With the current public health crisis, walking is basically the only option left for getting some fresh air now that most parks, playground and public spaces are closed (check your local rules, which change frequently). To maintain social distance, you are encouraged to keep moving and not congregate. If your kids don’t love walking, this can be a challenge, especially when they can’t bring a friend along.
One tactic that has worked for us in recent years has been having our boys listen to audio books while they walk. Following a story keeps them distracted, wanting to know what comes next. With the earphones on, your child may get lost in the story and not interact with nature or the family as much as you like. But just think of this as a tool to get them walking and the rest will follow.
Another technique we have used was bringing along a physical book on the hike and at regular intervals, the kids were rewarded with snacks and a chapter from the book. I chose mysteries and detective stories so they really wanted to know what came next.
2020.03.22: Due to the current public health crisis, the Swiss government has asked us to stay at home as much as we can. See guidelines at BAG – Switzerland’s Federal Health Department. Technically you are currently still allowed to walk outside in groups no bigger than 5 and ideally only members of your own family. But best to stay at home to protect yourself and your community.
Walking & Learning
Happily, listening to audio books also has great academic benefits, much needed in this home schooling season. We picked mostly German audio books, which dramatically improved my children’s German vocabulary and listening comprehension skills. We also found that after lots of listening, my kids were more amenable to reading books in the same series, not just listening. There are lots of entertaining educational options as well, so it’s not all fluff, suggestions below.
Swiss National “Reading Aloud” day
In Switzerland, we celebrate national “Reading Aloud” day on 27.May. As I’m sure you know, reading aloud to children is critical to developing language and literacy, expanding their vocabulary, providing a model of fluent reading and building a love of reading. We are joining with other Swiss family bloggers to encourage reading aloud. In normal times, there are lots of reading aloud events at schools and libraries. But this year, we’ll have to do it in our family circles, which can be a mix of you reading aloud to your children and having them listen to stories online. Will you participate?
Reading Rockets is a good resource for learning more about reading aloud theory, techniques, & how to pick appropriate books for your child.
Where to get audio books
As I’m sure you know, you can purchase downloadable audio books for children through Amazon.de, Audible.de, Google Play & iTunes. But this can get quite expensive since children’s books are often short and they want to listen to a lot of them. My kids have listened to 100s of audio books over the years.
Happily many audio books are included in subscription services like Google Play Music, Apple Music and Spotify. So you don’t have to pay per book, just a monthly subscription. Also Swiss libraries (once they open again) have extensive collections of audio book CDs. You can search the Zürich library system on PBZ.ch
If you are looking for German-language audio books, search for Hörspiele.
Suggested German-Language Audio Books
Obviously, there are thousands of audio books to choose from. So here are just a few suggestions to get you started. Leave a comment and let us know what audio books your kids like.
We all love the “Was ist was” educational series with dozens of dozens of fun and fascinating topics on history, culture, science, technology, etc. Happily these are included in our Google Play subscription and is also available on other subscription services like Spotify and Apple Music. You can also buy them individually on Google Play and Amazon.de. They also have a book series so you can encourage kids to reading instead of just listening.
We also like the “Wieso, Weshalb, Warum” educational series, which is geared a little more for younger children. There is usually a physical book that accompanies the audio version. We got most of ours from the library but you can also get them on Google Play, Audible.de and Amazon.de
My boys are addicted to the Die Drei ??? detective stories, which follow three teen boys who solve mysteries. They have a Die Drei ??? Kids version, which are shorter and less scary. The audio versions are more like radio dramas than a dry reading of the book text. The best thing is there are over 100 books to listen to and they are continually releasing new ones. These are part of our Google Play Music subscription and also appear on Spotify and other services. You can buy them individually on Audible.de.
Girls may prefer the Die Drei !!! series, which follow three girl detectives instead of three boys.
Online reading aloud resources for English language
There are many online resources with reading aloud options, some that are accompanied by a visual of the book. We like Storyline Online.
We also like podcasts for children, some which read aloud from books. These links have a bunch of suggestions:
DIY Audio Books
When I was a child, my grandmother recorded herself reading books aloud on cassette tapes. When we would visit her, she would tuck us in bed, then turn the tapes and we would fall asleep to her voice. Such a smart woman! She would also send us home with tapes, so we could always have her voice and stories with us.
I read aloud every evening to my children until they grew out of cuddling with me at bed time at about 11 years old (boo hoo!). They always asked for one more book, one more book, one more book until it became a problem. So I started using my phone to record while I was reading to them at night. Eventually I built up a small catalog, so when they asked for one more book, I could turn on the recordings and go have some much needed me time.
What are your favorite audio books?
