Books to keep 5yo busy in bedroom in the mornings!

[sundaypaper]

My 5yo has been waking up 30 mins earlier for a few weeks now, and I've been going into his bedroom and getting some books down from his bookshelves for him to read until his gro-click lights up green meaning it's officially morning! I want to keep encouraging this discipline to keep going and eventually hoping he will learn to get a book and do this himself!

The difficulty is he can't read fluently yet and so the he skims through the book pile really quickly and then needs more. He will go through a pile of 20 or so books in half an hour. I guess he's looking at the pictures mostly rather than taking time to read all the words (these are bedtime stories like Zog or whatever, rather than the basic "reading" books he gets at school).

Anyway I was wondering about getting some graphic novel type books suited to his age group, where there are lots of pictures to "read" to tell a story and he could take his time over it.

Has anyone got any suggestions here? Or any other ways they keep their 5 year olds busy before morning time officially begins?!

Where's wally?

Also a bit random but children's encyclopedia or big factual books about animals?

He obviously won't be able to read them but I find these sort of books keep both my young kids entertained for a while with all the weird and wonderful pictures and photos.

I used to leave Booja in a pile by theirs bed with strict instructions that they weren't to wake us before 7. It worked better with DC1 than DC2.

Perhaps if you're not coming in to give him the books then he will spend more time reading them.

Do you think a Yoto player might help?

Do you leave him some water in a sports bottle too?

The You Choose series, where they effectively create their own story

What's Booja??

https://usborne.com/gb/books/series/look-and-find-puzzles

Something like these?

My DD absolutely loved the first book!

OP you could take him to the library maybe and let him choose a few? You could look at the Early Reader books as well as the picture Booja and non-fiction. They should have a selection that is age appropriate

A yoto? A bookshelf so he can help himself?

Sorry books. For some reason every time I type books my autocorrect changes it 🤦‍♀️

Ah, lol, sorry. I thought Booja was something really new and exciting!

Ah, lol, sorry. I thought Booja was something really new and exciting
I tbink that autocorrect is giving away my fondness for Booja Booja chocolates actually

Audio books were great for mine at that age.

What’s Booja? I thought it was a brand of dairy free chocolate?

OP - Does it have to be reading books? 5 is a tough age because as you say they aren’t reading fluently yet. A box of lego, yoto player or an activity puzzle type book might be better. I’d make sure he has a choice of a few quiet things then I think he’s least likely to want to leave his room early.

Also just a thought… but if he’s been waking 30 minutes early for a few weeks now and doesn’t seem overly tired as a result then he’s probably ready for a slightly later bedtime. You can’t expect to keep a consistent wake up time if you don’t gradually push back bedtime later as they get older. DD gets up at 7am. At aged 4 her bedtime was 7pm. At 7 and a half it’s now 8.30pm. I don’t remember exactly how and when we’ve shifted it because it’s been gradual but whenever she started waking early we’d usually look at letting her stay up an extra 15 minutes or so. I’m still in favour of quiet toys in their room but maybe bedtime is worth looking at too?

What’s Booja? I thought it was a brand of dairy free chocolate

I take it you haven't RTFT

The 'wheres bluey' book has been read so many times in this house, it's very loved. As are the character annuals- frozen and bluey here.

The usborne look inside books are great too- we have our body and the solar system.
Maisy and meg and mog books are also popular as DD can read most of the words herself now (also 5)

Thanks for all these great ideas!

He does have a bookshelf he can reach but he's been staying in bed and calling out because I think he thinks he's not allowed to get out of bed - this is due to a tricky phase a few months ago where he did get out of bed in the middle of the night to play with toys and was told this wasn't allowed! 🙈🤣 So I think I just need to clearly set out new rules now that he's older! It doesn't help that he can't properly tell the time yet. So I've been saying when the clock says 0630 or later you're allowed to read, but he doesn't fully get that. Anyway it's only a matter of time and we will get there.

For now I'm happy to go in once, as I'm up doing meditation anyway (or trying to!). The Where's Wally idea is good and also he does have a yoto but I didn't think of that. Really good ideas!

he does have a yoto but I didn't think of that

I'm sure I've read somewhere that books improve their vocabulary whether they read them or they are read to the child. I'd put a couple if the books and his Yoto within reach with instructions that he can listen/read until it's time to get up

At this age my DC loved the Richard Scarry books - there's so much going on in the illustrations that they kept them busy for ages (and another vote for the You Choose books too!).

