Books!…..The Perfect Gift for Kids on your Holiday Gift List
Looking for the perfect gift? Try Books!
It’s the Holidays!!!! Time for baking cookies, trimming the tree, and decorating for the holiday season. There’s nothing we love more than this time of year and all that comes with it. This is the season for cooking holiday meals with family, exchanging gifts, singing carols, and showing appreciation for our loved ones. Ultimately it is a time for togetherness.
Holiday Traditions
As a kid, I remember a tradition that my family practiced every holiday. The night before Christmas we made cookies for Santa, watched a holiday movie, and then right before bed we were allowed to open one gift. Mom picked the gifts and handed them out and lo and behold it was always a book. Then, we all sat at her feet next to the light of the tree, and drank hot chocolate while she read each book to us one after the other.
I still remember the excitement and anticipation of waiting for story-time and hot chocolate on Christmas Eve. I also remember taking my new book with me to bed and reading it again before falling asleep. It was a tradition that we looked forward to every year as kids.
Gift giving is a tradition that we practice during this holiday season with friends, family and loved ones. Deciding what to get for everyone in our lives can be a task. Sometimes the hardest people to shop for are the kids in our lives. How do we decide? We all want to give something meaningful, fun, and/or useful, but figuring out everyone’s likes, wants, and needs can be overwhelming. I find myself scratching my head and at times second guessing what I should get.
Well, this year I won’t be second guessing myself. This Holiday season I will be giving the gift of BOOKS!
Benefits of Books
The benefits that kids get from reading books are priceless. Reading stimulates the visual part of the brain associated with imagination and creativity. It also stimulates areas of the brain associated with comprehension, writing, physical activity and movement. Together, these stimuli increase brain function which is a benefit to new readers and not so new readers, like myself, who need to keep brain function high.
Studies show that kids who learn to read at an early age do better in school and are better problem solvers. They develop larger vocabularies and have a better understanding of how things work.
Books also help to increase the attention span of young readers. Unlike electronics, kids have to focus to follow the storyline of books. They get excited about guessing what’s going to happen next and must focus on the details to figure out and understand the outcome.
Another benefit of reading books is increased writing skills. While reading kids are exposed to and influence by writing styles in the books that they are engaged in. Being exposed to different writing styles equates to better writing skills themselves as well as better communication skills. Awesome right?
Better problem solving, increased attention span, and better writing and communication skills are just a few reasons why reading Books are so beneficial to kids.
So, this Holiday Season when you’re looking for the perfect gift for the little people on your list, give the gift that continues to give over a lifetime. Give Books!
photo credit: Steve Corey Princess and the Ballerina via photopin (license)