You have probably noticed that your 24- to 35-month-old loves repetition. If you pronounce a word from a favorite story incorrectly, or inadvertently omit a word or phrase, your child will be sure to let you know. In this activity, you can use this skill, coupled with your child’s love of repetition, to help introduce her to rhyming words.

Before a young child can differentiate between the various sounds in words, he must first be able to recognize similar sounds in the environment and notice when sounds differ. This game will help your toddler develop his budding listening and sound discrimination skills.

Learning that words break down into smaller sound units is an important pre-reading skill. You can help your toddler start to listen for the smaller parts, or syllables, in the names of common items from around your home.