Prepare Your Preschooler for Reading: 5 Activities

The foundation for successful reading is built in preschool through key skills called phonological awareness. These skills help a child notice and work with the sounds that make up words, and they’re crucial for learning to sound out and spell words. If you’re looking for ways to prepare your preschooler for reading, the good news is these skills are easy and fun to practice at home, and many require no preparation or materials at all.

How Phonological Awareness Can Help Your Preschooler

According to the International Dyslexia Association, phonological awareness is a broad set of skills that includes recognizing and manipulating parts of oral language. Here are some of the most important phonological awareness skills to teach your preschooler, along with fun ways to practice them at home.

Rhyme

Read rhyming books and sing rhyming songs together. Point out words that do and don’t rhyme, and talk about how rhyming words sound the same at the end.

• Practice rhyme identification: “Do ____ and _____ rhyme?”
• Practice rhyme production: “What’s a word that rhymes with _____?”

You don’t need any materials to practice identifying or producing rhymes, it’s a great game to play at the grocery store, on a walk, or during a car ride. Find something in the environment and start a rhyming game: “I see a tree. Do tree and bee rhyme?” or “I see a tree. Let’s think of a word that rhymes with tree!”

Breaking Words Into Syllables

• Clap once for each syllable in a word.
• Smash a ball of Play-Doh for each syllable in a word.
• Draw circles on the driveway and hop to a new circle for each syllable in a word.

Blending Syllables Into Words

Try asking, “What word do these sounds make? Cow…. Boy = cowboy!” This one also requires no materials, making it a great game for the grocery store or a car ride.

Alliteration

Sing songs and read books with alliteration, and talk about how you hear the same sound at the beginning of each word. Ask your child, “What sound do you hear at the beginning of each word?”

• Song ideas: Peter Piper, Green Grass Grew All Around, ABC Mouse letter songs
• Book idea: Dr. Seuss ABC

You can also make up your own silly song or poem using words that start with the same sound, or take turns thinking of words that begin with the same sound using things you see around you. For example: “I see a ball. Ball starts with ‘b.’ What other words start with the ‘b’ sound?”

Letter-Sound Knowledge

Try to use lowercase letters, since your child will see letters in lowercase form most often when reading. Helpful materials include alphabet magnets, flashcards, or sidewalk chalk for writing letters on the driveway.

• Identifying letters by name: “Find the letter ____.”
• Identifying letters by sound: “Find the letter that says ___.” Be careful not to add an “uh” after the letter’s sound, for example, “M” says “mmm,” not “muh.”
• Labeling letter names: “What is this letter’s name?”
• Stating letter sounds: “What sound does this letter make?”

Get Assistance Preparing Your Preschooler for Reading With Enrichment Therapy & Learning Center

At Enrichment Therapy & Learning Center (ETLC), our speech-language specialists work with children of all ages to support successful communication growth. We work one-on-one with your child to assess their needs and build a plan that sets them on the path to success. For more phonological awareness resources, check out our posts on the phonological awareness hierarchy and phonological awareness by grade level. If you’re wondering whether ETLC is the right fit for your family, give us a call. We’d love to talk about how we can make a difference in your child’s life.