0221 Reading Together Boosts Kids' Empathy and Creativity

Reading Together Boosts Kids' Empathy and Creativity

For many children, bedtime means listening to a story read by a parent or another family member.

A 2024 Scholastic report found that in the US, 51% of families with very young children read aloud to them. However, only 37% of families read aloud to children between the ages of 6 and 8, as many parents stop once their children start to read independently.

But new research suggests there may be good reasons to continue.

A study from the University of Virginia followed 38 families with children aged 6 to 8. Many of the children were already able to read on their own.

For two weeks, caregivers read one illustrated book to children each night. Each story included some kind of social conflict between characters.

Half of the families just read the books without stopping. The other half paused once during a conflict in the story to ask simple reflection questions, such as, "How would you feel if you were this character?" or, "What would you do next?"

Before and after the two-week period, researchers tested the children's empathy and creative thinking.

After just 14 nights of reading together, children in both groups improved in their ability to understand what others might be thinking or feeling. Their cognitive empathy scores were higher at the end of the study, and both groups also improved in creative thinking.

However, the children whose parents asked questions while reading improved much more on the creative thinking test.

For this test, they were given an everyday object, such as a paper clip, and asked to think of as many different uses for it as possible. Some suggested using a paper clip to help put on a doll's shoes, or even dropping a paper clip on the floor just to hear the sound it makes!

Reading aloud together can support children's empathy and imagination — even after they learn to read on their own.