Reading for Children: Fun Activities and Learning Plans

How Can I Help My Child Learn Reading?

Children who do reading activities at home may better understand letter pronunciation and phonics, grasp the meaning of new words and master basic sentence structure. If you take the time to carefully sound words out with your child, it creates a positive learning environment and encourages future practice.

Reading to your child early on is a great way to engage him or her, but here are some additional ways for you to become involved in the learning process. Create a learning plan for your child by establishing a routine and consistently completing enrichment activities like the examples below.

What Reading Activities Can We Do at Home?

Imagining Stories

This activity allows your child to pretend that he's reading and promotes creativity by asking him to imagine a story. Find a picture book without words and look through it with your son. Have him 'read' you a story of what he thinks is going on in the pictures. Encourage him to name the characters and describe a setting for the story.

Learning Letters

To help your daughter learn the alphabet, make letter flash cards. Put them in a box and have her draw the 'letter of the day' each day. Carefully sound out how the letter is pronounced and ask her to think of words that might include that letter. Ask her to identify that letter in everything you read to her that day.

Memorizing Words

You can help your son memorize words by asking him to choose certain words from two or three of his favorite books. Have him write them down on a sheet of paper and then ask him to write down words that rhyme with those on the list. Make a game of using these words to create as many silly poems as possible.

Describing Characters

If your child is reading books that have some character development, you can ask her to create a character collage. Have her write the name of a favorite character from the book she is currently reading on a piece of construction paper. Using magazines, catalogs and other colorful print material, she can cut out words that describe the personality and appearance of this character and glue them onto the paper. Encourage her to include her own illustrations or pictures cut from the print materials.