4 Tips for Building an Amazing Home Library You and Your Toddler or Preschooler Will Love
You know that feeling when you walk into a library and look around? You can smell the pages of the books, hear the silence or shuffling of books, and see endless rows of wonder. It’s truly magical, right?
I grew up going to the library every week to check out new books and listen to story time. My mom would take my brother and I and it was our bonding time. There’s something so beautiful about the memories we make with our children and now, I’m blessed to do the same with my daughter. 💕
If you’re a book fanatic like we are, then you likely already have a home library! If you don’t, I’m here to help you make the library of your dreams in your very own home. 🏡
This week on our Play + Learn series, I’m sharing 4 tips to building an amazing home library you and your kiddos will love!
Here are 4 tips to building a home library:
1. Set up 📚
You can organize your books in an accessible bookshelf, bins or book rack. When you have your storage selected, start adding books you and your child will likely be reading in the near future.
Then, get a bigger bin and store all the books you want to keep for later use and store them in a closet. This will help keep them organized without the clutter and avoid having too many books out at once.
You can sort your books however you choose: genre, color, size, type, level, etc. It truly is up to you!
2. Genres for preschoolers 🎨
There are so many genres to choose from and no correct or incorrect place to start. A great home library contains a variety of genres including, but not limited to: fiction, nonfiction, folktale/fairy tale, drama, poetry, fables, science, myth, mystery, fantasy, informational, biographies and more.
Also make sure to get different types of books like board books, paperback, hardcover and sensory books for toddlers. They love feeling each page and enjoy the journey of reading the stories.
3. Building a love for reading 💜
Every child is unique with their own personalities and interests. I always recommend getting books they thoroughly enjoy. For instance, if they love airplanes, get them a variety of fiction and nonfiction books about airplanes. This will increase their love of reading and expose them to multiple book genres and types of books.
Additionally, invite them to select the book they want to read. If they’re not reading yet, you can always point to a picture and have them say the word. This will make them feel like they’re participating in reading the story and will want to do more!
4. Fun book-related activity ideas 🌈
Create sensory bins, literacy, math or STEM activities based on a favorite book! For instance, one of our faves is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and we created a sensory bin with character cards from this story.
I am so excited to see your home libraries! Be sure to post them on Instagram and tag me @chanty.macias so I can share them this week as part of our Play + Learn: Library Series!
I hope this post on building your own home library with your littles was helpful and that you all have fun creating it together! 💖 Want more help with teaching your littles at home? Grab our free 4-Week Activity Planner here!
Questions about creating your home library? Please feel free to comment below or email me at chanty@chantymacias.com.
Stay tuned for more of our Play + Learn series coming soon! 👏