Give & Take: Interactive Reading

Interactivity is key to relating to toddlers, especially with reading. Instead of just narrating the words on the page, encourage your little one to respond to what’s happening on the page. Take frequent breaks from the action to ask questions—“I wonder why he did that?”—and to repeat favorite rhymes or phrases. Although you may not get a verbal response, your little one will likely react with smiles, laughter, eye contact, and the basic syllables that make up the beginnings of his language. This give-and-take narration style makes reading more of a shared than a one-sided activity.