5 Fantastic Kids Reading Nook Ideas to Inspire Little Bookworms
I’ve curated 5 of the best kids reading nook ideas that I could find to hopefully inspire you to find a little corner to transform in your home.
Encouraging a love of reading right from the earliest days of childhood is like giving a child a priceless gift. The rich and varied worlds inside the pages of a book open so many doors – educationally, culturally, socially… the list of benefits doesn’t really end.
Creating a special, inviting, cosy place for enjoying books can make getting lost in books even more magical. You don’t necessarily need lots of space or a Pinterest-worthy window seat. Simply dedicating a small, quiet area to reading and adding a few extra comforts can really motivate kids to read more.
Short of inspiration? To help you out, I’ve compiled five fantastic kids reading nook ideas to get you thinking.
Why is Encouraging a Love of Reading Important?
Growing up in a home with a positive reading culture, where adults read for pleasure, can have long-term, powerful and wide-ranging positive effects on a child. This is a subject that deserves a blog post of its own, (which I will add to my growing list of what to write about in the near future!).
Do you regularly read with and to your child? Don’t stop once they can do it by themselves! Reading to kids – even older ones – has enormous advantages too.
If you want to encourage reading for pleasure at home, you might want to find out about my upcoming children’s reading challenge for 2021 or learn about Jolabokaflod – a wonderful Icelandic book-giving tradition.
Parents who read 1 picture book with their children every day provide their children with exposure to an estimated 78,000 words each a year.
Source: When Children Are Not Read to at Home: The Million Word Gap – The Journal of Developmental and Behavioural Pediatrics
Here are just a few benefits instilling a love of reading early on:
- Children develop a wider, richer vocabulary
- Reading together is a wonderful bonding experience
- Experiencing the lives in books that are different from their own increased empathy
- Reading books set in unfamiliar environments opens up experiences of different cities, cultures, countries and worlds enabling children to gain a deeper understanding of the world around them
- Children who read more generally do much better academically
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Recommended Reading On This Topic:
Home Reading Environment is Crucial for Children’s Reading Skills – Science Daily
Growing Up Surrounded by Books Could Have Powerful, Lasting Effect on the Mind – Smithsonian Magazine
5 Fantastic Kids Reading Nook Ideas to Inspire Little Bookworms
I’ve trawled the internet and gotten lost down the Instagram and Pinterest rabbit holes to pick out five quite different reading area ideas. I hope that there’s something that you spot that will spark an idea for you to try at home.
#1 – Repurposing the cupboard under the stairs
I love this idea – it’s just so cosy. I kind of wish I didn’t live in a tiny flat because I would love to curl up in there with a book and a cuppa! This is ‘Luke’s Clubhouse’ and his mom created this little space just for him. Having front facing books on narrow shelves like this is brilliant for small spaces. Kids can easily see what books they’ve got too which makes choosing easier.
Image by @simplesweetalmostcomplete
#2 – Creating a reading corner with a canopy
Image by @mommytravelstories
#3 – Setting up an area of a multi-purpose room
Just look at these two with their noses happily in their books. In the absence of a much-wanted playroom, this mum wanted them to have an area that was totally theirs. She set up this cute reading corner in their lounge with a pair of beanbag chairs, soft rugs, a little bookcase and toy storage – perfect for reading to their cuddly toys! I love the natural light that is pouring in here. Such a lovely reading environment!
Image by @_littlesnippets
#4 – Make it cheerful, colourful and modern
What’s not to love about this gorgeous reading nook? All those soft, squishy cushions under that canopy and the blanket are incredibly inviting. I adore those tassels and the colourful art on the wall. The book storage is great because it looks easy to move around and have different books on display. The plants are a gorgeous, natural touch and the natural light is perfect too.
Image by @the_cheerful_abode
#5 – Go all out and create a library
Ok – let’s imagine that you’ve got the space, and the budget, how inspiring is this bespoke room designed and put together by Scilla Studio? Everything about this incredible reading den, from the beautifully organised books to that stunning wallpaper, is just so enticing. There’s lots of space and the light is lovely. One of the things that I think is brilliant in this reading area is that there is room for people to read and share books together. Such an awesome space for some quality family time.
Image by @scillastudio
#6 – (I couldn’t resist coming back and adding this one to this post) – DIY Narnia Armoire Reading Nook
This update just had to be added – how completely incredible is this magical reading space?
I would just LOVE to cosy up in this immensely creative, fantasy fairy-tale book nook! Lauren and Robert from Bless’er House found an antique armoire and were inspired to transform it into a Narnia themed reading nook for their daughter’s playroom – lucky girl! That wallpaper is just perfect.
Were you inspired by these kids reading nook ideas?
The benefits of making reading important at home are clear. I hope that I have given you a gentle nudge and a sprinkle of inspiration to look at your reading environment at home?
Simple or complex, budget or luxury, even if you only have a tiny space, I bet you can find some way of making reading more special in your home.
I’d love to see your kids reading nook ideas. If you have some photos, please send them over!
Huge thanks to Macy @simplesweetalmostcomplete, @mommytravelstories, Hanna @_littlesnippets, LJ @the_cheerful_abode and @scillastudio on Instagram for giving me permission to share their gorgeous images.
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