Read to Toddlers

     Your child is growing and now he/she can sit, listen and hold a book.  Continue with your 15 minutes a day reading schedule.  Now is the time to add a few things to your reading routine.

     Choose books your toddler is interested in.  Sturdy books, like board books are perfect for their young hands and cannot be easily ruined or torn.

     Find books with large pictures and just a few words.  Label books are great at this age.  Look for books that have large pictures, with bright colors and shapes on the pages.

     As you teach your child single words on the page, touch the word, then touch the picture, and then touch something around the house or in their toy box.  Like: Nose, picture of a nose, and then touch your nose and their nose.  Another example: Ball, picture of a ball, then a real ball!

     There is no one best way to read aloud to your child.  Choose stories with rhymes, raps, chants and pictures.  This stimulates oral language development.  Choose songs that are made into books, like: Eency Weency Spider, or Five Speckled Frogs.  Children develop a favorite book.  It is OK to read this book over and over, as often as your child wants.

     Read with enthusiasm and expression.  This is an important part of reading and children will mimic this in their play and later in their own reading development.  Let children see you enjoying a good book.

     Reading then becomes a family activity.  Young children will copy their Mom, Dad, and older siblings.  Let your home become a great place to model reading.  When reading is a priority to you it becomes a priority to your children.