How to Keep Your Kids Reading with Delightful Christmas Stories

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It’s the season for eggnog, Christmas lights, and carols. But don’t stop there. Keep your kids reading with delightful Christmas stories!

I don’t know about your house, but my kids are bouncing off the walls with excitement. They can’t wait until Christmas! Which begs the question, just how do you keep your kids reading when they can’t settle down?

Find Delightful Christmas Stories

When kids are full of the Christmas spirit, they don’t want to read mundane books about turtles, rabbits, or elephants. They long for books filled with the Christmas spirit. Books that prepare kids for Christmas and heighten their excitement even more.

So your first step in encouraging your children to read through the holiday break is to find a few delightful Christmas tales.

And here are some of my favorite Christmas stories to enjoy with my kids:

Start Reading the Book Aloud

Once you have your Christmas stories chosen, start your kids reading by reading the first couple of chapters aloud.

Use different voices for the various characters. Heighten the drama by raising and lowering the volume of your voice. And don’t forget to curl up together with cocoa and cookies. Make it an experience.

Because your goal is to absorb your children in the story.

Your kids should be hanging on your every word, sitting on the edge of their chairs, and quivering in anticipation of what will happen next.

And once your kids are in this state, suddenly remember something urgent you absolutely must deal with right now.

Put the book down.

Your children will be dying to find out what happens next and won’t be able to resist picking up the book. They must read further.

Now, if you find yourself drawn into the story, there’s no reason why you can’t keep reading the Christmas story aloud to your kids!

Quiet Reading Hour

If making your children quiver in anticipation isn’t your style, establish a quiet reading hour after lunch.

Everyone in the house needs a few minutes of quiet to relax after bouncing off the walls all morning. And you need a break from the sibling bickering that always seems to accompany the holidays.

So send your children to their rooms after lunch. And pull out the amazing Christmas stories for your children to read during this quiet reading hour.

Encourage your high school teens to read Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. Hand The Night Before Christmas or Polar Express to your younger children.

Remind any Grinches you have that reading Christmas stories will heighten their anticipation for Christmas.

Spend a few minutes quietly reading before continuing with your Christmas preparations.

Exchange Books

Everyone has a favorite book they wish the entire world would read. Keep your kids reading by exchanging books with them.

It’s a very simple concept. You choose an amazing Christmas story for each of your children to read. In return, they choose a book for you to read.

During the quiet reading hour, read the books you exchanged. And remember to pull out Christmas cookies and hot chocolate before discussing the various stories you’re reading.

Chat about the Grinch. Muse over A Christmas Carol. Wonder what it would be like to ride on the Polar Express. In short, discuss the books everyone is reading.

After all, what’s the point of a book exchange if you don’t talk about what you’ve read?

Spend Evenings Reading Christmas Stories as a Family

You don’t need to hand Christmas stories to each child in your family if it’s not your style. Instead, make a new holiday tradition of reading Christmas stories as a family each evening.

Light a fire. Make hot chocolate with marshmallows and sprinkles. Curl up in blankets on the sofa.

Spend the evenings reading Christmas stories as a family. Read about the Grinch and Scrooge. Pass Polar Express around and let everyone read a short section.

After all, reading doesn’t mean you have to sit and read books by yourself. Instead, keep your kids reading by reading amazing Christmas stories aloud as a family.

There are many ways to keep your kids reading this holiday season, but the best way is to read amazing Christmas stories.

Read them aloud and separately. Discuss them as a family.

Make beautiful memories of holidays filled with stories, talk, and laughter.

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5 Comments

  1. We started a book a day advent last year and the kids loved it. We are doing the same this year. It has really excited the children to open a book and then read it each day.

  2. I do the same thing with my daughter for Advent! I write the titles of 26 Christmas books on a small card decorated with a Christmas sticker and place the cards in a beautiful holiday box . The books are placed in a sleigh & covered so she doesn’t know what the books are . Every year I add a few new ones and try to purchase them so we own a huge collection , I of course also go to the library very early to find the best classics before they are gone! Everyday my DD digs into the box to pick out a book not knowing which one it will be! We do these books as read alouds and she just loves it . The Velveteen Rabbit was long so we read that 1 over a couple of days so you could definitely do the same with books like a Christmas Carol & others for older kids. I use all of Memoria Press Christmas selections and the Read Aloud Revival best books list . My DD absolutely loves this and it helps me as a parent stay on track with reading to my daughter all the time which is a consistent goal of mine!

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