When you think back to some of your favorite times in your early childhood, it’s likely that storytime will be somewhere in the mix. Reading books is a wonderful way for children to grow their language skills, expand their vocabulary, and enrich their imagination. And, during their preschool years, storytime is a great way for children to bond with their teachers and fellow classmates. Preschool storytime has a lot of benefits for small children, so it’s important to include it in your lesson plans. 

Need inspiration and tips on how to read to children, implement storytime ideas, or find the types of books you should read to your class? Continue reading to get preschool storytime ideas that will help kickstart your class’ lifelong love of reading.

Importance of reading to children

Reading to children is important because it helps children develop their language skills and exposes them to new words. Books introduce vocabulary and grammar structures that children may not hear normally in their everyday lives. This helps lay the neurological foundation for effective language development and usage as they grow. 

But, the importance of reading to children goes far beyond those benefits alone. One of the biggest benefits of reading to children is that it helps develop and build empathy and emotional intelligence. This is important because it helps children understand emotions, cope with theirs, and recognize how others feel so they can appropriately interact with them. 

Reading to children also strengthens the bond between the children and the reader. Sharing moments of adventure and discovery through reading helps to create a deeper emotional connection.

Source

How to read to children

There’s no “right way” to read to children, so the sky’s the limit when it comes to how you read to your preschoolers. Here are a few tips you can consider to make your literacy activities as fun, relaxing, and engaging as possible.

Create a comfortable storytime area

To keep your preschoolers engaged, be sure everyone is comfortable and the area is spacious enough for everyone, including you. 

Grab a book that will be engaging for everyone

While everyone is different, there are books that will be universally loved by everyone in your class. So, try to choose books that have general themes.

Try not to read too quickly 

It can take a few beats for small children to process the words they hear, so slow down as you’re reading so they’ll have ample opportunities to fully understand what you’re reading to them.

Encourage questions

Encourage your class to ask and answer questions as you’re reading. That way, you’ll know for sure that your children are fully comprehending the story, and they’ll be more engaged throughout the entire experience.

Storytime ideas

As you’re building your reading list, it’s important to have a concrete plan. Here are some storytime ideas that can make your storytime engaging:

• Pick a theme to center your books around and build a lesson plan around it.
• Encourage your children to bring books from home for you to read to the class.
• Invite parents and faculty to be guest readers.
• Use props and puppets to help make storytime even more fun.
• Point to and ask questions about pictures.
• Read books that are on their reading level.
• Emphasize sounds or syllables that they may be struggling with such as the /b/ sound.

To make planning your storytime even easier, you can use aids like brightwheel's lesson plan feature to build your literacy program and track your class’ progress and development. 

Books for preschoolers

Now that you have tips on how to conduct storytime, here are some books you can read.

Books about nature

• If I Were a Tree by Andrea Zimmerman
• Wonder Walkers by Micha Archer
• What’s in Your Pocket? Collecting Nature’s Treasures by Heather L. Montgomery

Books about gratitude

• When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree by Jamie L.B. Deenihan
• Gratitude is My Superpower by Alicia Ortego
• Thank You Bear by Greg E. Foley

Books that promote language development

• Go, Dog. Go! by P. D. Eastman
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
• Corduroy by Don Freeman

Books that teach empathy

• Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller
• Good News, Bad News by Jeff Mack
• Big Feelings by Alexandra Penfold

Books about growing up

• Everything I Need to Know Before I’m Five by Valorie Fisher
• Spot’s New Friend by Eric Hill
• Rosie Goes to Preschool by Karen Katz

With these tips and ideas, you’ll be well on your way to having fun and engaging storytimes with your preschoolers. Reading to children is an incredibly enriching experience, and your preschoolers are sure to reap the benefits far beyond your classroom.