Collect a range of board books, cloth books and stories to share with your child.
Let your child handle books and draw their attention to the pictures.
Tell, as well as read, stories, interacting with your child to keep their interest.
Make family books using small photo albums with photos of family members, significant people in the child’s life, and familiar everyday objects.
Toddlers
Encourage and support your child’s responses to picture books and stories you read with them.
Use different voices to tell stories and encourage your child to join in wherever possible.
Play CDs of rhymes, stories, sounds and spoken words.
Use picture books, books with flaps or hidden words, books with accompanying CDs and story sacks.
Toddler/Pre school
Encourage your child to use the stories they hear in their play. You can demonstrate this to them by playing alongside them.
Read stories that your child already knows, pausing at intervals to encourage them to ‘read’ the next word.
Create and interactive book area where you and your child can enjoy books together.
Find opportunities to tell and read stories to your child, using puppets, soft toys, or real objects as props.
Use stories, pictures and puppets which allow your child to experience and talk about how the characters feel.
Pre School
Focus on meaningful print such as your child’s name, words on a cereal packet or a book title, in order to discuss similarities and differences between symbols.
Help your child to understand what a word is by using names and labels and by pointing out words in the environment and in books.
Discuss with your child the different characters in the books being read.
Encourage your child to predict outcomes, to think of alternative endings and to compare plots and the feelings of characters with their own experiences.
Read a variety of books such as, simple poetry, song, fiction and non-fiction books.
Make books together containing photographs your child and the things you like to do.
Explore your home environment and learn about words in and around it pointing out labels, posters and signs and talking about them.
Show your child different types of books and other materials that provide information or instructions. Carry out activities using instructions, such as reading a recipe to make a cake.
Enjoy reading stories with your child by using a range of visual cues and story props.
