A reading center is a space in the classroom where young children can explore books and story telling materials, and develop a love of reading. Engaging with stories stimulates children’s imagination and creativity, allowing them to explore new worlds and ideas.
By creating an inviting and comfortable reading environment, children are encouraged to look at picture books and engage with stories and information.
Since most Pre-K children are pre-readers, encourage them to explore books independently, turning pages, looking at pictures, and retelling the stories in their own words.
Show children how to handle books gently and respectfully.
The picture above is the Reading Center in my second classroom & the pictures below are from my first classroom.
Our Reading Center has lots of books to look at and practice reading. The children come here to look at pictures, retell a story, or “pretend” read. They sometimes bring baby dolls and stuffed animals to the center to read to them. They can also listen to books on tape.
What’s in the Reading Center
Furnishings: Include comfortable chairs for children to sit in. Make it homey by adding a rug, pillows, stuffed animals, plants. Include a shelf for books. Shelves where books can face out are best so that children can see the covers of the books.
Books: You will need at least one book per child (or more), and these can be rotated through the year. Choose books related to the current season, your current theme topic, and books that reflect the children’s interest. Include books with a diverse selection of age-appropriate books, including picture books, board books, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and informational books. Include books that reflect various cultures, languages, and experiences.
Listening Center: I like to include the Listening Center with the Reading Center because it saves space. We have a CD player with 4 headphones and 4 books to go with the story.
Flannel Board: Add a flannel board to the Reading Center so that children can retell familiar stories or make up their own stories. You can use flannel board pieces that go with your theme topic and children can use them to make up a story. Or use flannel board pieces related to a fairy tale, nursery rhyme, or other book you’ve read in class that children are familiar with.
Magnet Board: This is similar to the flannel board. You can make your own magnet board pieces by printing clipart onto card stock paper, laminate and cut out, then add a magnet to the back.
Puppets: Add hand puppets or finger puppets to the reading center for children to use for retelling stories.
Displayed Alphabet: Display the alphabet in the reading center. This can be as simple as a small poster, or a larger set, but be sure to hang it on the wall at the children’s eye level. In my third photo above, you can see above the mirror there is an “art alphabet” I added to the wall. This was originally a children’s fine art alphabet matching game, and I used the game cards on the wall to display the alphabet.
Class-Made Books: Add class books to the reading center, as well as books made by individual children and books made by the teacher.
Other Literacy materials are located in our Literacy Center and Writing Center.
Book Lists
You can find Book Lists for themes, holidays, seasons, and other topics.
Want to see more Pre-K Centers? See All Pre-K Centers Here