Every child is different. Some will, as soon as you pick up a book, come in for snuggles and contentedly sit and listen until your voice dies. Others simply can't handle stillness for any length of time.
Despite the fact that youngsters are little missiles of energy, story time (and other quiet activities) are important for their growth and development. So here are some ideas for getting your wiggly children to sit and listen to a story:
If anyone has any other ideas, please post the suggestions in the comments and I'll likely add them to this list later.
Despite the fact that youngsters are little missiles of energy, story time (and other quiet activities) are important for their growth and development. So here are some ideas for getting your wiggly children to sit and listen to a story:
- Give each child paper and pens/pencils. They can draw while they listen.
- Set aside some toys that are only brought out during story-time. Possibly several sets that you rotate through. Legos, small plastic animals, etc. are good choices.
- Have the child 'help' you by turning the pages.
- Interact with the child by having him/her look at the pictures and answering questions like: How many frogs do you see? Can you find anything red? What is this? What is the cat doing? Do you see a shoe? Questions involving skills the child is still working on, like colors, counting, animal sounds, and letters, are just the right skill level.
- Pause frequently to ask the child questions about the story while you are still in the middle of it. For example, if you were reading 'Cinderella', ask things like: Were Cinderella's mom and sisters being mean to her? What do you think she had to clean? How did she get to the ball? How did the prince find her? Questions that force the child to pay attention to what is happening in the story may focus his/her attention, and if you ask them before the story is done, it may prevent attention from wandering during the reading.
If anyone has any other ideas, please post the suggestions in the comments and I'll likely add them to this list later.