Motivating children to read English books with fun activities

Nicola Schofield
A child sat on a bed reading a book

Why is reading important?

Apart from being agreat hobbyand funactivity, it can help children improve in many areas of their lives through developingkey transferrable skills. Reading in their native language and English can bring a whole range of benefits. To engage everyone, they mustunderstand the benefits themselves.

Ask your students why it's important and create a mind map of ideas. You may alsowish 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.

Improveslanguage skills

Regular reading develops children’s linguistic skills – it helps them learn goodsentence structure, grammar, vocabulary andimprovesspelling in their own language and in the English language too. Reading aloudalso strengthensknowledge of phonics and improvespronunciationand articulation.

Improves memory

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

Cultivates curiosity

Books help kids’ imaginations to growandencourage them to bemore open-minded. Theyhelp us to learn about other cultures and encourage us to think more creatively. Through subtle messages,readingbuildsanawareness of the world in which we live andenableschildren to formtheir ownopinionsand ask questions.

Creates empathy

Stories help to develop children’s emotional intelligenceandempathy towardsothers. Exploringtopics and characters allows them to learn aboutreal-world situationsand think about how they would feelinsomebody else’s shoes. It encouragesrespect for others’ feelingsas well asothercultures.

Reduces stress

It is a great way tocalm 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 connectwith the wider world, cultureand communities.

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

Itmustbe fun,purposeful and relevant

Well-known adaptationscan remove barriers, support and encourage students’ imagination,andsparka genuine interest. Theygive purpose and relevance to the students as most students have watched a movieat some point in their lives and most students have afavorite movieor 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 theirfavorite movieandhave a vote as a class. Get to know your students, find out what interests them, and base yourbook choice around this.

Rewards

To motivate students, theymust know that they aremaking progress. Reward students for their achievements – for example,createa vocabulary wall ora class book chart and give rewardslikeastickerora postcardto takehome.

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 abookmarkis a fun way to get children into the habit of reading more regularly. If they have their own bookmark, then they are more likelyto want to pick up a book and read it. In the activity, the children can make their ownbookmarkbased on theirfavoritebook as well asdraw a picture of theirfavoritescene.

There’s space for them to write about theirfavoritecharacter and any new words they have learned. Thebookmarkthen becomes not only a way tofind your page butitcanalsohelp kids engage in English conversations about the stories and make them feel like they are making progress.

2. Create a mind map

A mindmap is an activity that helps children to understand andanalyzewhat is happening in the book they have just read. Itis a great way to show their understanding of the story clearly. It could also be usedfor doinga short presentation on the book orfor helping towrite a short paragraph about it.

3. Write your own short story

This activity is creative and asks the children to choose theirfavoritereader. They then use their imagination to write a short story about what happens next. They can place charactersin a completely different story of their ownand send them off on a new, exciting adventureor decide what happens next in the original story.

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

4. Create a reading passport

Motivate childrenby 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 andonce 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 theirfavoritecharacter and produce amovieposteron that person. Ask the students to draw a picture andwritekey details about the character, such as name, age, physical appearance and interests. This activity motivates the students as seeing theirfavoritecharacter 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

More blogs from ɫèAV

  • Business people sat at a table with papers smiling together

    Improve your strategic workforce planning with English language testing

    By Samantha Ball
    Reading time: 3 minutes

    Companies constantly seek methods to optimize workforce productivity and effectiveness. A powerful approach to achieving this goal is through strategic workforce planning bolstered by English language testing. This tactic not only identifies and addresses skills gaps but also reduces attrition and strengthens your workforce for both short-term and long-term success.

  • Business people sat and waiting in a row

    Boost the quality of your hires with English proficiency testing

    By Samantha Ball
    Reading time: 6.5 minutes

    Hire quality is top of the agenda for recruiters and talent acquisition leaders. Discover the impact of English skill testing on hiring fit-for-role employees.

    The results are in… thousands of recruiting professionals and top talent acquisition leaders say that sourcing high-quality candidates is their number one objective in 2024 and beyond.

    54% of recruiters are now prioritizing quality of hire above all else, according to LinkedIn’s Talent Solutions report . The report also highlights that 73% are using a skills-based approach to find top-quality hires, faster, with skills that fit the business both now and in future.

    Getting recruitment right can drastically impact productivity. In the UK alone, r, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). Conversely, the direct and indirect costs of mistake hires are a constant concern to organizations, not just in the UK but around the world. According to a survey of 400 hiring decision-makers by , 75% have hired the wrong person and say that one bad hire costs them nearly $17,000 on average. It’s no surprise then that skills-based quality hiring is such a top priority for recruiters.

    It’s harder than it might seem to systematically increase the quality of your hires, especially when you’re recruiting at scale. But the rewards are high when you get it right and a skills-first approach increases your chances of success – particularly when you focus on core skills like English proficiency that underpin communication. As an added bonus, skills-based testing can speed up the recruitment process significantly.

  • Two coworkers discussing some sticky notes on a class window

    Local to global: How English skills unlock a career in leadership

    By Samantha Ball
    Reading time: 4 minutes

    Of the 1.5 billion English speakers in the world, over half learned it as a second or additional language.

    The “language of business”, English has become a foundational skill for anyone looking to work in an international business or at a leadership level, and many English as a Second Language (ESL) speakers find themselves working in English on a daily basis.

    But working in your second or third language comes with a unique set of challenges and opportunities.

    We spoke to five global leaders about the role English has played in their careers, the challenges of being an ESL speaker, and how businesses can create a culture where everyone has a voice.