What Are the Benefits of Reading Books with My Baby?
Do you remember your favorite childhood books? Research shows that reading with your baby can stimulate their senses and support their brain and overall development. Books help cultivate a child's love for stories, rhymes, reading, and writing from an early age, setting them on a path of lifelong learning.
As Highberger and Brooks (1973) noted, "Reading to young children has long been recognized as an important precursor to language and literacy development."
Don’t worry if you can’t finish the book, if your baby turns the pages, grabs the book, or mouths it - exploration is part of the learning process. Just read what you can and let your baby enjoy the experience.
Books can foster a baby’s:
- Vision: Stimulating visual engagement with colourful illustrations.
- Hand-Eye Coordination: Improving skills as they reach for and interact with the book.
- Bonding: Enhancing connections with caregivers through shared reading experiences.
- Communication Skills: Helping them hear and repeat words, recognise new sounds, and develop early language skills.
- Vocabulary: Expanding their word bank as they encounter new terms.
- Listening Skills: Encouraging attentive listening to stories and sounds.
- Concentration: Improving focus as they engage with the book.
- Curiosity: Prompting them to think about how things work, point to objects, and ask questions. Emotional Expression: Helping them understand and express their feelings.
- Memory Building: Enhancing recall of sounds, words, illustrations, and characters.
- World Understanding: Providing insights into their surroundings and different concepts.
- Expression Understanding: Teaching them about facial expressions and emotions.
- Imaginative Thinking: Inspiring creativity and imaginative play.
- Cultural Awareness: Introducing them to different cultures and perspectives.
- Motor Skills: Developing fine and large motor skills as they hold, turn pages, poke, and feel the textures of the books.
Bonding
Share quality time with your baby by reading together, strengthening your bond. Choose moments when your baby is alert and engaged. Place the book within their line of sight so they can focus on the illustrations. As your baby grows, you may notice them bringing books to you, eager to continue the shared experience.
Physical Development
Support your baby's physical growth by incorporating books into various activities. During tummy time, while lying on their back, or sitting together, position the book so they can focus on it. Trace the illustrations and explore the book's textures with your baby, showing excitement and encouraging them to explore the sensory aspects as well. Engage them by lifting flaps with enthusiasm and describing what’s underneath. Over time, your baby will begin to lift the flaps and discover the tactile elements on their own.
Language and Communication
Engage with your baby by exploring the illustrations in the book together. Describe the pictures, words, sounds, and rhymes, using varied tones and volumes to make reading more dynamic. Use different voices for characters and mimic animal sounds or vehicle noises to enrich their understanding of the world. Reinforce their learning by repeating sounds and actions they make, and offer praise for their efforts. Ask questions and point to the illustrations you're discussing to further enhance their comprehension and communication skills.
Sing songs
Singing and music is a fantastic way to encourage language together whilst exploring a book. Think about the story and characters for song ideas. We have a Music Theme Sensory Surprise Box available to purchase. See our blog- The benefits of singing with babies for more information on singing with your baby.
Family time
Create a reading area with your family; Include a low level reading shelf or book box for your baby and children to access. Use props, puppets and resources alongside the books with your baby. Our Theme Sensory Surprise Boxes contain a book and resources to explore. Using props is an exciting way to build on a child’s development. We also sell The Puppet Company My First Puppet individual hand puppets that are suitable from birth with supervision. You can purchase Traditional Nursery Rhyme Puppet Sets and Traditional Story Sets that come with finger puppets for you and your baby to explore.
Bedtime
Read with your baby at bedtime and involve other siblings to make it a special family event. This shared time not only creates lasting memories but also provides a calming routine that prepares your baby for sleep. Additionally, babies learn from their siblings, enhancing their language and social skills. Reading together before bed helps relax everyone and sets the stage for a restful night’s sleep.
Trips out
Take books out with you to entertain your baby. You can read to them or allow your baby to explore the book themselves. We have a range of story books to buy in our wooden resources and Toy shop, some of these being finger puppet books, feel and touch books, and sliding, peek a boo books. We also have a range of wonderful exciting books to stimulate babies development in our My Sensory Journey Subscription boxes that are delivered to your door every three months for up to a year depending on when you sign up. The subscription boxes can also be bought individually.
Best books to read?
- Black & white books for very young babies
- Hardback
- Cloth books
- Textured books
- Lift the flap books
- Feely books
- Books with repetitive phrases
Free books to read?
- Visit the library
- Library story sessions
- Read online stories
Tag us in some of your pictures or stories of your baby exploring books on our Facebook or Instagram page.
Please be aware that all children are different. If you are ever concerned about your baby’s development, you should contact your doctor or health visitor.
Sources: Highberger R and Brooks H (1973) Vocabulary growth of Head Start children participating in a mothers’ reading program.