Finding Calm in Books and Reading

Today I am delighted to welcome my dear friend Becky Goddard-Hill to Penny Reads. My children and I loved Becky’s first book Create Your Own Happy and now she’s back with a follow up title – Create Your Own Calm – and today she is sharing her tips on finding calm in books and reading.

This is an extract from Create Your Own Calm – an activity book for 6-12 years olds written by Becky Goddard-Hill and published this week by Harper Collins.

It has contains 50 activities, all backed by science, to support kids with their big feelings and develop ways they can help themselves to feel calmer

Reading

‘Reading gives us a place to go when we have to stay where we are’  Mason Cooley (Speech and language professor) 

Those of you who love to read  will already know how amazingly powerful a book can be. It can educate you, distract you, change your mood and transport you to another world.

For those of you who have not (yet) discovered the magic of reading here are some tips to help you fall in love with books

5  tips to help you fall in love with books

1. Try books you haven’t read before. So, if serious books make you groan, try a joke book or something more light-hearted. Maybe you like books about people your age, or maybe mysteries will hook you? As a general rule of thumb the kind of things you like to watch on TV or at the movies are probably going to be the kind of books you like to read.

2. Read regularly. Like anything at all that you try the more your practice the easier it gets Try 15 mins a day for a week and see how you go. 

3. Try reading a series – it’s a great way to get into reading and brilliant to see the same characters across several books. Here are a few you might like ….

• The Worst Witch
• Diary of a Wimpy kid
• The Famous Five
• The Magic Faraway Tree books
• Beast Quest
• Ruby Redfort
• Murder Most Unladylike
• Percy Jackson
• Harry Potter

4. Not everyone finds reading easy or fun but pretty much everyone loves a story. Audiobooks are spoken books and they can be a lovely way to help you chill out.

5. Reading should be done somewhere where you can properly relax.  Maybe you can read under your duvet with a torch, in a warm, bubble bath, or lying on a blanket in the grass.. Make your reading space comfy and you will soon get lost in a book. 

The science bit 

Reading is a powerful way to relax. Even six minutes can be enough to reduce your stress levels by more than two thirds, according to new research at the University of Sussex. They believe this is because the distraction of entering a whole new world eases tension in both your heart and in your muscles. 

It works faster than other ways of de-stressing such as listening to music, going for a walk or having a warm drink.

Activity – Book Bingo 

Book bingo is a great way to read different books, maybe your school does this? The idea is to colour in ones you have done and when your book bingo is complete reward yourself with a prize (maybe a kitchen disco?) 

Create your own calm … by escaping into a story. 

If you want to find out more about this book and read some extract and activity ideas, check out the “blog tour” below!

Penny Reads – Encourage Reading Activity / Book Bingo 

Rainy Day Mum –  Stress Less Yoga for Kids

Much More for Less – Nature Crafts

Emma and 3  – talking about feelings  

Growing Family – Creating  a pizza garden

Thrifty Mum – Cloud Watching