Notice Print All Around You
Recognizing the significance of print in the environment and learning how to handle a book are skills that don't just happen.
Children need many experiences handling books to understand that print is used in multiple ways for a variety of purposes. This is referred to as "print awareness," and is different from knowing about letters. It includes knowledge about how a book works.
Kangaroo and Joey cavort and jump!
Kangaroo and Joey love to read together.
Activity Time!
- Use puzzles that have pictures with letters or words.
- Point out that a book has an author and an illustrator.
- Let children help you make a shopping list. Match the words on your list to those on the products.
- As you write, tell your children what you're doing.
- Let children help read recipes as you cook or bake. Let them create a picture of a recipe you make.
- Identify print on t-shirts, boxes and signs.
- Hand a book to your child upside down, and see if they turn it around.
- When using a menu at a restaurant, show them what you’re ordering. When they get home, give them a pad of paper and let them pretend to be a server, taking and filling orders.
More 6 by 6 Skills
more skills
Look for Letters Everywhere
Learning shapes, and then later, letters, helps children learn that words are made up of letters that mean different sounds.
Notice Print All Around You
Pointing out words in books, on signs, and all around helps children know that all of those squiggly shapes have meaning.
Take Time to Rhyme
Hearing rhymes and wordplay helps children understand that words are made up of smaller parts — like endings that can sound like each other!
Talk, Talk, Talk
Use lots of language with young children, even when they don’t understand. The more words children hear the larger their vocabulary will be.
Tell Stories About Everything
Hearing lots of stories (and helping to tell them!) gives children an idea of how stories go — beginning, middle, end.
Have Fun with Books
Books can be fun at any age, and young children who enjoy books and see their adults enjoying books will be enthusiastic to learn to read.
Staff Picks
From Your Librarians
6 by 6 - Notice Print All Around You
Notice Print All Around You is more than just looking for print. It also includes recognizing print in different colors, sizes, and styles.
Books and rhymes from Storytime with Becky Carleton
Enjoy the songs, rhymes and fingerplays planned for Fall 2025 in our storytime events with Becky Carleton!
First Day Nerves?
The first day at school - or even the first day back to school - can be nerve-racking for kids AND their adults!
Books for Kindergarteners
A short selection of books recommended for kindergarteners. Some are easy readers, and some are books meant to be read aloud by an adult.
