Mumsnet users share their tips for encouraging their children to love reading with McDonald's

[JustineBMumsnet]

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Reading with your child can be a fun, educational and rewarding experience, but reading may be an activity your child comes to associate with schoolwork rather than fun. With their fifth Happy Readers campaign coming up soon, McDonald's would like to hear about how you encourage your children to love reading.

Here's what McDonald's has to say: "We're committed to helping families enjoy time reading together and believe in the power of stories to ignite children’s amazing imaginations. However it’s not always easy to fit regular reading into busy lives. As we prepare for our 5th Happy Readers campaign, giving away a free book with every Happy Meal, we're keen to get advice from Mumsnetters. Your tips and advice for building a love of reading with your children, inventive ways you manage to build regular story time and reading into your busy lives, and, with the school holidays in full swing, all the ways you encourage, nurture and ignite your children’s imagination. Through reading and beyond."

How do you encourage a love of reading? Do you have tips for building reading into your child's daily routine? How do you ignite your child's imagination while reading with them?

However you encourage a love of reading with your child and using their imagination, share this with McDonald's below to be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

DC1 is 5. Im sure at points they will prefer to do other things but I want them to love reading. So-story time every evening, mostly with books they choose but often an imaginative story. Build a love of stories in different shapes and guises. Use the local library. Create blank stapled paper storybooks of your own for them to fill up with pictures, writing, whatever takes their fancy and they can read it back to you. Make it enjoyable and fun from the start- at their pace. Give opportunities to ‘read’ creatively and to read different kinds of books as much as possible. Use audio books if they prefer that. I try to remember that stories can be on the page, listened to or read by children or created from all around us in our everyday situations so that the stories become the focus.

I read to them every night and buying books with great illustrations helps to get their interest so they actually want to handle the book and see the words.

I've always loved reading from being a very young child so it's easy for me to encourage my own to love reading.

I started reading to my children from when they were babies.
They are allowed to choose their own books but sometimes I tell them about books I enjoyed as child and they usually want to read it too.

Even just 5 minutes reading together can make all the difference.

From my children being tiny babies I have read to them every night, even when on holidays... it was the quiet time that we always shared. Now at age 10/8 both children still read every day and love to read.

A treat for them is to go into a book store and look at all the new books available. When we go on holidays they love picking out a new book which is part of the process of going away now...

We make sure that we pass on books with their friends too as they go through so many books, sharing books with friends encourages them that reading isn't geeky but fun.

Loads of books at home. Trips to the library where they can choose books for themselves. Reading signs out and about. Lots of praise and making it fun. Switch TV and radio off so they have the opportunity to focus on reading.

Read to then from the word go, let them try to read with you. Lots of books, fiction and non, with and without pictures on lots of subjects they are easily accessible . Have a specific quiet reading time (before bed here) and no pressure.

We read at bedtime and I try to do different voices for different characters. My DD also sees me reading.

i think if you read to children from a young age they tend to be more interested in reading when older :D and story time is a great excuse for extra cuddles

I read most nights with dcs. We go to a reading challenge every week at the library they get stickers every week.my eldest loves to write stories and reads them to me and dd2 .dd2 is preschool and can't read yet but will avidly look at books and make her own story up. They see me read books too so have 2 aspiring bookworms .

Books from day 1.

Modelling reading - I read whilst they're watching a movie and as my hobby, and I'll talk about what I'm reading. Books all over the house - all different genres.

We try to scrimp and save on most things, but will always make the effort to buy books, or do a library trip.

The one that's been hardest for me - not being precious about what they read, as long as they read. Lots of graphic novels in our house now, comics, film magazines, etc. It all aids comprehension.

Access to books and then little and often rather than getting caught up in trying to finish off a particular book

I'm fortunate in that most of the kids have developed a love of reading naturally. When they were younger my English wasn't that good and thankfully I can say that I'm now fluent. Fortunately for them it hasn't affected their reading levels as they're able to read beyond their reading age which is great. I just love that moment when they learn a new word and keep using it, sometimes in the wrong context. Makes for some funny moments!

Trips to the library - let toddlers, pre-schoolers choose their own books if they want, never dissuade them from their own choice...but add in a few others which you know will make good read aloud story time.

have books lying around in the house , not confined to a bookcase so that children see books and reading as normal activities, not something special.

And most of all, just enjoy reading and books yourself - the kids will see this!

Lead by example and read, have books in the house either bought or borrowed from the library. Visit book stores and the library.

We just have loads of books around the house and visit the library weekly. My daughter loves a bedtime story.

I always told my son that reading didn't require batteries or charging and was a great way to have fun no matter where you were.

bedtime stories every night, and don't worry if the books aren't "suitably challenging" - that's for school work. Let them pick the books they love even if they are relaly too childish (or too grown-up, come to that).

We’ve always had books in the house, when my son was little we had books in with the toys & would read as part of play. We now do this with my daughter. We’ve always ready to my son as part of his bedtime routine & he loves it. We make sure we have lots of books so he can choose what he likes & doesn’t get bored. My son can’t read himself yet but will read the book via the pictures to my daughter, it’s so cute!

At Christmas we did an advent calendar of books - one mini book every night, they loved it

Make sure you take time to read to them EVERY day from when they are tiny. Make sure every character has a different voice as you read so the books really come alive for the children listening.

We have loads of books in the house
and we also do Charity shops to buy piles of different types of books for variety
set an example and read ourselves especially on holiday
go to the library and participate in their activities
joined the elibrary

I personally love to read, and when my DD sees me reading and my interest in books, this generally encourages her too. I also do a little book ticklist at the start of each year for us both to tick off. So it will say things such as 'Read a book about a princess', 'read a book with the word pink in the title'. She loves it and it really helps to encourage her to read!

A mix of books for her to read herself and some more advanced to be read to her

i read to my little ones and when they are upset i say would you like a story so it feels like a conforting treat,we go to the library and we have just done the book trail where they get a metal once they have read 6 books. I buy readalong books and we always talk about the book and the characters. I have an old casset player that was mine as a little girl and they listen to stroies on that too they love that.

I read to my two children from birth, not only from story books but from my own made up stories; they loved listening to tales when they were very young and you could easily add in friends, grandparents, aunts and uncles into your own made up stories.

Despite reading to them both, one of my children is an avid reader, the other much prefers getting dirty and being outdoors come wind or shine.