Reading Activities

Unofficial Biographer Required: Reference materials Does your child have a future in reference book publishing? Here's an entry-level assignment that can serve as a preview. Your child chooses a person he or she is studying in school—a famous ...

Read My Lips Required: Newspapers Can you create memorable sound bites worthy of a politician? Give your child examples of famous sound bites and talk about the events they help memorialize. Read newspaper headlines together, and see which of th...

From learning the alphabet to stringing letter sounds together, reading requires a foundation of many skills. These interactive apps can help provide the building blocks of reading, focusing on literacy skills including phonetic awareness, site w...

Pay by the Word Required: Your time only What if conversations were telegrams and every word counted? Your child can learn to speak concisely—or to "pay" the cost! Challenge your child to describe a movie or book in as few words as possible. A...

Hole Story Required: Storybook How would you like to hear the hole story? All you need for this activity are the stories—your child can provide the holes. With your child, read aloud a page or two from a storybook. Then call out a part of spee...

I SeeMaterials Illustrated magazines Directions Sit with your child and turn the pages of the magazine pretending to be on a mission to find a particular object or person. For example, you might look for a mother with a baby, a child playing with...

What the research says about teens who read for enjoyment. ...

Poem DanceDirections Choose a favorite poem and read it aloud. Select a few of the ideas, words, or images in the poem and express them in movement with your child. Some ideas will suggest how to move and others will suggest a mood, feeling, or e...

Reading AloudMaterials Book Cassette tape recorder Directions Children should be encouraged to read aloud. They also like to listen while someone else reads to them. In order for oral reading to be a comfortable experience, it should be practice...

Winter Reading LogMaterials Small notebook Pen or pencil Directions There is nothing better to do on a cold winter day than curl up somewhere warm with a good book. At the first day of winter, start your Winter Reading Log. Enter the date and th...

Nothing is more important to academic achievement than being a good reader. Parents know their children best and can provide the one-on-one time and attention that will lead them to success in reading. Here is a list of ways to help your children...

Illustrate Your Favorite BookMaterials Paper Art materials Directions Remember those picture books you read as a child? Have you ever read a book with no pictures? Did you wish there were some? Here is an opportunity to illustrate one of your fa...

It Felt Like...Time 10 to 20 minutes Materials Your child's favorite book Directions You can take a favorite story a step further after you read it by asking the child what a particular character felt like at some point in the story.Help to exten...

Magazine Scavenger HuntMaterials One old magazine per player One sheet of paper per player One pencil per playerDirections Before your trip, leaf through each magazine. For each magazine, make a list of fifteen objects pictured in it. Each list s...

Reading is one of the most important skills you should try to boost outside of school. Foster your child's bookworm habits with these simple activities and tips that make reading so fun, he'll fill up his book chart in no time. ...

Homophone FunLearning about language doesn't have to be boring. Playing games with homophones is a fun way to strengthen your child's vocabulary skills. Homophones are pairs or groups of words that sound alike but have different meanings, for ex...

Color these fun holiday bookmarks. Use this art activity to encourage reading over winter holidays. ...

The Road to ReadingLearning to read doesn't just happen. To become readers, kids need to have rich experiences with language at a young age. When you talk, sing, read to, and play with an infant, toddler, or preschooler, you're laying the foundat...