Reading with babies and young children is incredibly important, offering so many benefits that support their early development and overall wellbeing.
Not only does sharing books help to build early brain connections, but it also plays a key role in supporting early communication and language skills. Babies begin to recognise sounds, rhythms, and patterns long before they can speak, and story time gives them endless opportunities to listen, observe and learn.
Reading together also creates beautiful moments of closeness. Whether it’s snuggling up with a familiar story, pointing at pictures together, or hearing a soothing voice, shared reading helps to build strong emotional bonds between babies and their key practitioners or parents/carers. These warm, secure interactions support emotional growth and help babies feel safe, understood and connected. ❤️
At Kalgarth nursery, we absolutely love sharing stories with our little ones. The babies enjoy exploring books in a hands‑on way — using props and puppets to bring stories to life, feeling the different textures in sensory and touch‑and‑feel books, and responding with smiles, babbles and gestures. These interactive experiences make reading fun, playful and meaningful.
We’ve popped below some of our favourite baby stories, in case you’d like to enjoy them together at home. Whether it’s at bedtime, quiet time or cuddle time, reading even for a few minutes a day makes a wonderful difference.
