Here are a few ways to use magazines to motivate reading:

• Set up a magazine incentive program. Award points for every magazine article or story your children read. To earn the points, they have to fill out a form that tells the name and date of the magazine, title and author of the article, and one sentence telling what the story was about. Allow points to be turned in for small rewards, such as special time with you or a choice of dessert.

• Ask your child to read a story from a children’s magazine aloud to you while you are preparing a meal. This is a good tip if your child is a poor reader. The captions and pictures give clues about the content of the story and make it easier for readers to have success.

• Encourage your child to submit a poem, riddle, or story to a children’s magazine. It might get published!

• A rebus is a story that replaces some words with pictures. Have your child use pictures cut from magazines to create a rebus.

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