Reading Activities
Bernice Cullinan [1992], sensing that some parents may feel they are too busy to adequately support reading in the home, has come up with marvelous suggestions, called "Tips for Busy Parents," which are specific for different age levels.
Preschoolers
Read
a bedtime story.
Read
the same books over and over.
Give
your child markers or paper and pencils.
Give
your child a chalk board and chalk.
Write messages to your child.
Label
your child's possessions.
Get alphabet
books and make alphabet books.
Put
magnetic letters on the refrigerator.
Five and Six year Olds
You read
to me and I'll read to you.
Fill in the blanks. Read
poetry and verse that rhymes and stop before the end of the line, having your
child fill in the blank.
Play sound games.
A simple starter is, "Riddle, riddle, ree. I see something you don't
see and it starts with T."
Create a newspaper.
Make a book.
Write a wish list.
Make a calendar.
Write a fill in the
blank story.
Write a biography or
autobiography.
Make a jigsaw puzzle
from poster, book jacket or picture postcard.
Make a board game.
Start a memory box.
Cook from a book.
Seven and Eight Year Olds
Write a book about something real or imagined.
Keep a journal.
Write thank you letters.
Write your won cards.
Make your own
valentines.
Keep score at sports
events.
Write a letter to an
author.
Get informational books.
Start a scrapbook.
Interview your parents
or grandparents.
Explore your family
letters and albums.
Nine and Ten year Olds
Read
riddles.
Play thinking games.
Work on projects.
Support scout
activities.
Wrote fractured fairy
tales.
Create a camera story.
Wrote a text for
wordless books.
Eleven and Twelve Year Olds
Put
a book in your child's room.
Tell about a book you
enjoyed.
Start your child on a
new series.
From Jerry L. Johns and Susan Davis Lenski, Improving Reading: A Handbook of Strategies [2nd ed.]. Copyright 1997 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company