Reading to your children

S.H.A.R.E. a story with your child

Sharing books and reading together are powerful ways to bond with our children and help them learn. Here are some fun way to make the most of storytime – for babies, toddlers and primary school-age children.

S.H.A.R.E. Books with Your Baby or Toddler

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Snuggle with your child

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Help your child turn pages and point to pictures

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Ask your child questions about the story

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Respond to your child’s comments

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Enjoy this special bonding, brain-building time together!

Sharing a book with your baby or toddler is a great way to bond, plus it helps build important early literacy skills, such as listening, growing vocabulary and understanding. You can help by looking together at the pictures and pointing out a few things – ask your child to turn the page or point to the flowers.

Encourage your child with questions and respond to what she says. Help your child expand his thoughts by asking “wh” questions, such as “Where is the dog?’ or ‘What does a dog say?” Don’t forget, it’s okay to be silly and playful and know that your child may only interact with a few pages of the book at a time. You’ll be surprised at all the talking you’ll do and the fun you’ll have together!

Free reading and learning resources

Our partner Reading Eggs has provided some fantastic resources to help make learning together fun!

Reading Eggs is the multi-award winning online reading programme for children aged 2–13, and we’re delighted to be partnering with them as we celebrate a million moments of play this summer.

Access the free reading and learning resources and find out more about Reading Eggs fundraising for Save the Children on their website.

Access free reading resources

Why reading is important

Need inspiration? Meet Ildephonse

Ildephonse, a Reading Club leader, spends his evenings making his own toys and learning tools... from scratch. He even makes the glue and the markers. And most heroic of all, when he saw how children struggled outside in the harsh sun or the pouring rain, he built an annex on to the side of his house so that the children in the village would always have somewhere to read.

Since he participated in our literacy champion training in Rwanda, Ildephonse has transformed the lives of the children in his remote village, by encouraging children and their families to read.

He wants to give the children in the village the chances he wish he had, and he has found his real passion and creativity in the arts and crafts he creates to inspire them - he uses rice bags and cardboard to create homemade tvs, mobile phones, trucks and musical instruments, and the result is large groups of happy children, enthusiastic about learning and looking forward to a bright future.
Find out more about Ildephones