This activity promotes development and learning by encouraging children to demonstrate phonological awareness.

Materials Needed:

• Sheet
• Stuffed animals

Participants: This activity is intended for adult/child interaction.

Directions:

Step 1: Share the following finger plays from Mansfield/Richland County Public Library with your child:

• I Will Make a Little House
• I will make a little house, (Form roof shape with fingers)
• Where two friends come to hide. (Bend thumbs under roof)
• When I peek in at the door, (Peek under roof)
• They quickly run outside. (Pop thumbs back out)
• Where Do We Live? by Elizabeth McKinnon
• A squirrel lives in a tree, (Form tree shape with hand)
• A snail lives in a shell, (Cover fist with opposite hand)
• A bear lives in a cave, (Make fist with thumb inside)
• It suits her very well.
• A fish lives in a fishbowl, (Form circle with hands)
• A bird lives in a nest, (Cup hands together)
• (Your child’s name) lives in a house, (Make roof about head with arms)
• He/she thinks his home is best.

Step 2: Make a little house for your child by placing a sheet over a table or chair. Add stuffed animals and pillows.

Repeating poems and finger plays with your child strengthens early literacy as children hear vocabulary and rhyme.