Goal
Bring stories to life through sound — builds expressive reading and keeps even reluctant readers properly engaged.
You'll need
- A book to read together
How to do it
As you read, add sound effects for what's happening — a splash when someone jumps in water, a creak for a spooky door, a whoosh for the wind, a growl for the monster. Your child joins in too.
This naturally slows down the reading, which is actually useful — it creates space to think about what's happening in the story. It also makes dull sentences feel exciting. "He walked through the door" becomes a whole moment with the right creak.
There are no wrong sound effects. The worse they are, the more fun this tends to be. It's especially good for books your child finds a bit dry — the soundtrack changes everything.
