Here are some activities parents and teachers can use to enhance the reading experience and encourage creative thinking:
1) Read to and with your child every day.
2) Have the child read the book back to you.
3) Ask the very young child to tell you what the story is about.
4) Specifically, ask for the beginning, middle and ending.
5) Ask the child to choose their favorite part of the story and tell you why.
6) Have them draw and color their favorite part.
7) Ask them to change the ending and talk about how and why they did.
It is my view that, in the family and in the classroom, engaging children in reading and thought provoking activities relating to what is read is positive. It can also be beneficial, I believe, to the overall development of the child by helping them to think, to communicate, to act, and yes to READ!