How To Turn Reading Into Fun

1. Find A Special Place To Read: Children love to read when it is a secret or special place. You can turn anything in your home into a special little book nook. It could be a bunk bed, a comfy chair, under a desk, a tree house, or even a bathtub. Just find a spot that your child would like and make it special. Add extra pillows or photos to that area. Have that spot be the reading area for your child. Just make it special and he/she will enjoy it.

2. Make Reading An Everyday Thing: Find a block of time for your child to read. Start with just five minutes and keep bumping it up. Set your goal for 15 minutes a day. Try to having reading time every night. To make your child want to read even more, sit down with them and listen or read to them. Also, let them notice you reading. If they realize that you enjoy reading, they may enjoy it more as well.

3. Laugh: Find a good book that has some humor it. We all enjoy a good laugh every now and then, including your child. This helps make it fun to read.

4. Find Books That Appeal To Your Child:Go to the library or the bookstore and pick out a book that reflects their interest. It could be about football, basketball, dance, horses or whatever appeals to your child. If they enjoy something, they will probably enjoy reading about it also.

Ways to Encourage Reading, Without Involving Books

1.  Play Games: There are lots of word games available that you can play with your children. These word games make your child think and use words they already know and are in their vocabulary. Plus, when you use a new word that they do not already know, you are teaching them as well. This is an easy way to get involved with your child, while having fun at the same time. Examples: Boggle, Scrabble, Upwords, Crossword Puzzles, Scattergories

2. Cook: When you make dinner or bake cookies, get your child to help. Your child can help by reading you the ingredients, plus this also helps with their math skills. You can easily convince your child to help, especially when it is cookies.

3. Take a Field Trip: Go visit a museum, an IMAX theatre, or a zoo. When children learn about what is out there in the world, this expands their minds. It makes them want to learn more about what they just saw.

Great Places T o Go Visit

1. Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo

http://www.omahazoo.com

1-402-733-8400

2. Lincoln's Children's Zoo

http://www.lincolnzoo.org

1-402-475-6741

3. Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo Imax Theatre

http://www.omahazoo.org

1-402-330-IMAX

4. University of Nebraska State Museum

http://www.unl.edu/museum/

1-402-472-2642

5. Mueller Planetarium at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln

http://www.spacelaser.com

6. Lincoln Children's Museum

http://www.lincolnchildrenmuseum.org/general/

1-402-477-4000

7. Omaha Children's Museum

http://www.ocm.org/

1-402-342-6164

8. Kearney Children's Museum

http://www.kearneykidzone.com/

1-308-698-2228

9. Children Museum of Central Nebraska in Hastings

http://www.cmocn.org/

1-402-463-3300

10. North Platte Area Children's Museum

1-308-532-3512

11. Stuhr Museum in Grand Island

http://www.stuhrmuseum.org/

1-308-385-5316

12. Great Platte River Road Archway

http://www.archway.org

1-308-237-1000