Click Here for Student Login Student Login
Student Login
Welcome, (First Name)!
Forgot? Show
Log In
Enter Member Area
My Profile Not a Student? Sign up.. Log Out
Sentry Page Protection

CURRICULUM & LEARNING ENVIRONMENT * 1 HOUR * LEVEL 1-2

Early Literacy for Infants and Toddlers
Reading Activities

Page 8
Infants to Eight Months
Read to one child at a time. Hold the child in your lap and turn the pages of the book. Point to the pictures and name them. Observe how the child responds to the book. Does the child smile? Point to a picture? Try to turn the pages?

Eight to Eighteen Months
Read to one child at a time. Hold the child in your lap or sit side by side. Talk with the child about the pictures and help the child make connections to familiar items or situations. Encourage the child to turn the pages. Observe how the child responds. Does the child turn the pages? anticipate a favorite picture or part of the story? show excitement?

Eighteen to Twenty-four Months
Read to a few children. Hold the book so that everyone can see the pictures. Point to the words as you read. Place props in the dramatic play area that relate to the story. Observe how the children respond. Can they answer simple questions? When you see them playing later do they pretend to read? Do they incorporate the story into their play? 

Infant and Toddler Activities

My Book about Me
  • Social Awareness: Individual, 8 to 18 months
  • Goals:  To increase social awareness; to increase language and communication skills
  • Materials:  Plastic sleeve covers, three-ring binders, markers, digital or regular camera, photographs of the infant, construction paper, paste
  • To Make: Take photographs of the infant doing various activities throughout the day. Print them or have them developed. Cut construction paper or poster board into 8 1/2′′ × 11′′ pieces so that each fits the plastic sleeve cover. Paste the pictures of the infant on both sides of the construction paper and put each page in a plastic sleeve. Make a beginning page to identify the infant’s book. Place in a 3-ring binder. Pictures can also be laminated or covered with clear contact paper.
  • Procedure: With the infant on your lap, look through the book with him and talk about each picture, what he is doing, and how wonderful he is. For younger infants, keep the book short and if possible have the pictures of the child alone doing everyday things (eating, sleeping, playing, and so on). As children get older have more pictures in the book with a wider range of events or make several shorter, more specific books such as “Shalini at Home,” “Shalini at School,” “Shalini Playing with Her Friends.”
  • Assessment: The infant will look at the book.
  • Integration: Infants enjoy looking at these books. Take pictures of infants at school or ask parents to send in pictures, whichever is most appropriate. A digital camera makes it easy to add to books as infants change and grow. Photographs can also be used for assessment and to document developmental milestones.

Black and White Books
  • Language Development: Individual, birth to 9 months
  • Goals: To increase language and communication skills; to increase sensory motor skills; to increase cognitive development
  • Materials: Book of simple black-and-white designs, White on Black, or Black on White by Tana Hoban or plastic sleeves, white poster board, black marker
  • To Make: Cut poster board into six pieces 8 1/2′′ × 11′′ size. Page 1, using the marker, make a bull’s-eye in the center and draw three thick concentric circles around the bull’s-eye; page 2, using a ruler, divide the poster board into 1-inch squares and color alternating squares black; page 3, using a ruler, divide the poster board into 1-inch stripes and color alternating stripes black; page 4, using a ruler, divide the poster board into 1-inch diagonals and color alternating diagonals black; page 5, draw a smiley face with the wide side of the marker; page 6, draw a distorted face (mouth where eye should be) or caricature of a face. Place each poster board page in the sleeve protector and place in a 3-ring binder to make a book. These can also be laminated.
  • Procedure: Sit in a comfortable place such as a rocking chair with the infant on your lap. Hold the book so the infant can see it (about 8 inches from his face) and watch to see if he focuses on the bull’s-eye. If not, tap it lightly to draw his attention and say, “Look, that’s a bull’s-eye.” Then turn the pages and point out the salient characteristics of each picture. Initially, use only the first picture, and then talk more about each picture.
    Assessment: The infant will focus on the designated book page. 
  • Integration: The focus of this activity is on the experience of enjoying a pleasant, cozy reading experience with a young
    infant rather than the content of the “book.” Use more of the pictures as infants show interest. These can be laminated
    also and attached to the crib.