It’s National Literacy Month! A love of reading can start as early as infancy. Reading together is not only a wonderful way to bond with your child, it also helps build early language skills, strengthens their imagination, and sets the foundation for success in school. Even a few minutes of shared reading each day can make a powerful difference. To help families make reading fun and engaging, here are a few Kid Builder activities you can try with children ages 0 to 5. These simple and playful ideas turn reading time into connection time and support your child’s growing literacy skills.
Animal Sounds
It’s never too early to spark an interest in books and reading. Using animal sounds while you read helps babies connect language with pictures and builds joyful first experiences with stories.
Find a book at the library with big, bright pictures of animals. Show your baby each animal picture. Point to the animal and make the noise that the animal makes. Say,
- What sound does a cow make? Moo. Moo.
See if your baby will copy the sounds you make. In time, they will make the sound on their own when you point to the picture. As your baby grows, they can learn the names of the animals too.
Check out more Kid Builders for babies under one here.
Let’s Pretend
Celebrating National Literacy Month can be as simple as bringing a story to life. Pretend play during reading makes books feel exciting and helps young children stay curious and engaged. When you read a book with your child, think of ways to pretend about something in the book. If the people in the book are eating cookies, pretend to take a cookie off the page and eat it yourself. Pretend to give your child a cookie. Laugh together at this silly action!
You can say,
- Mmm… this cookie is delicious. May I have more?
If there is a puppy on the page, pretend the puppy jumped off the page and tickled you. Or pretend to pet the puppy in the picture. Ask your child to pet the puppy. Use pretend play as a chance to practice new language.
You can say,
- Oh! This puppy is so soft!
Check our more Kid Builders for one year olds here.
What’s the Missing Word?
This activity is a great reminder that repetition encourages confidence. Playing “What’s the Missing Word?” helps children listen closely, anticipate what comes next, and enjoy joining in with the story.
Read the same book or sing the same song with your child several times. Then, see if your child can fill in a missing word. Try this:
On each page, read the first part of a sentence, but leave off the last word. If the book says, “The mouse wants a cookie!” Say,
- The mouse wants a _______.
See if your child will say cookie to finish the sentence.
If they can’t think of the word, read it to them. See if they remember it the next time you read it. This works well if the words in the story or song rhyme.
Check our more Kid Builder activities for four and five year olds here.
Read With Me
A daily reading routine is one of the best ways to honor National Literacy Month. Creating a cozy reading moment helps your child associate books with comfort, connection, and fun
Find a few minutes every day to read to your child. You can try it at the same time each day, like making it a part of bedtime. You can choose a special place for reading, a special chair, or a blanket with pillows on the floor.
Let your child sit on your lap as you read together. Don’t be surprised if they want to read the same book over and over. After you read the book, pretend to be the characters in the book. If you read about a kitten, pretend to be kittens “meowing” and doing the actions from the book.
Reading with your child on your lap will make them feel special and loved.
Want more Kid Builder activities for children ages 0 to 5?
Click here for simple and engaging ways to help your child learn through play.