Whether you are a parent, caregiver, cool aunt, or grandpops, these high-fun, high-impact activities will boost your preschooler or soon-to-be-kindergartner’s confidence and skills. 

Developed by expert early childhood educators, this Recipe for Readiness card collection considers how busy you are—and how young children deserve summertime delight. There is no dull skill-and-drill in the mix here—only engaging, focused experiences that you can fit into any day. With these activities, you can support development in the following key areas: 

• Listening and speaking  
• Learning to hear the sounds that make up words 
• Text or letter book familiarity 
• Alphabet knowledge and word-to-sound connections 
• Communication through writing and drawing 

Remember to...

Model: All people learn by seeing something demonstrated, doing it together with help, and practicing it independently until confident. Just like talking, walking, and riding a bicycle, the same is true for learning to read and write! 

Make time: 60–90 minutes throughout the day, depending on the child’s stamina. 

Download the full Recipe Card to use with your children at home.

The Learning Benefit of Hearing the Sounds of Spoken Language

Children need to hear the individual sounds in their language to learn to read because beginning reading is about matching sounds to letters. 

A cat’s meow, a lion’s roar, a door shutting with a BANG—kids naturally delight when we say words in ways that emphasize their syllables. It helps them literally develop an ear for language and an awareness that words are made up of a few sounds, like  /b/ or /sh/ or /a/).  

Spoken Language Activities to Try

Repeat After Me! 

Learn a poem, chant, or rap by reciting a line or stanza at a time and having the child repeat after you until you can do it together.  

Listen! What Do You Hear?

How many words can you hear in this sentence?  

“I see a cat.” (4 words) 

“I see a big brown dog.” (6words) 

Clap the Word Parts (Syllables) in Your Name! 

This can include family names, friends’ names, pet names, or favorite words.

“Clap kitten:  kit - ten… 2!” 

“Clap octopus: oc - to - pus…3!” 

“Clap dog: dog… 1!” 

Guess It/Say It/Do It

Say a word slowly, sound by sound, such as:  

“My word is: /r/ /u/ /n/”. 

The child says it fast: “run”  

Child can run in place. 

“My word is: c/ /a/ /t/.” 

The child says it fast: “cat!”  

Child can act like a cat.   

Take turns guessing words. 

Silly Sounds & Songs

Sing the "Name Game" with different names/sounds. 

"Shirley Shirley bo burly, 

Banana fanna fo furly 

Fee Fi mo murly, …Shirley!"

Some Favorite Spoken Language Resources

Books: 

Anna Banana: 101 Jump-Rope Rhymes by Joanna Cole 

Miss Mary Mack & Other Children’s Street Rhymes by Joanna Cole 

Jesse Bear, Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy Carlstrom 

Songs and Chants:

"The Name Game" by Shirley Ellis

Poems and Rhymes: 

"I Like Peanut Butter" by Lillian Moore 

"The Pickety Fence" by David McCord  

Eric Carle’s Animals, Animals (anthology)