We’ve all cuddled up for story time with our kids, and enjoyed the closeness of quiet time together. Reading together is one of the most precious things we can do with our children. It helps them in so many ways: aiding with Memory Development, Creativity & Security, and provides a really lovely opportunity for them to listen to one of their favourite voices in the whole world.
Yours.
I remember my Uncle telling me children gain far more out of reading with a member of their family, than they do with anyone else.
As you know, it isn’t always possible to be on hand for a much needed story time!
- Are you familiar with the ‘child climbing up your leg’ while you’re trying to cook scenario?
- Long car journeys
- Dentist appointment
- Families who are separated
- A child who is poorly, either at home or in hospital and you need to shower and they’re bored of CBeebies and they just want you…
GOOD NEWS! You can still read to them and be there for story time, but without physically being there 🙂
What You Do:
Just prop a picture book up vertically against some cushions and record the pages of the book while you read the story from behind the camera. *Use the device your child will be using.
You can point to things on the page if you like, or not. You can ask questions through it if that’s what you usually do. Just stick to your normal story time style but just be careful not to whizz through it, or it will be exhausting to watch!
It doesn’t matter if you don’t do a perfect job, I certainly don’t BUT BUT BUT – your child won’t care!!!
If you’re planning a long car journey or need a good solid chunk of story time, just grab a pile of books (new, old, yours or from the library) and just keep recording while you read them back to back. Don’t aim for perfection and don’t worry about having to swap books around. They’ll love watching all that too! If they’ll be watching it on an iPad, record on the iPad so you don’t end up with a gigantic email that not even Steve Jobs could send. If you’re recording it and do need to send it somewhere, then uploading it to Dropbox works really well.
Do give this kind of story time a go – it’s such an engaging and lovely way to use ‘the electronics’.
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Come and join us on Facebook, or find us over on Christmas Traditions & Magic For Children for all year round festive chat.
Emily x
This is a great idea! I work Mon-Fri evenings so miss bedtimes 5 nights a week 🙁 I should do this! Great idea, thank you 🙂
This would be perfect for you and your family Victoria! It’s really fun to do, and a combo of mum and screen time is always going to be a hit 🙂 x