Why does your toddler empty your bookshelves?
How often have you knelt next to an empty shelf amid a sea of books after your little tornado of a toddler has pulled them all off?
What if I told you there is a simple solution to encourage reading and to reduce the destruction?
For generations, we have been conditioned to putting books on a bookshelf, which is an efficient way of storing them if you are an adult, however, this method is not so great for children. When you display a book upright side-by-side on a shelf, the only part that is visible to a child is the spine.
For pre-readers, this presents a couple of problems:
Young children can’t read!
Children rely on pictorial and visual cues to provide them with meaning - colours, characters, letters, numbers, images. It is these all important visual elements that draw the children to a story and it is precisely these elements that they can’t see when books are lined up neatly in a row.
When a curious child is confronted with a row of books on a shelf, they will, more likely than not, start to pull the books down. The focus of the activity shifts from being about ‘exploring’ a book to the fun of ‘dismantling’ something and within the blink of an eye you are knee deep in books… again.
Too much choice overwhelming
In early childhood education, a golden rule of thumb is to provide children with enough choice to give them a sense of agency and independence, but not so much that it overwhelms them. A bookshelf with rows of books definitely falls into the ‘overwhelming’ category.
How do you transform the way your child engages with their books?
Choose a maximum of four books from your collection.
Clear the shelves and store the rest of your books away in a box.
Stand the books up so the front cover is facing forwards, visible and within easy reach of your little one (using book stands are a great way of doing this).
Rotate the books every week.