good quality, affordable pre-loved books:
While many may have an idea of book fair showcasing only new books, there are also sections allotted for pre-loved books that come at throwaway prices. One of our favorite places for trying new and preloved books is certainly a book-fair. Discovering books in a book fair is a must try experience.
Practical tips for sustainable reading journey
Earn a book
This is a tried and tested way to help kid have their favorite book while also learning to be responsible. The rule is simple. Assign them doable tasks or chores and tell them they will earn points for every completed task and depending upon the points scored they get a book.
A win-win for both kid and parent!
Reader Friends
Inculcate reading habit among your kids’ friend circle and exchange books. This way they bond over books, get to read different books and most importantly learn to share.
Also, having friends who read books helps have healthy conversations, discuss taboo topics with ease and gives a lot of scope to have book related activities as a group.
Gift books
As a parent/caretaker make it a habit to gift books on different occasions, be it birthday or festivals. This way, over years, you will have a library of your own.
Audible books
Introducing to audible books improves the listening skills of the kid. Also it motivates them to do read aloud.
Hope this post helps you. Do let us know if you have any other resources to add to our list. We are always welcome for suggestions.
Raising Readers Contest
We hope you are aware of the ongoing contest and as part of it, here is your Activity-2.
Activity 2- Bonding Over A Read Aloud
One of the best ways to spend quality time with your kid is to pick up their favourite book and do a read aloud.
It is simple. Now that you might have started exploring books with your kid on a day-to-day basis, do a read aloud of a book that your kid is currently enjoying.
Capture a short 1-2mins video of you doing a read aloud for your kid. If you are camera shy, it’s understandable. In that case, capture your child enjoying or responding to your read aloud as you do so behind the camera.
Keep the video ready.
In the next few days there will be few other activities. Once everything is done, you can upload your entries here: Raising Readers Contest Form
Raising readers campaign has the sole vision of imbibing love for books & reading in kids and for that, there is a line of engaging activities coming up. Before we could get into the details of the activities we wish to clear a few things up:
This campaign is mainly for those who are yet to start reading for hobby. Reading school textbooks or reading as part of a curriculum is not considered as “reading for joy or for hobby”.
Our target audience here is kids of the age group 0-10 years.
If your kid is above 10yrs and have not yet developed reading habit, then these activities can be useful for you too. Just that kids above 10yrs of age won’t be considered for the contest.
This is more of a campaign than a contest. The point here is to build a reading habit, a reading ritual over 4 weeks and provide tips to keep it sustainable. And every participating kid is a winner as they would have developed an interest in reading.
That said, the sole reason for keeping a contest as part of the campaign is to give direction and help you take this journey on a serious note.
Since this campaign is for those who are yet to start reading, it won’t certainly be right for us to entertain advanced readers (kids who are into independent and regular reading habit) even if they fall into the contest age group criteria.
Advance readers may try these activities if it interests them but participation may not be considered. We have something special for the advanced readers soon.
This contest may call for pictures and/or videos of kids while doing an activity and we want them to be candid and authentic. There’s no need for edited videos or ‘insta-worthy’ pics.
All we are looking to see through the pics/videos is the kid’s enthusiasm and progress. Remember slow progress is also a progress and there is no factor of comparison here.
Also, please note that by sending in pictures/videos as part of the campaign, you give us the right to use it on our website and social media handles for promotion. It’s purely to inspire others in the journey and nothing more.
We will be choosing the top entries from a place of authenticity keeping in mind the progress and enthusiasm shown by the kid & caretaker over the weeks and the Jury’s decision will be final.
The terms and conditions are subject to change at any time without any prior notice.
Contest Details
Let’s get into the much-awaited part- the contest! It’s going to be a Book Bingo!
We will have 5 activities spread over the weeks and the participants who complete all the tasks will be considered for the giveaway (it’s a surprise!).
Participants will be divided in the age groups of 0-3 yrs, 3-7yrs, and 7-10 yrs.
Every participant will receive a vibrant customized certificate of appreciation.
Activity 1: Developing a reading ritual
In the coming week, we wish to help you find your reading ritual. It can be 5mins of reading right after waking up or right before your bedtime.
Keep it simple. Starting with even 5mins will do but stick to the time.
Developing a reading ritual is about consistency and showing up every day.
Tips to help you find the best suited time for your child
Fix a time when you know your child is active and not fussy. You may want to avoid those times when your kid is hungry or cranky.
For little older kids, fix a time when they are free from school works.
Create an ambience. It can be as simple as switching off all gadgets or finding a silent yet bright corner to sit with a book.
Be present. If your child is not into reading yet and if you want them to start, then your presence matters. Even better, if you too can sit with a book to read.
Make sure to fix a time that you can follow every day precisely. It’s the consistency that helps building a habit.
What to do for the contest
Raising Readers Ritual Sheet
Get the above Raising Readers Ritual Sheet printed or you can even make it handwritten. Choice is yours.
Fix a time that’s comfortable for you and your kid and try sticking to it.
Mark the date and time every day (try being consistent) to see what timing suits you better.
