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

437 replies

JustineBMumsnet · 03/08/2018 16:56

NOW CLOSED

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

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Mumsnet users share their tips for encouraging their children to love reading with McDonald's
OP posts:
TheExamStartsNow · 07/08/2018 23:16

I do organise a reading challenge each school holiday to inspire my son to read. I draw up like a board game type design on a3 paper, with stepping stones drawn on. Each time he reads (either a short book or 2 chapters of a longer book) he gets a star sticker on a stepping stone. There are small prizes along the way, like he can choose a magazine/comic at the shop after getting 5 stars, some Pokemon cards after 10 stars etc. The biggest prize being a cinema trip.

He's at a high reading level from his age, but unfortunately he just doesn't enjoy it and wouldn't read unless I made it a challenge and offered incentives.

ohlittlepea · 08/08/2018 07:05

I think most young children have a natural love of being read to, it's a nice bit of one to one time with a grown up. I guess maybe that reduces when they go to school and reading is a homework activity rather than just for pleasure. I think modelling a love of books helps, and showing them stories you loved as a child. Treating books and reading time as a special thing too. Big comfy chair, nice cuddle and your undivided attention.

Fakeflowersandlemonade · 08/08/2018 09:16

I have always read my children a bed time story. They are 8 & 9 now and they still get a chapter of a more grown up book (usually something Enid Blyton or Harry Potter). They are more than capable of reading themselves but it's our special time together and I hope it continues for a long time.

witherwings · 08/08/2018 09:17

My kids had their own library card from 6 months old when they could hold a book. Read to them every night of their lives at bedtime, now they read to me (age 10 and 7). They still love being read to as well. I read loads myself and keep and reread books that I love. Make reading stories even funnier by doing the 'voices' of the characters.
Always suggested books as presents when people asked.
They both get books as presents for any celebration (easter, birthday, Christmas etc).
They both adore reading now.

sarat1 · 08/08/2018 09:20

I share a book or two with my baby every single day and he has known how to turn the pages for me since about 6 months! He is gradually getting over that excitement and will let me read the page to him before trying to turn the pages :D

kateandme · 08/08/2018 10:08

always have books around.so they are like toys played with and looked at like all other toys.read your favourite books to them.show them your favourite stories.
let them sit with you even when your reading even the moringin paper or magazine get them interested I nthe words pics and stories.
always read stories before bed.
be enthusiastic with characters.this is the one time you should not care abuot how you look when acting our books for kids!

Modestandatinybitsexy · 08/08/2018 14:59

We have a book box in the play room with touchy feel-y and lift the flap books. He plays with these and chatters to himself or brings them over for me to read. We also have weekly trips to the library so he can choose books. And DH reads a bedtime story every night, and has done as part of the bed time routine since he was tiny.

I love books and it really seems like DS does too. He's only little and I have no idea how long it will last for but books were always my sanctuary and I would like DS to have that too.

Modestandatinybitsexy · 08/08/2018 15:00

Oh and I also have some soft toys such as moomin, paddington and winnie-the-pooh which we use as props for those stories

Babycarmen · 08/08/2018 15:23

I've always read bedtime stories with them. I love reading and my eldest always chooses a new book each week from the charity shop.

ThreeTimesMama · 08/08/2018 19:55

I just love to read and trying to teach my children to love it too. We are reading every day. If I am very busy doing something I will ask my children to keep me company by reading to me. Reading before bed, they will read to me and I will read to them books that are still difficult for them. And Library, it is like treat for them to choose books for the week.

mamaduckbone · 08/08/2018 20:57

We’ve always read at bedtime, as long as they wanted us to (with ds1 it was around 11, ds2 at 9 is still read to every night)
We’ve always given books as presents and visited the library regularly.
No screens in the bedroom means they both read before they go to sleep.
I try to leave it on a cliffhanger when I read to them so they’ll want to read on.

Thatforagameof · 08/08/2018 21:15

I was a big reader as a child and still love to read now so i was really keen for them to follow suit. I read to them from a young age and always have a bedtime story and storytimes. Trips to book shops and linrarys have been alot of fun too.

Silvertap · 09/08/2018 06:15

We take it in turns to make up lines of a story, to the library, have books all over the place and read together every day.