I second the Yoto idea. Our 6 yr old listens for a bit when she wakes up early too.

Search and find books are great if he's not able to read to himself yet.

DD has a Bluey one that's a bit young for her but is cute and a Disney Princess one. There are lots of options.

These might entertain him (sorry for the long links, can't work out how to shorten them):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seek-Find-Book-Kids-ages/dp/1835100333/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=3A9TON7PW2UU1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WaN7J1EaN92WGMjcfc0nCLzhtQGStWRbuE7V5o7UFPr24WBDO-00JBWlTU0uUcYFaB_zsiJvh8PsDdjE_XJx2i6wqCfMOtC4XEkNF6exEPE8B32nSacVpFrs3e8SBVgrifzrFPUtLzGH3gX5kHa87L7BYiKSyaVWasJXojEeQIsTH2gA2DFmFYGJt4MqClZWpz_DfU3iRus9BuuAHRuAbNuXbOm44nnfHEn8yekbY5Q.nL1eXIopYGtay3fZ66QkV5SJnCXsDNlVZy0_7ORPYkY&dib_tag=se&keywords=search+and+find+books+for+4%2B+year+olds&qid=1741015927&sprefix=search+and%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wheres-Dinosaur-Search-Find-Books/dp/1408362333/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3A9TON7PW2UU1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WaN7J1EaN92WGMjcfc0nCLzhtQGStWRbuE7V5o7UFPr24WBDO-00JBWlTU0uUcYFaB_zsiJvh8PsDdjE_XJx2i6wqCfMOtC4XEkNF6exEPE8B32nSacVpFrs3e8SBVgrifzrFPUtLzGH3gX5kHa87L7BYiKSyaVWasJXojEeQIuWNYaY-1rTxMDrF3YdsBBjpz_DfU3iRus9BuuAHRuAbNuXbOm44nnfHEn8yekbY5Q.Hiwzn_7QIhE3QjVGbiSs41HWgUQ_TwHQVibm8cFosG4&dib_tag=se&keywords=search+and+find+books+for+4%2B+year+olds&qid=1741015927&sprefix=search+and%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-4

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wheres-Dragon-Fantasy-Search-Activity/dp/1789293073/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3A9TON7PW2UU1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WaN7J1EaN92WGMjcfc0nCLzhtQGStWRbuE7V5o7UFPr24WBDO-00JBWlTU0uUcYFaB_zsiJvh8PsDdjE_XJx2i6wqCfMOtC4XEkNF6exEPE8B32nSacVpFrs3e8SBVgrifzrFPUtLzGH3gX5kHa87L7BYiKSyaVWasJXojEeQIuWNYaY-1rTxMDrF3YdsBBjpz_DfU3iRus9BuuAHRuAbNuXbOm44nnfHEn8yekbY5Q.Hiwzn_7QIhE3QjVGbiSs41HWgUQ_TwHQVibm8cFosG4&dib_tag=se&keywords=search+and+find+books+for+4%2B+year+olds&qid=1741015927&sprefix=search+and%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-6

Those books are delightful. DH had them as a Child and DMIL kept them fir our DC

You can set alarms and colour changes on the yoto too, so could utilise that functionality if he's not able to read the time yet :)

DK non fiction books are great for this - all sorts of subjects and lots of pictures - they update them quite regularly so I won’t mention specific ones as my kids are now teens . Often significantly reduced on Amazon

Another vote for the you choose books

What about puzzle books? My DS is 5 and he loves activity books, particularly those with mazes.

My 3 year old stays in his room for up to an hour in the morning if he wakes up early. He loves fact books that are chock full of pictures of things he loves: dinosaurs, vehicles, animals etc. He also has a yoto player so he'll listen to stories on that.

At 5 can he have a tub of Lego in his room to play with too? That's a nice quiet activity.

What about these books?

amzn.eu/d/64ABeEr

amzn.eu/d/c1qqPnY

amzn.eu/d/iuaUW9E

amzn.eu/d/4YCPecm