Most importantly appreciate your kid’s effort by putting a star, smiley or icecream on the Kudos column.
Enter your kid’s name, age and the book(s) you are currently reading. It’s absolutely ok if your kid insists to read the same book every day.
Please keep it authentic. Be honest if you skip any day. No point in simply marking.
Over the week, as you get into a rhythm, try capturing a short 1 min video of you and your kid engaged in the reading activity. When you do so, email us at promisingpoetry5@gmail.com with the subject line as “Raising Readers Activity 1” and the name, picture (preferably passport size) and age of the kid.
Last date for sending in the video of the Activity-1 is 28th Nov, 2021.
For kids aged 0-3yrs it’s important that they touch and feel the book, explore the book, enjoy the pictures in it and listen to your read aloud. Your time with the kid matters.
That’s it for this week. It’s simple but remember what matters is consistency. We wish that you see this is as a journey, as an experience and not just as a contest. We will have a few videos and tips coming up on FB or Instagram or here. So stay tuned!
Raising Readers is a 4 weeks long campaign to help kids develop a love for books & reading. The campaign is mainly addressed towards kids aged 0-10 years, their parents, teachers and caretakers. It is to help develop reading habits among kids in a sustained and enjoyable way with engaging activities and contest around books.
The need for building reading habit
You and I certainly know that how much time and space a variety of gadgets have taken from us in this fast-paced and digitalized era.
The Covid-19 pandemic has done enough from its side too to get everything done online, most importantly, children’s education. This being the scenario many of the children are spending a lot of time before their screens which we know is going to be harmful in the long run.
Also, we see that there is a decline in children’s reading habits. While reading for joy can help grow a happy and mindful child, the decline in reading habits becomes a cause of concern.
To revive the joy of reading among children, it’s important to catch them young. Kids should feel the joy of holding a book in hand, exploring the pages and venturing to new places that the stories take them to.
They need to feel that excitement and wonder that comes with a book. It’s with this notion that we came up with this campaign to help kids as well as their caretakers in finding resources and rhythm as well to get into the habit of reading.
Why Reading?
Before even getting into sharing tips and resources I wish to put across the importance of reading habits. It’s vital for you as a parent or caretaker to be convinced of its importance before you could help your child to get into reading habits.
You might ask that to keep a child away from gadgets there are many other options, hobbies or sports and so why specifically reading. Well, here are a few points from my personal experience with raising a reader that can convince you too:
Exercise for the mind
Like playing games is an exercise for the body, reading books is an exercise for the mind. It involves active involvement of the mind to grasp new concepts, wander in their world of imagination and thus helps in keeping the mind sharp.
We all want to stay young through appearance; why not stay young & sharp in mind too right?
Improves creativity
Books open up to different places, cultures, concepts and whatnot. This variety of information and stories that kids get access to helps in improving their creativity. It helps keep their wonder element, the spark-ignited & explore their own world of imagination and creativity.
Develop empathy
When kids read about different characters from different life situations, even if it’s fiction, they develop empathy. Their minds become open and it helps in not developing any prejudices in the longer run.
Enhances vocabulary
The variety in plots, storylines and writing styles in different books helps big time in enhancing the vocabulary of the reader. The best part of it is it happens subconsciously in the journey of reading even without taking any particular effort at improving vocabulary.
Better communication
Kids who read more, who grow up listening to more stories can communicate their emotions, their feelings much better. They do that either by speaking up for themselves or penning it down.
To find comfort in solitude
Reading books is a solitary activity & it helps kids find comfort in solitude. We find many kids being hyperactive these days (thanks to the lifestyle changes), the act of reading a book calms them down and mainly they learn to sit (you know what I mean if you have a hyperactive kid at home!) and engage by themselves.
Easier to access & carry a book
It’s clear, isn’t it? Moreover, when your kid is so into reading, they don’t even need a book. They start reading any piece of writing that they see anywhere and everywhere, including the ones coming in packaging!
Just for the joy of it
This is the most important reason that children should be gifted with books. The happiness to know that there is a character similar to them, the curiosity in knowing a character different from them, the wonderment when it comes to learning a new fact, about a new place, etc, all this can bring immense joy.
Books create their own world where they can just be- A WHOLE WORLD FOR THEMSELVES. JUST IMAGINE!
Can you sense the joy? If you are a reader yourself, you know what I mean. If not, it’s high time you too start reading.
Well, there are many more reasons to develop a reading habit but I guess these are more than enough to get you started in your journey of raising a reader.
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How to go about raising a reader?
Raising a reader might sound a tough task given that we are mostly surrounded by gadgets and kids are glued to screens. You may wonder how and where to start with. Or you have started but struggled to continue. In either case, we are here you help you with practical and doable tips and resources that can make the journey of raising a reader, enjoyable and sustainable.
In the next 4 weeks, we will cover various aspects of the journey and bring to you some awesome real-life incidents to inspire you.
All you have to do is stay tuned here or follow either of these pages on FB or Instagram or here.
There will be a contest and fun activities as part of this campaign. More details tomorrow.
Get yourself ready for a jolly reading ride with your tiny tot!
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