Some kids need no incentive to read books. They love reading, and engross themselves in the stories they read about. For others, reading is simply not interesting enough. They’d much rather be running about or building things with their hands or drawing or… just about anything else. How do you get such kids to sit down and take interest in a story? How do you get them to see books as windows to other worlds and not just as black letters on white paper?
Here are some fun reading games that will force your kids to take interest in the world of the story and ensure that they are truly involved as readers. You can go through the list and try out the games that you feel your children would enjoy. These reading games are to be played while the kids are in the middle of a book, or soon after they finish it.
It’s Mime Time – This is a great reading game for kids who enjoy drama. Have your child enact a particular scene from the book, without using any words! You can either choose one particular scene and see how well your child is able to enact it, or let your child choose a scene and enact it while the rest of you try to figure out what is going on in the scene.
Make a map – Does your child love making drawings? Then this is one reading game you must try out. Based on the descriptions provided in the story, have your child draw a map of the neighbourhood, city or land where the story is taking place. After putting down the locations mentioned in the book, your child can add additional details based on his imagination.
Write to the author – This reading game takes the focus from the people in the book and moves it to the person behind the book. However, you can’t write a meaningful letter to the author without being familiar with the story. Have your child think about the parts of the story she enjoyed the most and why. Also have her discuss her favorite characters and what she liked about them. Then have her put it all in a letter explaining why she enjoyed the book. You can mail the letter to the publisher who will forward it to the author.
Create a trailer – This reading game is great for kids who are interested in filmmaking. Have your child imagine the story as a movie, and then think up a good trailer for it. Trailers usually take the most enjoyable parts of the movie and put it together to reveal enough of the story to get people interested, but not enough to give away the entire story. Let your child draw a storyboard for the trailer based on his ideas. You can even let him use an online storyboard creator to bring his ideas to life.
Create a timeline – This reading game works well with kids who are interested in history. Take a story that is closely related to events in history, such as specific events in the African American freedom struggle, or the American fight for independence. Then have your child create a timeline that shows when specific events in the story took place with respect to important events in history.
It’s Mime Time – This is a great reading game for kids who enjoy drama. Have your child enact a particular scene from the book, without using any words! You can either choose one particular scene and see how well your child is able to enact it, or let your child choose a scene and enact it while the rest of you try to figure out what is going on in the scene.
Make a map – Does your child love making drawings? Then this is one reading game you must try out. Based on the descriptions provided in the story, have your child draw a map of the neighbourhood, city or land where the story is taking place. After putting down the locations mentioned in the book, your child can add additional details based on his imagination.
Write to the author – This reading game takes the focus from the people in the book and moves it to the person behind the book. However, you can’t write a meaningful letter to the author without being familiar with the story. Have your child think about the parts of the story she enjoyed the most and why. Also have her discuss her favorite characters and what she liked about them. Then have her put it all in a letter explaining why she enjoyed the book. You can mail the letter to the publisher who will forward it to the author.
Create a trailer – This reading game is great for kids who are interested in filmmaking. Have your child imagine the story as a movie, and then think up a good trailer for it. Trailers usually take the most enjoyable parts of the movie and put it together to reveal enough of the story to get people interested, but not enough to give away the entire story. Let your child draw a storyboard for the trailer based on his ideas. You can even let him use an online storyboard creator to bring his ideas to life.
Create a timeline – This reading game works well with kids who are interested in history. Take a story that is closely related to events in history, such as specific events in the African American freedom struggle, or the American fight for independence. Then have your child create a timeline that shows when specific events in the story took place with respect to important events in history.
These are just a few examples of reading games that will get your kids more involved in the stories they are reading. You can use your imagination and creativity to come up with more fun games. For example, you can imagine how a particular character would behave in a particular period in time, or a different culture, or in a different set of circumstances. You can do research on the country the story is located in, or a new festival mentioned in the book. You can look up an important landmark or building that has prominence in the story. Just about any activity that includes your child’s interests and facilitates a deeper involvement with the story is great for helping your child see a different side of books. And that is the first step to converting a reluctant reader!