ActivityThe best way to fine tune your child’s reading skills is to find time to practice every day. And most kids learn better when they’re doing something they want to do, not because they have to. These kid-approved activities and games are fun and help build reading skills. They’re simple enough to make part of your routine: during playtime, at meals and snacks, or when you’re out and about.

These kid-approved activities and games are fun and help build reading skills. They’re simple enough to make part of your routine: during playtime, at meals and snacks, or when you’re out and about.

Recommended Activities

A Letter a Day

Prep: 5 Minutes / Activity Time: 10-15 Minutes

Create an Alphabet Book together. In this activity, your child will not only create a memorable book but will also practice writing letters, recognizing beginning sounds, and learning uppercase and lowercase letters.

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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.

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Let Me Add to That

Prep: None / Activity Time: 3-4 Minutes

At this age, most babies say their first words. Expand his one-word responses by stretching it into a sentence. Go a step further by making up a story, rhyme or song that has to do with your baby’s new favorite word!

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What’s This? What’s That?

Prep: None / Activity Time: 4-5 Minutes

By about 12 to 14 months, your baby will begin to recognize the names of things she sees or experiences each day. Those words become part of her receptive vocabulary. In this activity, you and your baby will explore a room of your home while you name the items, describe them and talk about them.

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Turn up the Volume on Learning New Words!

Prep: None / Activity Time: 4-5 Minutes

Language can be presented to babies through talking or through singing. Some babies love to hear the same songs over and over again. In this activity, babies can become familiar with new vocabulary while listening to their favorite tunes.

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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.

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Pretend Play Has Real Benefits!

Prep: None / Activity Time: 5-6 Minutes

Toddlers imitate what they see and hear you do. As they grow, they become more involved in imaginative play and use what they learn from watching you. Let your child explore his imagination by providing items for pretend play.

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Sing and Wash

Prep: None / Activity Time: During Hand Washing

Singing the Alphabet Song is a fun way to expose your child to letters. Make hand washing more fun by singing the Alphabet Song together!

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The Letters on the Bus

Prep: 10 Minutes / Activity Time: 10-15 Minutes

Your child’s name is very special and is a great place to start teaching letters of the alphabet. Your child will enjoy singing the song, the “Letters on the Bus,” while holding an index card with one letter of her name.

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Musical Eggs

Prep: 15 Minutes / Activity Time: 10-15 Minutes

Learning letter names and sounds takes lots of practice! In this musical activity, children will use musical plastic eggs to sing about letter names.

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