Teaching Kids To Love Reading With Brightly And Mad Libs

This post is sponsored by Brightly and Mad Libs.  All opinions expressed are my own.  Thank you for supporting the brands that support YUMMommy.

My passion for reading came naturally.  I was practically born with a book in my hand.  Now as a parent, I've learned that for some kids a love of reading has to be taught and cultivated.  And as my librarian (and former educator) mother reminded me, the best way to teach children anything is to make it fun.  This is exactly why I decided to partner with Brightly and Mad Libs for today's post.

You see, my kids were not born with books in their hands like I was.  Learning to read and how to actually enjoy reading was a struggle that included lots of tears and frustration in the beginning.  A quick phone call to vent to my mom helped me to realize that I had been going about the process all wrong with Moo.  Whereas reading just was fun to me, I had to show Moo how fun it could be.

Now that we have embarked on this homeschooling journey and it's JJ's turn to learn how to read and love reading, I'm reminding myself that incorporating lots of fun activities and play elements (like Mad Libs) will help to make our journey go a lot smoother this time around.  How?  Well, another key to helping kids develop a love for reading is boosting their confidence in their reading abilities.  And I've found that it's easier to boost confidence and skill set when my kids don't even know we're learning.

When we're learning play, Moo and JJ are both less self-conscious and aren't overly focused on right or wrong answers.  With their brains in fun mode, their guards are let down.  They're relaxed and excited.  Thus, they're more ready to learn and are able to absorb material and knowledge subconsciously. 

And this is the beauty of what makes Mad Libs a great game to help kids not only improve their reading skills but their English skills as well.  Mad Libs is a fun, simple but educational fill-in-the-blank word/reading game that the whole family can play together.  For those who have never played Mad Libs, one person will be the READER and pick out a story from the Mad Libs tablet/book.  Then, he or she will ask the WRITER(s) to give him/her words.  The READER will let you know what part of speech each word should be like an adverb, adjective, noun, etc.

Once all of the blanks have been filled in, the READER will then reveal the topic of the story and read it filling in the blanks with the words supplied by the WRITER. These stories are usually funny and silly.  So be prepared for a giggle fest!  You can keep passing the Mad Libs book around until everyone in your family has a had a chance to play each role.  Moo and JJ have loved playing Mad Libs and asked to play a round every night before bed.  I indulge them because I've noticed that playing has helped Moo with her English since she's currently learning about what nouns, adverbs, and adjectives are.  Playing has helped JJ in that it's making him more confident in his reading abilities and he's getting a head start on learning about the parts of speech as well.

The folks over at Brightly are giving families a chance to try out Mad Libs for themselves by offering a FREE downloadable bundle of 15 Mad Libs.  I would definitely recommend that you give this a try.  Mad Libs makes a great game to play on family game nights. 

But of course, Mad Libs isn't the only resource that Brightly offers to parents.  The Brightly website itself is a wealth of knowledge and resources.  They have tons of fun printables, activities, reading lists and more.  

What I love most about the Brightly site is that you have the ability to look up resources based your kid's age.  They understand that reading isn't a one-size fits all and I appreciate that they have activities that are on Moo's grade level so that she's not stuck doing something seems totally "baby-ish" and vice versa JJ is able to have activities that are on his grade level and not going above his head.  But there are also, a lot of activities that they can do together still.

Brightly even has something for us adults!  Brightly believes that "reading has the power to illuminate a child's life.  Reading is a window to the world for children, as well as being critical to a bright future in school and work."  I couldn't agree more with that.  I'm so grateful for resources like Brightly and Mad Libs that are helping to make opening those windows for my children fun and easier.

To stay up to date on all the latest happenings and future offerings from Brightly be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

How do you encourage a love of reading in your kids?