Creating a Reading-Friendly Environment
Enrich your child's reading environment at home or in the classroom.
There’s always room to read! Here are some tips to make your space a word- and story-rich environment.
Reading Area
Devote an area in your space to reading. Fill it with shelves or baskets of books (you can get armfuls at the library!), comfy seating, and soft light so that children can cuddle up as they settle into a book with a friend or family member. You can also find lots of digital stories to read on this site.
Labels
Using blank sticky notes or labels, help children create labels for the objects all around them. Attach them to the matching objects. Point to and read them together as you notice them throughout the day.
Reading Everywhere
Reading happens everywhere, not just in libraries, on couches, or at desks. Take something to read wherever you go.
Hidden Notes
Leave short, playful notes in unexpected places (drawers, lunchboxes, shoes). When kids find them, you can help them read them.
Reading Time
Read together every day as part of kids’ everyday routine. Older kids may like to read independently, so you can read alongside them (let them see you enjoy reading, too)!
Creating Alphabet-Rich Environments
Alphabet recognition involves learning the names, shapes, and sounds of the letters in the alphabet, and it helps get kids ready for phonics learning. There are so many ways to introduce the alphabet to young children. Adding a little alphabet magic to your environment can be a great place to start.
Building and Rebuilding Language Skills—and Community!
An article about building children’s language skills by enriching your interactions.
Abby’s Letter Garden
Prepare children for school success by exposing them to uppercase letters, helping them recognize them, and write them themselves.
Terry Crews Is an Artist
Terry Crews, Count, and Abby talk about the word “artist.”
Alphabet Art
Alphabet art is a fun, hands-on way to help kids recognize the shapes of letters. It can also provide an opportunity to layer in learning across subjects. Watch this video and think of ways you might incorporate letter crafts into your work with kids and families.
I Know My Letters
A printable alphabet coloring page.
Building a Reader
An interactive course that explores key literacy goals, strategies, and activities to support learning around language and literacy in children ages 2-5.