I also subscribe to a paper delivery so the kids some me reading something other than my phone!

countryred · 09/08/2018 10:43

Having books about really helps. When DD gets out her toys I always make sure there are some books there too for her to play with. Not treating books as ‘precious’. I’d rather she used and enjoyed them and they become dog eared than her not take an interest. Also, obviously, reading together lots and lots and lots! All sorts of books, any type of book it really doesn’t matter. Rather than switching on the tv get out a book instead!

margaritasbythesea · 09/08/2018 10:48

The things I hope will give them a love of reading (not yet in evidence) are reading to them every day even though they can read; going to the library lots; setting aside time for them to read to themselves and to me daily; knowing what they are reading and showing an interest (characters, plot lines etc)

Fingers crossed!

Tonkatol · 09/08/2018 14:41

Both my husband and I read all the time - a mixture of magazines, hard/paperback books and on a tablet. We have four children and have always, from when they were tiny babies, read them bedtime stories.

As they have got older, we would make sure we read school books daily, but then had their choice of book to read at bedtime - with four children, we have so many books that there is never a shortage of one for them to choose.

We joined them at the local library as soon as we could and took them to events like story-time for toddlers. Once they started school, we encouraged our DC to complete the summer reading challenge at the library - we often got through far more books than necessary Smile.

As my eldest DC got to secondary school, homework reduced the amount of reading they seemed to do, but then we still encourage them to read for relaxation before bed. If people wanted ideas for birthday gifts, I would often suggest buying the DC book tokens or a particular book.

My eldest daughter has just finished university and still loves reading - we share books nowadays and introduce one another to different authors. We will be going on holiday soon and will have to spread the number of books we intend taking amongst different cases so that no case is too heavy.

I used to worry that my DS didn't read much as he grew older - however, he tends to go from one extreme to the other - sometimes reading a great deal of non-fiction and other times reading comics. He rarely picks up a book to read, which I find a shame, but he reads on his tablet almost every day.

thismeansnothing · 09/08/2018 17:47

DD is 6 and has always had a love of reading/being read too/books in general.

Even when she was a baby we'd have a cuddle and I'd read her a picture book. Then when she was about 12 month bedtime routine would always be wash/bath, warm milk and a story. Then the toddler years we went to library bounce as rhyme and use that day to get some different stories from the library. We've always had books in the house and even though sometimes I've not had the patience for it id read her stories if she asked. Now she's reading a bit more independently in the holidays we sign up to the library summer reading challenges which give her a bit more incentive and focus to her reading and keep her practiced in it while she's not at school. I think all these little things have helped her love reading long term.

user1495807524 · 09/08/2018 18:55

We read to both of them every night, and enjoy trips to the library.

PorridgeAgainAbney · 09/08/2018 19:58

We read pretty much every night but if DS is totally knackered then we'll skip it; I've never wanted him to feel like it's a chore or something that he has to just get on with. He always chooses the book, too.

There are loads of books around the house and I'm always reading so it's just seen as something that we do for fun, relaxation and to learn things.

We go to the library a couple of times a month as well which means we can read a huge variety of books but only really buy half a dozen or so at Christmas and birthdays.

Oogle · 09/08/2018 20:02

We have books in every room. We don’t read every day or every night (he often falls asleep before I’ve read the first page) but if he wants to read, we snuggle up and I read to him. He’s only 3 so I’m hoping the gentle encouragement with nurture his love of reading.

augustmonster · 09/08/2018 20:58

DD5 has recently been allowed an extra 15 minutes at bedtime, in which she is allowed to read her own book of her own choice before we turn her light out.

This makes her feel much more grown up than her little sister, and she has recently started to use her time to start writing her own little stories too.

Givealittlebit · 09/08/2018 21:31

We've being doing bedtime stories since my little boy was born, even when he was far too little to understand! He loves it, we have a collection of books in his bedroom and another box downstairs. Makes me very proud that he loves books so much! I'm an avid reader so love reading with him, I think the enthusiasm is contagious as we've even got his dad involved!

origamiwarrior · 09/08/2018 22:09

Let your children set up a library in their room, and you go in to visit, select books, ask them for recommendations "I am looking for a book for my 6 year old daughter who likes animals", have book readings, and take out books using a library card the child has made. We did this when my DD was younger and I was surprised she wanted to do it again this year, aged 11.

OnMyWayToday · 09/08/2018 22:55

We’ve done bedtime stories since the kids were born so it’s always been part of our routine. Also have lots and lots of books for the kids in the house both fiction and non fiction so they have plenty of choice.

When reading the stories I like to do lots of voices and we sometimes act out parts of the books for fun, it’s great to make reading a really enjoyable time not just a chore of homework.

ButterflyOfFreedom · 09/08/2018 22:58

Always have books dotted around the house
Read them a bedtime story every night
Let them see me reading
Take them to libraries/ bookshops
Buy them new books every so often

Luckily my DC love books so it doesn't seem a chore - long may that continue!