What is the practice?

Providing toddlers with materials that can be used to strengthen literacy skills gives them a head start on these skills before formal learning begins. Keeping a supply of books, magazines, catalogs, art materials, music, and child-appropriate computer games handy gives your toddler lots of chances to have fun while building skills.

Mother reading to child

What does the practice look like?

A toddler with his own supply of drawing and writing materials—crayons, markers, pencils, paints, stamps, paper—at a small desk or table reserved just for him, or a bookshelf or box with different kinds of age- appropriate books and magazines are examples of ways parents can arrange a child’s environment to invite literacy play. Periodically updating these supplies and offering new materials based on a child’s evolving interests is key to keeping the toys relevant and engaging.

How do you do the practice?

It doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated to provide a literacy-rich environment for your toddler. Lots of supplies can be recycled (catalogs, magazines, flyers in newspapers) or bought cheaply at garage sales, Goodwill, and library book sales.

How do you know the practice worked?

  • Does your child know where to find his literacy play materials, and go to them on his own?
  • Does your child seem to enjoy looking at books, playing with art materials, and exploring computer games with you?
  • Does your child point out other similar materials he would like to own when he sees them?
  • Find materials that match your child’s particular interests. Some toddlers are delighted with bright, sparkly markers, for example, or ones that feature familiar cartoon characters. Stickers and stamps are often highly motivating for toddlers, and can encourage them to “write” or “draw” on decorated paper.
  • Let your child help you select a special place in the house for his “desk” and materials, even if it’s just one shelf in a bookcase, or one end of a playroom table. Having his own space helps a toddler become more actively engaged in literacy activities. Similarly, when it’s time to find a book or something to read together at bedtime, he can easily select one from his own box or a shelf that is reserved just for him.
  • Show your enthusiasm for your child’s interest in writing, drawing, and looking at books. Ask questions, praise his efforts, and suggest projects to do together, such as writing letters to family members, making pictures for someone’s birthday, or reading a book while waiting for a meal.
  • Help your toddlyer become familiar with age-appropriate computer games, which you can keep in a special drawer of his own. You can sit with your child and guide him through the beginning stages, gradually becoming more of an appreciative ob- server and letting him take over as his skills develop.
  • Many of your toddler’s literacy play behaviors won’t look much like adult versions of reading, writing or drawing yet. He may flip through books or magazines in the wrong order, or upside down, and much of his drawing may still be scribbling. But his active partici- pation in these activities builds his interest and paves the way for later, more conventional literacy skills.

Take a look at more touch-and-feel play

My Special Place

Two-year-old Leah sometimes has a hard time keeping track of her toys, especially when they get mixed in with her brothers’ things. But she knows that the cardboard box of books next to her dresser is just for her. Leah often adds to her box by going through the ads that come in the mail with her big brother and picking out toy catalogs she likes. When she goes to the library with her family, they often stop at the Friends of the Library book table where they can buy discarded library books for only a quarter. Leah always gets to pick a book for home book box. Every so often her mom helps her go through her box and get rid of old ads or catalogs that are no longer in good condition, and books that are no longer interesting to or age-appropriate for Leah. They donate these books to Goodwill, or save them for younger relatives and friends.

Time To Sparkle

Carly, who is 30 months old, loves anything glittery or sparkly. When her mom takes her to the dollar store to pick out a special treat for her writing desk, she finds a set of glitter-gel pens that she can use for drawing. Back home, Carly goes straight to the TV tray in the corner of her bedroom that serves as her writing desk, and opens her box of writing materials. She finds a piece of flowered stationery her grandmother sent her, and immediately tries out her new glitter pens on it. Her mom watches her try out each pen and they talk about Carly’s favorite colors and admire her drawing and “writing.”

Reading Within Reach

Eighteen-month-old Asher has limited mobility, but his par- ents feel it is important for him to be able to get to his own things as easily as possible without their help. They put a shelf filled with his books over his bed so that when he wakes up in the morning before they do, he can entertain himself for awhile even while he’s still in bed. Every week, Asher and his parents go through the children’s books on the family’s regular bookshelf and Asher picks new selections to put on his “bed shelf” within easy reach. His parents know that Asher likes hav- ing his own books close by, because he takes the task of pick- ing new books very seriously, and they often find him in the mornings happily paging through his favorites.