Every Child Ready to Read® incorporates simple practices for parents/caregivers to develop early literacy skills from Birth to Age 5. We will add new literacy tips every week on our Facebook page!
| Talk about colors! Ask your child what his/her favorite color is and share yours. Talk about things that are those colors. |
Make up silly songs about every day activities! “This is the way we make the bed, make the bed, make the bed“ |
Practice counting! An Example would be to count your snacks, How many goldfish crackers are on your plate? |
| Be a reading role model. Let your child catch you reading a book, newspaper, or magazine! |
Write a list of things to do today. Have your child check off each as it is completed. |
Use a red crayon to keep a list of all the red things you see today. Red car, red truck, red door. |
| Play store. Set up a little store with items in your house and take turns being the shopper and the check out clerk. |
Talk about concepts like “on” and “off” when you put on and take off hats and jackets. |
Make music with things you have in the house- pots, pans, spoons, and sing and dance around to the music you make |
| Pick a letter of the alphabet and practice tracing it. |
Play “I Spy” with rhyming words. I spy something with my little eye, something that rhymes with fly! What is it? |
Point out the shapes of different objects, talk about how they are alike and how they are different. |
| Have a music parade. Play pretend instruments while you march around the house. |
Sing a song in a high voice; sing a song in a low voice. Sing it slow; sing it fast. |
Count to 5 as you spin in a circle 5 times. Count 5 hops. Count 5 small/big steps. |
| Get caught reading a book, show your child reading is important to you too! |
Create a writing box together. Include paper and crayons. Decorate the outside and leave it within easy reach for your child. |
Go on an outside scavenger hunt. Bring a list and check off the things you see! |
| Look for signs of spring. Go for a walk and talk about what you see. |
Play children’s songs. Sing and dance together! |
Draw numbers on the sidewalk with chalk! |
| Have your child tell you a story about the pictures they draw! |
Go to the Library and pick out a book about Summer! |
Make a word jar. Each day write a new word on a slip of paper and add it to the jar. |
| Sit on cushions on the floor and pretend to be in a boat. Sing “Row, Row, Your Boat” |
Talk about food. What do you like to eat? |
Sing a song with movement like “BINGO”! |
| Vary your voice as you read. Use different expressions to help your child learn about feelings. |
Have your child help cook with a recipe. Talk about the different amounts of ingredients you need. |
Write a message outside in chalk! |
| Sit outside and write a list of seven things that you see! |
Paint on the sidewalk with water, watch it evaporate! |
Take and alphabet walk outside. Talk about things that begin with different letters. |
| Pick a new kind of music you haven’t listened to before. Listen together. |
Line up all of the family’s shoes. Count how many there are. Put them in size order from smallest to largest. |
Lace Cheerios onto a piece of yarn and then count them. |
| Have a friends book club. Each friend brings a book for a story time. |
Use cooked pieces of spaghetti to make shapes and letters! 🙂 |
Go on a Scavenger Hunt today. Look for things that start with the “p” sound; like a plate, a pan, and a pen. |
| Smell different things and talk about them: spices, flowers. fruit, and cocoa. Which scents do you like or dislike? |
Sing “If You’re Happy and You Know It” (clap your hands, stomp your feet, shout Hooray!) |
Pick a point in your house or on your street. Count the steps to get there. |
| Write a grocery list together. GO around checking what you need and add it to the list. |
Write a grocery list together. GO around checking what you need and add it to the list. |
Create a list of things to do this month. Hang it up where everyone can see. Have your child check off items. |
| Make and indoor Fort with sheets and furniture. Pretend you are sleeping there overnight. What will you bring? Read a book together in the cozy fort. |
Talk about opposites. Reach high to the sky and low to the ground. Take a big step and a little step. |
Sing a favorite rhyming song. Stop at the end of a line and have your child fill in the word. (example: Twinkle, twinkle, little _____) |
| Make a high tower with blocks. how many blocks did you use? |
Read a fiction and non-fiction book about winter. We have many to choose from at the library. |
Draw a circle, square, triangle, and have your child color them in. Talk about shapes and point them out. |
