Playing is one of the best ways to learn language and early literacy skills.
Playing helps children:
- Explore their emotions and practice putting thoughts into words
- Tell stories
- Act out real situations and use imagination to solve problems
- Think symbolically: a ruler becomes a magic wand, or a playmate becomes an astronaut exploring space
Tips for Adults
- Almost anything can be a toy. Let your child’s imagination soar!
- Encourage children to get deeply involved in their play by giving them plenty of time.
- If possible, let children engage all their senses and get messy as they play.
- Play dress up, grab some costumes and have fun! Dramatic play helps children develop narrative skills as they make up a story about what they are doing.
Books That Inspire Play
Books to excite and inspire play:
- Books to let your imagination soar
- Books to celebrate and inspire play
- Books for caregivers with activities to inspire play year-round
Recommended Resources
Recommended resources for early learning brain development:
- Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University: Play in Early Childhood
- Zero to Three: 5 Ways to Play
- Brooklyn Public Library: Easy at-home play recipes
- Vroom: Tips at home
- Tinkergarten: Ideas for outdoor play
Early Literacy Tips
Talking, singing, reading, writing and playing nurture a child’s desire to read and prepare them for the adventures of reading.
- Open-ended activities develop children’s curiosity, initiative, focus, and persistence.
- At early developmental stages, repetition is a natural and enjoyable part of play and learning.
- One way you can play is to act out stories or parts of stories—this is fun and helps the child understand what is happening in the story. Eventually they may be able to tell the story back to you!
Get ready to read with your library!
- Sing and play at Storytimes and Stay and Plays.
- Check out books to read together.
- Draw, write and create at a library program.
- Get your child’s first library card!
- Snuggle up with Storytime Snippets anytime on our YouTube channel.
- Discover Read-alongs.
