Point out letters, numbers, shapes, and simple words everywhere you go!

A simple car trip or walk or even a store checkout line transforms into a pre-literacy activity just by pointing out the print that is in the environment around you. Make it fun! Searching for letters and numbers can be a fun scavenger hunt you guys do together. You can also easily turn it into a game! “I spy with my little eye…” is fun and easy to do with a cart full of groceries waiting in the checkout line or even sitting on a public bench in town. Don’t forget about looking for shapes! Shape recognition assists letter and number recognition by improving visual discrimination skills.

If you want to be extra prepared, feel free to print out these prepared game cards to help direct your child’s search. The game card can help your child “match” the letter shapes for a more independent activity, but don’t forget to say the letters verbally together once the allotted time is over.

Reading is one of the 5 early literacy practices supported by Every Child Ready to Read®. Learning to recognize and therefore “read” individual letters in search-and-find activities not only develops letter knowledge but encourages phonological awareness, vocabulary, and print motivation as well.

Every Child Ready to Read® is a project of the Association for Library Service to Children and the Public Library Association, divisions of the American Library Association.