Summer Reading Program Activities for Tiny Tots and Preschoolers Birth Through Age 5
Reading, singing, playing and talking are fun activities to do with your little one that prepare them for learning to read. Feel free to repeat the activities and create your own — repetition is important for learning!
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Activities
Paint with water and brushes or even hands and feet!
Learn a rhyme and recite it to your child.
Pause during your talk time and wait for baby to respond with a word, sound or movement.
Make a book of photographs or drawings of family members (don’t forget pets!) and read it together.
Hold a mirror in front of baby and talk about different parts of their face.
Check out a high-contrast board book!
Use a cup of water and a paintbrush to paint pictures and practice writing letters on a sidewalk.
Talk about the different colors of food during mealtimes or grocery shopping.
Put on some favorite music and have a sing-a-long.
Play together in the Play and Learn Center at your favorite library branch.
Make a “What I Can Do” chart to watch your little one grow. Encourage preschoolers to add new skills as they gain them!
Make a pattern using different colors.
Practice sorting colors with materials around the house.
Explore different textures and talk about how they feel.
Put your baby in the stroller and go on a walk. Talk about things, people and animals you see. Act as a narrator during the walk.
Explore different sounds. Find items around the house to tap, shake and rattle.
Create a song routine when getting baby dressed, putting them in the car seat, bathing, etc.
Practice mixing colors with fingerpaints or different colored foods.
Take your child to visit a Springfield mural.
Go for a walk to find objects for a “nature collage.”
Play I-Spy with colors when you’re out running errands.
Check out a toy from the Library.
Retell your little one’s favorite story without the book.
Hunt for the first letter of your child’s name in books, on signs in the store and all around town: “Look, It’s a ‘T’ for “Teddy!”
Go for an alphabet walk. Start by finding something that begins with “A” and continue until you get to “Z”.
Create your own:
Thank you to our Youth Summer Passport sponsors!
