Fun with Voices: Make Reading More Engaging!

Do you know what makes reading to kids so fun?

The voices 😊!

Have you ever done character voices while reading a story to your kids? If you haven’t, or if you need to brush up your skills, here’s some tips to get you going.

Speed:

Not everyone talks at the same rate. Do you have that one person in your life who takes forever to finish a sentence? Use them as inspiration for a more relaxed character in the book you’re reading to your kiddos. What if you sped up the rate of speech? That always brought giggles to my kids, especially when you pause to take a huge-amungus breath, then start talking really fast again. Play around with speed, and see what fun you can have.

Pitch:

Do you have a character with a deep voice or one with a high voice? Play around with different pitches for different characters. Evil characters can have the deepest, most ominous voices, and the sweetie of the story the highest. Or flip them around and give the evil character a harsh, but high voice. Oh, the possibilities with pitch!

Volume:

There are some characters who are soft-spoken, and others you could hear across the Bayou. Change up the volume and express characteristics in a whole new way.

Accents:

This is my personal favorite. Especially when it’s British or Scottish. These accents are so much fun. I will often choose books set in England just so I can read with an accent. If you need to brush up on your Queen’s English or Scottish Brogue, check out these videos to perfect your accent.

British

Scottish

Imitation:

If you’re at a loss for certain character voices, listen to actors on TV or movies and try to imitate their cadence, speed, pitch, etc. It could be really fun to read The One and Only Ivan with Christopher Walken’s voice. Now that guy has a unique cadence.

Bonus tip—

Pauses:

Sometimes, so much can be said and expressed in characters when you pause at certain moments. Let those big reveals come with a pause, or maybe that’s what a character does, like Chandler Bing and his famous momentary pauses between his words. Play with pauses for endless variety.

I hope these tips make reading more fun as you explore your range and bring delight to your kiddos.

Happy reading!