
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. |