The Cognitive Benefits of Reading Aloud to Young Children

Reading aloud to young children has myriad cognitive benefits. Although children’s literature is intended to promote a sense of wonderment and pleasure in children, it also plays a significant role in children’s cognitive development. Below is a list of some of the many reasons to read to your child(ren). (While this list is not exhaustive, it nonetheless offers a brief summary of some of the more prominent reasons why reading to young children benefits their cognitive growth.) 

Linguistic Complexity

Children’s literature communicates ideas with much more linguistic complexity than is found in spontaneous speech directed from adults to children. Reading aloud to children exposes them to vocabulary, phrases, and sentence structures they are not exposed to via speech alone and fosters in them language skills essential to their linguistic development.

Concentration

Regularly reading aloud to children grows their concentration and attention spans. In gradually increasing the length of time each read-aloud session lasts and the complexity of the literature being read, caregivers equip children with the tools they need to regulate their attention spans, not only in early childhood but also throughout their school years and into adulthood.

Imagination

Reading nurtures imagination and creativity in children. Thick descriptions in children’s stories conjure in children’s minds images they attempt to decipher and make their own. This bolsters their sense of innovation and allows them the freedom to discover and think deeply about new ideas in ways that exercise their creativity and critical thinking skills. 

Critical Thinking

In reading aloud to children, caregivers provide children with the opportunity to think deeply on the ideas presented in literature and ask questions about how those ideas translate to the real world. Children are dynamic and critical listeners. They pick up on details and act like “reading detectives” until they determine the answers to their questions. This process of inquisition and induction teaches children to think critically not only in fictional scenarios, but also in real life. 

Emotion Regulation 

Reading about characters experiencing big emotions allows children to feel and explore their own big emotions in a safe space. Books assist children in learning how to navigate complex emotions in emotionally and relationally healthy ways. On the one hand, books teach children that it’s normal to have big feelings, and on the other, books show children how to experience those emotions in ways that are beneficial to their learning and relationships. 

These are only a few of the many cognitive benefits of reading to children. The moral is that reading to children benefits their cognitive development and learning. Moreover, it provides a great opportunity for parents and children to bond over the joy of stories and the discussions that ensue in response to those stories.

Writer: Grace Nunn