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How to Help Toddler - You Are Your Child's First Teacher

BPL - FFY, Read - How to help your Toddler: Brown bear in orange overall giving a book to a chickmunk in a dress

Read to Your Toddler | Reading Milestones |
Books for Toddlers | Song & Rhymes

Toddlers need to be nurtured in language-rich environments. Here's what you can do:

  • Read to your toddler every day. You may want to pick a set time to read together as a family.
  • Toddlers love to hear the same book again and again. They find it comforting and it builds vocabulary.
  • Active toddlers may wander while you read. Keep on reading! They will listen on the move.
  • Point out familiar things in books to your child. Encourage your child to name things, too.

BPL - FFY, Read - Toddler, Animal dressed in blue overall standing on top of a stack of books and lifting a teapot, cups, glass and a cupcake on top of a book

  • Sing to your toddler. Share beloved songs from your childhood or discover new favorites online or at the Library.
  • Talk to your toddler and find fun ways to get your toddler talking. Engage your child in pretend phone conversations or puppet play.

Reading Milestones »

Illustrations from READ IT, DON'T EAT IT! copyright © 2009 by Ian Schoenherr. Reproduced by permission of Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.