Motivating children to read English books with fun activities

Pearson Languages
A child sat on a bed reading a book

Why is reading important? 

Apart from being a great hobby and fun activity, it can help children improve in many areas of their lives through developing key transferrable skills. Reading in their native language and English can bring a whole range of benefits. To engage everyone, they must understand the benefits themselves.   

Ask your students why it's important and create a mind map of ideas. You may also wish to use some of the points below to start the conversation. Having a common idea that everyone agrees on can help build motivation and engagement in the classroom. 

Improves language skills 

Regular reading develops children’s linguistic skills – it helps them learn good sentence structure, grammar, vocabulary and improves spelling in their own language and in the English language too. Reading aloud also strengthens knowledge of phonics and improves pronunciation and articulation.  

Improves memory 

It can help to develop knowledge of phonics and vocabulary recall and improve focus and concentration – all necessary skills when learning a language. 

Cultivates curiosity 

Books help kids’ imaginations to grow and encourage them to be more open-minded. They help us to learn about other cultures and encourage us to think more creatively. Through subtle messages, reading builds an awareness of the world in which we live and enables children to form their own opinions and ask questions. 

Creates empathy 

Stories help to develop children’s emotional intelligence and empathy towards others. Exploring topics and characters allows them to learn about real-world situations and think about how they would feel in somebody else’s shoes. It encourages respect for others’ feelings as well as other cultures.  

Reduces stress 

It is a great way to calm the mind and help us relax and destress. Children can learn to use it as a helpful tool in their day-to-day lives.   

Develops key life skills 

Children develop their confidence, communication, resilience, patience, social skills and connect with the wider world, culture and communities. 

So how do we motivate our young learners (even our most reluctant readers) to develop a passion for reading? 

It must be fun, purposeful and relevant 

Well-known adaptations can remove barriers, support and encourage students’ imagination, and spark a genuine interest. They give purpose and relevance to the students as most students have watched a movie at some point in their lives and most students have a favorite movie or character.  

Let your young learners choose 

There are plenty of English Readers to choose from – if the students can choose their own readers, they will likely be more motivated and focused. Choice gives the students power and makes it more relevant to them. Ask your students to choose their favorite movie and have a vote as a class. Get to know your students, find out what interests them, and base your book choice around this. 

Rewards  

To motivate students, they must know that they are making progress. Reward students for their achievements – for example, create a vocabulary wall or a class book chart and give rewards like a sticker or a postcard to take home. 

 

Here are five practical, fun ideas on how to further motivate your learners and engage them in reading both in and outside the classroom.

1. Make a bookmark 

Making a bookmark is a fun way to get children into the habit of reading more regularly. If they have their own bookmark, then they are more likely to want to pick up a book and read it. In the activity, the children can make their own bookmark based on their favorite book as well as draw a picture of their favorite scene.

There’s space for them to write about their favorite character and any new words they have learned. The bookmark then becomes not only a way to find your page but it can also help kids engage in English conversations about the stories and make them feel like they are making progress.

2. Create a mind map 

A mind map is an activity that helps children to understand and analyze what is happening in the book they have just read. It is a great way to show their understanding of the story clearly. It could also be used for doing a short presentation on the book or for helping to write a short paragraph about it.  

3. Write your own short story 

This activity is creative and asks the children to choose their favorite reader. They then use their imagination to write a short story about what happens next. They can place characters in a completely different story of their own and send them off on a new, exciting adventure or decide what happens next in the original story.

Writing stories like this helps young people to explore their ideas, express their creativity and reinforce sentence structure, vocabulary and grammar at the same time.

4. Create a reading passport 

Motivate children by giving them clear and achievable goals. Asking them to fill in a passport as they read a new book is a fun way to encourage them.

Each book allows each child to enter a different world and once they have visited each place, they complete a new page in the passport and receive a stamp. You could even make this a class competition to see who can fill in the passport pages the quickest.

5. Create a character profile

Ask the children to choose their favorite character and produce a movie poster on that person. Ask the students to draw a picture and write key details about the character, such as name, age, physical appearance and interests. This activity motivates the students as seeing their favorite character in a different context can be entertaining and engaging.

With these simple activities, you can make reading a more enjoyable experience, as well as helping with learning English for kids and developing their overall reading skills.  

Learn about our readers for young learners

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