Reading bedtime stories is a great way to build some language, memory, and listening skills in your child. It will enable them to boost their vocabulary and be more confident in speaking. The key is to use this tool from an early age to enhance communication and development.
Of course, you might wonder how your two-year-old baby can benefit from you reading bedtime stories to them. Here are the top five benefits that your toddler will reap from this habit at nighttime.
Key Notes
- Make reading bedtime stories more effective by using sounds and expressions
- Don’t overdo the routine and make it last for five to fifteen minutes
- Reading bedtime stories is a great way to bond with your toddler
- It will help the toddler develop oral communication
1. Development Of Oral Communication
Reading stories can help your child build oral communication skills. They are struggling with this at the age they are in, and stories can give them a little push. Keep in mind that babies are taking in information at all times and creating connections in their minds.
Because of this, reading a story to your two-year-old will give them verbal cues, visual cues, and much more to understand how language works. They will listen to the words and notice how the words are written in the book. So, you can build this habit to improve the development of oral communication in your two-year-old.
2. Better Cognitive Skills
Babies absorb information even long before they start speaking fluently. You can aid this absorption process by reading stories to them every night. It will provide them with the benefits they need to start school at this age.
Most parents enroll their children in school when they are two-year-old, which is why reading stories to them can offer them a solid base. As they grow from this age, they will also learn how to read properly. As two-year-olds, they will learn problem-solving skills, too, as they listen to the stories.
3. Encourages Bonding
There is nothing better than bonding with your child at the end of the day. It helps them feel calm and secure so that they can go to sleep without any worries. Reading bedtime stories is a great way to bond with your two-year-olds before they go to bed.
It will also help relax their body and mind before they go to bed. Sometimes kids can become overstimulated, and listening to a story can help them be less stimulated. In addition, it is a great way to bond with them and relieve them of their anxieties as they go to sleep.
4. Ensures Sensory Development
The best part about reading stories is that you can use this technique to boost the sensory development of your two-year-old. Here are some ways you can do this:
- Invest in touch-and-feel books to introduce them to various textures
- Get books with music in them to help them understand sound
- Read along to an audiobook to give them visual and verbal information
These are the top three ways to help your two-year-old boost their senses and improve such development. Many parents don’t understand this aspect of development, which is why you shouldn’t leave it out. Different types of books can provide a different sensory experience in no time.
5. Enhances Their Vocabulary
Finally, two-year-old babies have very little vocabulary. They only know a few words, and they are still trying to understand how to communicate. Because of this, it is crucial that you incorporate bedtime stories into your daily routine before sleep.
It will provide your toddler with a new set of vocabulary that will help them create sentence structures and understand what you have to say. Children who have not been exposed to books from an early age may not have such a wide vocabulary. So, use this technique to aid your toddler in building good vocabulary skills.
Tips To Read Bedtime Stories To Your Two-Year-Old Baby
Now that you know the top five benefits of reading bedtime stories to your baby, it is also important to incorporate the right tips. After all, you need to maximize this experience for optimal learning. Here are some of the top tips you can incorporate to read bedtime stories to your two-year-old baby:
Use Expressions And Emotions
One of the best things you can do while reading a bedtime story is to use expressions and emotions. Doing this will help with the emotional development of your baby. They will learn what emotions are associated with what expressions.
Babies absorb all sorts of impressions at all times, which is why they will notice your expressions. So, make sure you use these aids to help develop emotional intelligence in your baby.
Don’t Keep Any Distractions Nearby
Make sure that you turn off all other distractions when you are reading a bedtime story to your child. Their attention needs to be on the story. If there are distractions, it will not reap the same benefits.
You have to create a calm environment for the attention of your baby to be completely on the story. So, turn off the TV, radio, and smartphones.
You Can Repeat The Same Story
Not everyone has the time to keep buying new books all the time. You don’t have to worry about buying new books because babies love repetition, and they learn from it the best. So, you can keep reading the same story, and your two-year-old will not get bored at all.
You can also use different sounds, expressions, and emotions each time. It will provide them with a diverse range of expressions they can associate with the same emotions.
Read In The Same Place
We are creatures of habit, and babies also thrive when they have a stable routine. Because of this, you can read in the same place every night, such as the chair, bed, couch, or anywhere else. Besides that, we also recommend that you do the same thing daily before and after reading the book.
It will allow them to have a nice routine so that they can easily go to bed. The bedtime of toddlers need to have a routine or else their sleep schedule can go out of place. So, make sure that you establish a routine during bedtime reading.
Don’t Overdo it
While your baby may enjoy reading and listening to the book, it is vital that you don’t overdo this process. For example, when the child is two years old, it is enough for you read two to three books in five to fifteen minutes. You can even read the same book twice in this time.
It will be much more effective for your child and this routine will not tire you out either. If you are a working parent, then you can follow this guideline to ensure the best bedtime routine for your two-year-old.
Final Thoughts
These are the top five benefits you can reap from reading bedtime stories to your two-year-old baby. You can incorporate this habit every night so that your two-year-old baby can learn in the best way from the stories you have to teach.
Follow these guidelines to boost the emotional and cognitive development of your two-year-old baby in the long run.
Read also: Reading Head Start Program Review: A Comprehensive Reading Program
