Each month, we offer a kit packed with tips and suggestions around an early literacy calendar (also available in Spanish). Here’s a guide inspired by our April Early Lit Kit that will help you read, play, talk, sing, and write at home with your little ones:
Read: Read a book about music (here are a few to get you started) and act out the different dances and movements that the kids do. Do have any more dance moves? Put on a dance performance for your family!
Sing: Do you know the Hokey Pokey? This is a fun song that teaches kids about left and right, the parts of the body, and has a fun dance!
You put your right hand in
You put your right hand out
You put your right hand in
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around
That’s what it’s all about!
Can you think of any unusual body parts to use? Maybe your hair or your elbow?
Talk: Talk to your child about different kinds of dances. Teach them the disco, the hustle, the Macarena, the cha cha slide, YMCA…. And any others you’ve liked before! If you have any stories about these dances—we used to do this at middle school dances when I was a kid!—tell them your stories! Look up some other dances you may not know! Or work together to make up a new dance of your own!
Play: Blow some bubbles and watch how they move. Sometimes bubbles look like they’re dancing! Can you change the way the bubbles dance by waving the wand differently, blowing differently, or standing in a different spot? Blow some bubbles and then wave your hands in the air around them to see if you can move them around!
Write: Can you make your fingers dance? Start out on a table or a counter, and see what different ways you can make your fingers dance! Now move your fingers to your shoulders! Now to your head! Where else can your fingers dance?
Music is fun, and an important part of early literacy! Check out the books on this list to get your toes tapping. HerrickDL KidPicks
