Start a Book Club for Toddlers

Mum's that aren't working tend to have a busy social live revolving around their babies - have you thought of starting a book club for toddlers?  Meeting up with other Mum's is great because it gets you out, and introduces your children to others of a similar age.  Although you don't need an excuse any greater than 'coffee', having a focus helps you to establish meeting on a regular basis.  Start a toddler book club and this will help you to meet routinelywhilst educating your children.

Each week, select one mum member to choose a book to 'study' - it may be just a picture book, a board book or any story book.  Take turns meeting at each other's houses, and after a bit of play, all settle down into a circle with your children and have the lead mother go through the book, reading it aloud to all the children and other mum's.  As you go along, look at the pictures and point out the characters, and any objects mentioned in the story.  At the end of the story, have a discussion about the story and ask questions about the characters, and what happened.  Ask the children what they would have done if they were in the various situations protrayed in the story.

A toddler book club will introduce your children to the idea of sitting still in a group and listening to stories - something that they will do many times when they start nursery and school.  The club will also encourage them to listen to understand because they will want to be able to answer the questions.  They will extend their vocabulary as they will be learning new words, and they will learn participation through the discussion and build their own confidence.

Tell us if you already run a book focused activity for toddlers, or if you start one, and we can feature your group in our newsletter!