Reading out a story may not be enough.
Children are amazingly imaginative, so reading the story alone may not be enough to keep your children actively engaged in a story.
Therefore, acting out a story or their favourite book might be the perfect way for you to make reading interesting and interactive.
There are a few different ways that you could do this, depending on how theatrical you are willing to be.
If you are reading as a whole class, you can get children involved in acting out the story by assigning volunteer students to take on a character role.
Students should be encouraged to use voices and perhaps even some props to really embrace their characters and test their reading and oral skills.
Before you know it, children will be hooked on the edge of their seats whilst reading and listening together!
If it is a one to one session maybe read a page each and adopt the voice of the characters. There is no reason why your child cannot dress up as their favourite character, you could even act out a part of the story.
Storytelling is fun, it broadens the imagination and helps a child develop a sense of wonder and appreciation of the written word, so always make it interesting if you can.
Drawing pictures of the characters can help drum up enthusiasm because the child will buy into the book with a feeling of ownership, plus it will help develop their own imagination to create new characters and storylines.
It is learning with a fun element being part of the lesson without the child realising this.
So go on, be creative, push the boundaries of your own limitations and you will be surprised how much you enjoy the experience yourself!