10 Ways To Inspire Reading With Whimsical Story Forts
Posted December 26, 2018 by Fort Magic
We love play scarves because they are soft, colorful, and versatile. There are so many kid-friendly activities you can do with them. You can also use our fabric clips in our Fort Magic building kits to turn them into a colorful fort and inspire your kids to read.
1. Create a Reading Area
If you want to get your kids excited about reading, create a specific space dedicated to reading! Your kids will have fun choosing their fort design from the manual or coming up with their own ideas. One of the best parts of this reading area is that they’ll get to work together with you to create it.
2. Get Them Moving with Scarves
Before reading, turn up the music and hand out the play scarves. You can have a dance party while waving these flowing scarves around. After everyone has gotten the wiggles out you can cozy up in your whimsical fort and read aloud from some of their favorite books.
3. Have a Themed Reading Day
Brainstorm with your kids and decide on a theme they would like for a themed reading day in their magical fort. Then, you can go to the library and find some good books that go along with your theme. You can create the fort to go along with your theme and even stock it with themed snacks. Your kids will be so excited, you’ll have a hard time getting them out of their new reading nook!
4. Use Scarves as Costumes
You can read a book together and then encourage your child to put on a play based off of a scene from the book. Play scarves are large enough to use as costumes. You can tie them around your neck as a cape or tie two together to become a tunic.
5. Start from Scratch
Once the novelty of their fort reading-nook wears off, you can reignite the excitement with a new fort design. They will get to have fun all over again while picking out and building a new design with you. With our 16 designs and the endless imagination of a child, you won’t run out of new reading fort ideas!
6. Use Audio Books
If you have a hesitant reader, this is a great way to get them excited about reading. You can get them all set up in their fort with all of their soft blankets and oversized pillows. Soon, they will be slaying dragons and going on adventures as their audiobook transports them to a land far off.
7. Make Reading Fun
You can inspire your kids to read more by making it fun for them. You can help them set up their reading area and decorate it with their own inspirational artwork. You can make it more fun by having special snacks they get only at your reading time. You can also make reading fun by dressing in costume and using all those quirky, funny voices as you read a fairytale.
8. Set Aside Reading Time Every Day
One thing that helps to encourage reading is having a consistent, daily reading time. Your kids will be less hesitant to read if they know that, at a certain time every day, they go to their reading nook for quiet time. This will also help you remember – if you stay consistent, reading time will soon become a habit.
9. Have them Pick Out Books for Your Home Library
Your home library can be a mixture of books you own with a rotation of books from the library. Don’t just pick books that have awards; get your kids to help by picking out the books they would like to read or listen to. They will be more likely to read books they have an interest in and have taken a responsibility in picking out.
10. Turn Your Reading Day Into Movie Night
Every kid loves movie night! You can turn your themed reading day into a movie night by watching the movie version of the book. You could even have everyone pile into the fort to watch the movie while you finish off your themed snacks!
Photo Credits:
The Artful Parent Blog: One of our absolute favorite creative blogs for children and families. The Artful Parent blog is filled with simple ideas to fill your family’s life with art and creativity. A must see blog for sure.
