Reading with your toddler
2 - 4 years
Linked to Early Years Curriculum
- Encourage your child to participate by asking questions about the book,
encouraging them to complete predicted phrases etc.
- Ask your child to express their own preferences and interests, for example by
asking ‘do you like...’ questions.
- Encourage conversation about how the characters in the books are feeling
and/or what they might be thinking.
- Use sounds, songs and rhythm e.g voice, clapping, actions, percussive
instruments
- Ask questions about the story. For younger children, they may find it easier
to answer ‘what’ or ‘why’ questions, for older children, you could introduce
who, when or how based questions. You could use toys or figures to roleplay
what the answers might be.
- In discussion, use a wider vocabulary than is in the story alone.
- Encourage your child to anticipate what will happen in the story and make
predictions.
- Where, possible, use mathematical language such as more, less or a lot, or
language about time, such as before, later or soon. Use gesture and/or toys to
make these concepts more concrete for your child.
- Get your child to describe items in the story using adjectives-e.g. big, round
red, tall
- Discuss how characters in the story might be similar or different to
themselves, their family or friends
- Encourage them to talk about related events in their own experience
Find books for your child
From Pop-up Books to Classic Novels, Bear Bookshop has got you covered.
Shop books
