Every Child Ready To Read: PLAYING!

April 13, 2012

Through imaginative play, your child has the opportunity to bring language into every aspect of their play. When children "pretend" play, they express themselves and their experiences by taking on a character persona. You may have observed your child talking in that character’s "voice." This dialogue and the skills required for their little brains to come up with it are incredibly important to early reading success. This skill in particular will help your child to understand that books have a beginning, a middle, and an end. It will also help them to understand the concept of narration.

Children also learn that spoken and written word can stand for objects. The label on the play food box says "cereal;" the buttons on the play phone are "numbers." Pretend play also encourages them to give new names and meanings to these objects. You may see your child using dolls or blocks as "characters," making imaginary phone calls to friends or scribbling out their own little menu to play restaurant.

Your little one need lots of opportunities for imaginative play! You can encourage your child to read their teddy a book, write labels that can be placed on items for making a pretend grocery store, or use a favorite puppet of doll to tell you a story.

Play is a child’s most important job an early indicator of life long reading success! Encourage silliness and pretend at every opportunity!

Deanna R.
Riverside Branch