Five Ways to Keep Kids Engaged In Reading This Spring
Reading Time: 2 min
Spring is an exciting time for children and adults of all ages. The days are longer, the sun is warming and everything seems to be in bloom. Spring also marks the final leg of the school year for most students across the country. This can present new challenges for educators, parents and caregivers. Our internal instincts tell us to run outside and frolic in the sun, when in reality, there is important work to do indoors. Education experts have shared a few ways to help combat this type of “Spring Fever”:
Connect an outdoor activity with science curriculum
Spring is a fun time to explore the outdoors. Educators, parents and caregivers can incorporate science curriculum into simple spring happenings such as bird migration, hibernation, tree biology, flowers and baby animals. Researching spring happenings in a book, then heading outdoors to explore it in real time is a great way to connect the ecological dots.
Read about far away places in your own backyard
A trip to the local library can give children access to far away places like the Amazon rainforest, pyramids in Egypt, polar bears in Antarctica or sharks in the ocean. Creating a cozy outdoor space for reading will give the children in your life new motivation to dive into their books in the comfort of their own backyard.
Create an Outdoor Adventure Journal
This type of project can be as simple or complex as you see fit. Stapling blank pages together and pasting spring images to the pages is a quick and easy method. For a more complex project, creating a digital journal with images captured on a smartphone or digital camera might fit the bill. Heading to the local library to research facts on the images in the journal is a great way to incorporate reading into this fun spring-themed project.
Find Ways to Get Kids to Move
Sometimes when “Spring Fever” feelings arise, it's best to just get up and move. This can be done in many creative ways. There are online resources such as “Go Noodle” which offers free, online, kid-friendly movement and mindfulness videos to break up the day. Some classrooms have adopted “Stop, drop your stuff & dance” throughout the day to encourage movement. However you do it, giving kids the chance to move around to release energy is a great way to combat spring fever.
Go on an online adventure
Online reading apps, such as Lou Adventures are designed to encourage a high level of engagement while improving reading comprehension and fluency. Lou adventures takes children on a reading focused adventure led by Lou the dog. Lou offers clues to advance to the next level building on a sense of accomplishment to create more confident readers.
