Helping Children Find Space for Stories

With National Read Across America Day coming up on Friday, we have been thinking a lot about our love of books. It reminds us of the importance of providing dedicated spaces for learning in early childhood development. Having an intentional reading space for kids encourages learning, creativity and independence. Even for adults it is not always easy to find a quiet and secluded corner to enjoy a good book – and we know what to look for!

Help children discover a love for reading without having to continuously need assistance from the adults in the room with a few easy tips.

Find and Clear: Pick a spot with good natural lighting that is away from the busiest areas of the room. Foot traffic is distracting and pulls focus from the area! Once that area is identified, clean it out and start fresh. It is easier to create your getaway when you have a blank canvas. Use baskets, trays and low shelves to organize your materials at a height that is perfect for the kids.

Think Comfort and Color: What is going to make them WANT to go to the quiet corner when so much else is happening? Using items like tents, comfort seating, pillows, rugs and blankets are a perfect way to entice young ones. Providing color and fabric patterns that are interesting to look at will keep their attention much longer than keeping the area simple.

Provide more than Books: sure sure, you need books to make a reading corner, but you also need other ways to inspire a student. Lemon Lime Adventures has great suggestions for additional materials such as fidget toys (for busy hands), puppets to act out stories, and stuffed animals to read to. You can even make it multi-purpose by adding drawing supplies and paper so children have an outlet when interpreting the reading material.

Find even more ideas on classroom space and organization on our Space for Learning Pinterest board, and share your tips and advice with us all in the comments.