Parent and Child Activities
To make the most of your reading sessions, here are some suggestions you may like to try.
Keep story time active! Encourage your child to talk about the pictures and point out details in them. Stop reading occasionally to check in with him. Try to:
- Make your child feel as if he is participating. Let him help you hold the book or turn the pages.
- Encourage your child to “read” the story back to you. A young child may rely on her memory to do this. Ask your child to retell the story by reading the pictures. Ask her to start on the left side of the page and go to the right side, just as we do when we actually read.
- Tell your child stories that you know or make up new ones. Children also enjoy hearing about real events that happened to you or other relatives and friends. You may want to make simple puppets out of paper bags or socks to help tell the stories.
And here are a few fun activities to help further develop the basic skills of literacy!
- Tip: Cut out each activity and glue or tape it to a colored index card. Keep all the cards together in a rubber band or hole punch them and put a key ring or string through the hole. Yarn works great for this. This format creates a portable, fun tool for you to take wherever you go!
- Shapes (Square, Circle, and Triangle): Help your child find objects around the house that are in the shape of circles, squares, and triangles. Encourage him to name the shapes of each object, or to put objects of the same shape together.
- Colors: Play a game with your child! Choose a color such as red, and ask your child to point out everything in the room that is red. The color game can be played at home, in a store, in the car, or in the grocery store.
- Classifying: The grocery store is also an excellent place to show your child how like objects are grouped together. In the produce section, point out that the fruits are arranged in one area and the vegetables in another. Encourage your child to help you find items in the grocery store by asking him in which section you should look.
- Sizes (Big and Little): Look for big objects and little objects around the house: outside, in magazines and books, and on television. Have your child compare the size of your shoes to his own shoes. Trace your hand and your child’s hand on a piece of paper. Encourage your child to tell you which is the big hand and which is the little hand.
- Sounds: Ask your child to close his eyes and see if he can identify some ordinary household sounds: running water, a telephone, or doorbell ringing.
- Labels: Print labels on cardboard or heavy paper and attach them to the object they describe. It is best to start out by labeling objects that are familiar to the child, such as a bed, table, chair, door, wall or window. After the labels have been up for a while, take them down and see if he can match them to the correct objects.
- Signs: Billboards, labels, and advertisements are very good sources for reading practice. Usually the letters are large and the words are short. Very often they also include picture clues. When you take a walk, drive, or shop with your child, point out signs and ask her to sound out the words.
Finding learning opportunities and incorporating story time into your every day life can be an easy and fun way to prepare your child for school – and bring the family together with reading. Get creative with any of these ideas and enjoy!