Something weird is happening in towns up and down the country. Children are seen wandering around dressed as witches and wizards, or as Alice in Wonderland, perhaps even going all out and donning a fluffy mane to recreate Aslan from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
Iphone photo. My daughter dressed as Bell for world book day a couple of years ago.
For those of you who are wondering what is going on, and why supermarkets are suddenly selling a host of adorable outfits for tiny humans, here is the explanation. It is World Book Day today and we are encouraged to take the time to encourage everyone, though children in particular, to share their love of reading.
While it’s easy to see why children love World Book Day, it is undoubtedly a huge stress for parents. The pressure is on to buy (or create) the perfect outfit, and for those who don’t have the time, money or manual dexterity to pull it off, it can cause a few sleepless nights. However, there are a host of other ways you can get involved with this event, without the need to dress up.
Here are some great other activity suggestions you and your family can get involved in to keep you occupied, and to continue building that love of reading that will live with them for a life time.
1 – Design a book cover
Now, we all know you’re never meant to judge a book by its cover, but let’s be honest, we all do it anyway. It’s the first thing you see, and it is what’s going to draw your attention to a shelf. Why not ask your children to design a cover for their favourite book? What do they like about the current cover, and what would they change?
Maybe they could even come up with an idea for a book, ad design the cover for that instead.
2 – Create a story sack
Story sacks are a great idea, especially for younger children. Simply get a sack (you can even use an old pillow case) and find items that help represent a particular story. You may have things lying around that could recreate a certain story they love, for example if you have a Gruffalo toy, or you could even try to make things that could be used as props.
The idea here is to help younger children make their stories come to life, by allowing them to act them out as you tell the tales to them.
3 – Who’s the author?
For many children they are only aware of the story they love, they don’t necessarily associate it with the person who took the time to write it. Why not do some research on the author of their favourite book or story and write about them? Find out what other books they have written, or what their inspiration was and talk about what they might be like as a person.
4 – Swapsies
Why not encourage the children on your street, or in your child’s class to swap their favourite books with someone else? This is a great way for children to really share their love of reading, and to expose them to literature they may never have come across otherwise. It can be a great way to get children to talk about their favourite reads as well as they compare what other people like, and they can explain why they like a particular story.
5 – What was your favourite?
Your children may not care about the types of books you like to read now, in fact, they may simply assume you like Superworm as much as they do. Why not take the time to tell them about your favourite book as a child? Even better if you can read it to them. Many children’s book last through the generations, and it can be wonderful to snuggle up in bed reading to them something your parents once read to you.
Why not head over to our Facebook page and share your photos of World Book Day, or let us know what your family’s favourite books are?
