Audiobooks are a great activity for any season of the year, but particularly for those HOT summer afternoons. These are some of the ways that I use them:
- "Nap time" for older children - In our house the younger girls nap and the older girls have a quiet time in the afternoon after lunch. Audiobooks help keep the older girls quiet and resting without thinking they are having to take a nap. I usually let them lay on the couch or a big pile of pillows to listen. They are happy to listen to CD's with or without a book to accompany it.
- Winding down for busy Preschoolers - For Claira (3.5) she listens to a story, usually with an accompanying book in her bed before she falls asleep for her nap. She can have a hard time winding down and this does the trick!
- Reading Comprehension - I also incorporate audiobooks into our lunch time. We listen together as we eat and then I can easily stop the CD or tape and ask them discussion questions. Asking them questions helps build their reading comprehension.
- History - Audiobooks are a great way to learn history. Right now Abby (8.5) is listening to a series on famous people in history.
- "Reading" for kids not quite reading yet - Abby loves the Hank the Cowdog series and the Magic Tree House books, but she is not able to read them on her own yet. The audiobooks solve this problem!
- Car Trips - for car trips both short and long, audiobooks are a great way to keep the peace in the car and prevent boredom.
- Book Reports - a fun way to share the story they listened to (and keep some of their skills sharp for the school year) is to have them do a book report for the family when they finish listening to the book. Encourage them to be creative with their report (so they don't think they are having to do school in the sumer) by letting them act out a scene from the book, do an art representation of the book or put together a lapbook summarizing of the book.
This post is part of the We Are That Family,
Works For Me Wednesday Annual Summer Edition: "Mom I'm Bored!"
Check it out for LOTS of Summer Boredom Busters ideas!
