Farmer Jack's Animal Snacks
Prep: 3 Minutes / Activity Time: 10 Minutes
The simple conversations you have with your toddler during everyday activities can strengthen the foundation for his oral language development.
At-Home Activities for 18 to 23 Months
Flip Your Lid!
Prep: 3 Minutes / Activity Time: 3 Minutes
Here is playful way to help your toddler develop his oral language, listening and thinking skills, which are all crucial to the development of literacy.
My Little Helper
Prep: 3 Minutes / Activity Time: 3-5 Minutes
Encourage your toddler’s growing independence by giving him a simple task to do. Helping out will give him a feeling of pleasure and power and is a great opportunity for him to describe what he is doing.
Spaghetti Play
Prep: 10-15 Minutes / Activity Time: 5-10 Minutes
Fill up a large plastic bowl with cooked spaghetti and let your toddler explore. Describe what you see your little one do as she experiments with this new medium.
Where’s the Block?
Prep: None / Activity Time: 5-7 Minutes
In this activity, you will use words in connection with concrete objects and situations to help your child develop an understanding of positional words.
What's That?
Prep: None / Activity Time: 5-7 Minutes
Toddlers at this age enjoy pointing to and naming objects. You may often hear the words, “What’s that?” Use that simple question to build new vocabulary for your toddler.
Little Bird
Prep: None / Activity Time: 3-5 Minutes
Toddlers love to respond to action words by performing the actions. Say these poems and perform the actions with your toddler. You will both end up laughing!
Ready, Set, Talk!
Prep: None / Activity Time: 10 Minutes
Toddlers often experience a vocabulary spurt during these months. A toddler who has a vocabulary of about 50 words may add about 50 more words in just a matter of months! You may want to keep a diary of the new words your toddler is using.
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
Prep: None / Activity Time: 5-6 Minutes
Whether your photos are in a scrapbook, a photo album or in a digital file, toddlers will enjoy looking at the faces and hearing the stories behind them. Your toddler will enjoy seeing smiling faces and colorful pictures, and her oral language skills will grow as you recall the stories that go with the snapshots.
Stories on the Go
Prep: None / Activity Time: 5-6 Minutes
This simple take-along activity can help you become a storyteller no matter where you are. Just pull out a photo card and describe what you see.
Top 10 Things You Can Give Your Child to Build Pre-Reading Skills
Let’s Go to the Library
The DOs and DON’Ts of Developing Your Young Child’s Pre-Reading Skills
Who’s in the Farmyard?
HOW You Read to a Child Is Important
Calm-Down Time
