Reading is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children, but getting them to actually love it? That takes a little creativity. We sat down with storyteller and creative learning facilitator Apeksha Harsh, who has spent over a decade bringing stories to life for children and adults alike, to ask her one simple question: how do parents do this at home, without it feeling like a chore?
Here's what she had to say.
1. Roleplay, Because Becoming the Character Changes Everything
Roleplay is a game-changer, Apeksha says, and we couldn't agree more. When your child steps into a character's shoes, they stop reading about a story and start living inside it. Try this with the royal adventures in our Prince & Princess Tales — who's playing the princess and who's playing the dragon?
2. Add a Soundtrack
Music is one of the most overlooked elements of storytelling. Find something that matches the mood of what you're reading, or make up a silly song together; even two lines will do. It adds emotion and makes stories stick. Our Dinosaur Tales practically come with a roar built in.
3. Rewrite the Ending
What if Mimi and Max had taken a completely different turn on their adventure? Apeksha encourages parents to let children rewrite the endings of stories they're reading together! It gives them real creative agency and gets them thinking independently in a way that no comprehension worksheet ever could. Perfect to try with the Mimi & Max Explore series.
4. Design Your Own Book Cover
Before or after reading, invite your child to draw their own cover for the book. Apeksha calls it artistic recreation, and it's one of those powerful exercises that deepens a child's understanding of character, setting, and story without feeling like learning at all. A great one to try with our Alphabet Stories, where every letter is its own little world.
5. Host a Family Quiz Night
Characters, settings, emotions, plot twists, and film adaptations, turn everything you've been reading into a game night. Apeksha swears by it, and honestly, it's an excuse for the whole family to get a little competitive about books. No bad outcome there.
Apeksha designs and leads creative learning programmes and has been facilitating storytelling workshops since 2012 across schools, art galleries, and international conferences. She is Visiting Faculty for Storytelling & Creative Writing at the Somaiya School of Design, holds an MA in Writing from the University of Warwick, and has been featured at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Gaatha Mumbai International Storytelling Festival, and Word Travels' Story Week, among others.
