Benefits of Reading for Children

Books are fundamental for children's intellectual development and reading comprehension. In this article, we'll explain their importance and give you some simple ways to promote this wonderful activity.

There are many benefits of reading for children, which we’ll explain below. One of the most common questions that parents ask is how important it is to instill the habit of reading in their little ones.

Reading is of great importance to everyone, but in children it’s even more important because it allows them to exercise their brains from a young age.

Benefits of reading for children

There are many kinds of books: historical, educational, recreational and even fantasy. Everything works together when children read, not only providing stimulation at an intellectual level, but also socially.

These are some of the benefits of reading for children:

1. Practicing mechanical and comprehensive reading

This point is directly related to academic performance. Children who read more tend to study more. This causes them to understand texts and even lectures much better. In addition, it allows them to read more fluently and quickly.

2. Exercising the brain

One of the most important benefits of reading for children is that they exercise their brains from an early age. The action of reading a book represents a complex task for the brain, which causes more skills to develop, such as memory and comprehension.

3. Developing linguistic and writing skills

By reading more, children begin to learn new words and how to write correctly. Spelling is a really important factor that reading helps to quickly improve. In addition, their capacity for concentration and attention will be strengthened.

4. More knowledge and culture

Books allow us to know much more about the world and different cultures. Depending on the kind of books children read, they’ll have the opportunity to travel to places, increasing their creativity and enjoying the fantasy of the stories.

5. Development of personality

Although this point may stand out a little less than the others, children can more easily develop their personalities through the characters they come to know in books. It also allows them to better relate to their environment.

How to encourage children to read

It’s normal for children to imitate what they see adults or other children doing, so parents should always be cautious about what they watch on television or do around their children.

In the case of reading, it’s essential for adults to read and for children to observe them doing so. This will lead them to be curious and begin to acquire this habit.

Other techniques to encourage children to read include:

• It’s important to read or tell stories while your baby is still in the womb.
• When your child is a bit older, you can begin to introduce the habit of reading through lullabies, simple books, picture books and bathtub books.
• As children grow even older, parents can read to them and show them pictures in the books.
• After advancing through childhood, parents can motivate their children to read aloud to other children.
• Parents are also paramount in this process. They should read books, cooking recipes, signs and stories out loud.
• Reading clubs and libraries are a great option to introduce children to reading.

Graphic novels can help children with reading difficulties

Some children can find reading much more difficult than others, so graphic novels are recommended to keep them more easily interested. By having more images, the reading experience is delivered in small doses, which makes reading less difficult.

Children will have to do mental work in the same way with graphic novels, only they’ll be more pleased because there will be images accompanying the texts. Starting with these types of books will help them get started much faster than with text-only books.

Reading is a very important habit for children, allowing them to exercise their brains from an early age and to learn many more skills that will be fundamental in their daily lives.

It can even help them solve problems and cope with various situations. Because of all the benefits of reading for children, you should encourage your little ones to read from a very young age.