1000 Books Before Kindergarten

Shared reading is the most important activity to help children get ready to read, whether they’re 1 month or four years old. 

Activity 1

When reading a new book, stop in the middle and ask your child, ‘What do you think happens next?’ Take turns trying to guess the next part of the story. 

Alternatively, while reading a beloved story that your child has heard many times, stop in the middle and see if they can remember what happens next.

Activity 2

While reading books, pause and ask your child questions. Point to characters or objects in the pictures and ask your child, “What’s that?” and respond as they make guesses. Name the things as your child guesses them and then repeat the question the next time you re-read the book, to help reinforce their learning. 

Activity 3

Pick a topic or theme every week and try to include non-fiction books about that topic in your daily reading. It could be whatever your child is currently interested in, like cars, garbage trucks, pots and pans, or a particular fruit. Or ask your child what they’d like to learn more about this week and read one book over a week or a few books over a week to learn more about that topic. 

Writing involves both fine and gross motor skills, and it requires plenty of practice to develop.

Activity 1

Help your child develop fine motor skills by giving them tasks like moving all the Cheerios or raisins from one bowl to another. Another activity is putting pipe cleaners through the holes in a strainer. 

Activity 2

When making a list for the grocery store or anything else, hand your child a paper and a crayon and have them write things down too as you work on your list. Even if all they do is scribble – before they can make letters – it shows them the importance of writing and the process of it. 

Activity 3

Use playdough or other types of clay to make letters. Guide your child on how to make the letters of their name or another family member’s name. Spell out names or other words and talk about the similarities and differences between letters (for example C and O, P and B, T and F, etc.).

Singing is a great way for kids to hear the sounds in each word. It also helps them learn new words. 

Activity 1

Sing songs with numbers in them, like 5 Little Monkeys; Zoom, Zoom, Zoom; or Sally the Camel Has 5 Humps to help your child with early math literacy skills. Counting either forwards or backwards from five (5) helps to introduce math to young children. 

Activity 2

If you know another language, sing a song to your child in that language. Babies are sponges when learning language, and singing presents it in a different way, but still slows it down so children can absorb it. 

An alternate activity is to sing a song that your child is familiar with and stop in the middle and see if they can fill in the missing word or phrase. 

Activity 3

Read books that are written in verse or even song-based picturebooks. If it’s a song that is well known to you and your child, sing it in a different tune and see if they can correct you and figure out the correct tune. 

Talking to kids encourages them to understand what they will eventually read; open-ended questions can help, reading and retelling stories, and having open discussions. 

Activity 1

Whenever your child says a word or a phrase as they interact with the world, try to expand on it to add to their vocabulary. For example, if they say ‘fire truck’ on a walk or trip to the store, add words like big, red, or loud in order to help them expand their descriptions. 

Activity 2

Talk to your child as you do mundane tasks, like changing their diaper, making dinner, or helping them get dressed. Describe what you are doing as you do it and use sequential words like first, second, third, to help explain the process of the task. Ask them to repeat it later when the task is done.

Activity 3

At the end of the day, talk about your day with your child, whether you’ve been together or apart for most of it. If you’ve been apart, go over the things you did and then ask them about what they did during the day. If you’ve been together, this is still a good opportunity to talk about the day and what your and what your and your child’s favourite part was or what the funniest moment of the day was. Building this habit early on helps to develop a strong parent and child relationship. 

Play is an integral part of a child’s literacy development as different kinds of play help develop language. 

Activity 1

When your child is being silly and playing a made-up game, copy them. Get on the floor with them or make the same sounds they are. Copy their moves, add something new and see if they notice. 

Activity 2

Play 20 questions (or really endless questions). Think of a character from a movie, TV show, or book that your child is familiar with and have them question you on your character so they can guess who it is (is this person a young person? Are they the bad guy in the story?). Switch and try to guess who your child’s character is.  

Activity 3

Engage in dramatic play. Have your child put on a play with their stuffed animals or toy figures. Have them tell you a story through the play. If you have puppets, do a puppet show with them, telling a well-loved story through the puppets, and have other members of the family watch.