Creating a Literacy-Rich Environment

Here are some simple things you can do at home to help promote a literacy-rich environment for your child. Happy Reading!

Age-appropriate books easily accessible in areas where your child spends their time:
Their room, the kitchen, living room, playroom, backyard, car –> Create a portable book box your child can take wherever they go.
Create cozy places to read:
Comfortable place to sit or lay with good lighting – you can add pillows, stuffed animals and even a little lamp to make it extra cozy.
Model reading yourself:
Read in front of your child, talk about what you’ve read, what you want to read, why you read, how reading makes you feel.
Switch books out seasonally:
By changing up book options, children will be more interested in looking through books. They will like seeing what’s new, what’s the same and what’s gone. The library and sites like Thriftbooks are great for helping mix up your home library.
Have writing tools and area to write available to child:
Comfortable seat and table with paper, pencils, crayons, markers, colored pencils, chalkboard, chalk, dry-erase board, dry-erase markers.
Incorporate reading opportunities in play:
Add words and symbols to blocks, label items in dramatic play area, add notepads or dry-erase boards to play area.
Look for reading opportunities wherever you go:
On a walk, the store, at a restaurant, the park, around the house.
Play games that promote reading:
Bananagrams, Spot It, Sequence Letters, Boggle, Hedbanz, Story Cubes, Sight Word Bingo, Tall Tales: The Game of Infinite Storytelling, and Reading Rockets has a list of games you can make at home here.
Have different types of reading materials available:
Books, magazines, newspapers, comic books, menus.
Introduce them to as much vocabulary as you can:
Talk to them about experiences, ask them to point to certain objects, practice saying common (age-appropriate) words with them that will help them better communicate.