Parenting Week 2022 - Take 10

The Take 10 Challenge encourages everyone to read for 10 minutes every day to improve their wellbeing and support their literacy skills.

First developed by Read Manchester, Take 10 now inspires children, families, and organisations nationally as part of the National Literacy Trust's Connecting Stories campaign, proudly supported by Arts Council England.

On Monday 10 October the National Literacy Trust hosted a series of activities for schools and communities to mark World Mental Health Day. You can now watch back our event's that took place with Jordan Stephens and Beth Suzanna (perfect for early years and Key Stage 1 students) and Natalie Costa (perfect for 7-13 year olds).

Research shows us that reading can be an effective way of helping people take care of their mental health and wellbeing - and it only takes 10 minutes a day to see the benefits! Reading every day can help everyone - children, young people and adults - to:

Relax, unwind and boost their mood
Escape from the pressures of life and reduce their stress levels
Improve your memory and concentration

The benefits of reading are endless

Sharing a book with a child is fun. It's a time for affection, laughing and talking together. And it can also give children a head start in life and help them become lifelong readers.

Reading for at least 10 minutes every day is great for your child’s happiness, wellbeing and, of course, for improving their reading and writing.

Making time to regularly read with your children can help them to:

Relax and unwind.
Escape from the pressures of life.
Improve memory, concentration and focus.

That's why we want everyone, from little ones and teens to parents and grandparents, to read for just 10 minutes every day!

Ten tips to help your child take 10 minutes to read every day

Follow our top tips to help everyone in your family build a daily reading habit:

Create a routine, set a specific time each day to read that works best for your family. You could set up a cosy reading corner at home or be out and about!
If your child is an independent reader, make sure you grab your favourite book to read as well to show them how important reading is to you.
Set a timer to help you all hit 10 minutes.
Turn off your phone or TV so there are no distractions.
You could pop to the library to find the perfect book, magazine or comic for you and your children.
Create a Take 10 reward board where everyone gets a star for every 10 minutes they read, and at the end of the week everyone can get a treat.
Create a bookmark based on your child's favourite book or character.
Get creative with technology and set up a Zoom call with loved ones who live far away. What better way to share the Take 10 challenge with family?
Why not go digital and try one of many audio books to stir up creativity with reading?
Read a book as a family and then find the movie that matches it so you can watch for family movie night.

Parenting Week 2022 continues until the 21st of October, keep checking in for more updates each day.

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