This month is the perfect time to embark on an exciting literacy adventure with your young ones. I’m thrilled to introduce the “October Early Literacy Bingo Challenge,” an exciting way to engage your child in various early literacy activities. This challenge not only promotes early literacy but also makes learning a fun and interactive experience for your child aged 3-6.
What is October Early Literacy Bingo?
The October Early Literacy Bingo card is a curated collection of 16 activities designed to enhance your child’s literacy skills. Each activity has been carefully chosen to align with early literacy development, standards and cater to your child’s age and interests. By aiming to complete as many activities as possible on the bingo card, you’ll not only promote reading and language skills but also create memories with your little one.
Let’s Dive into the Bingo Card Activities:
1. Visit your local library, thrift store or bookstore and choose a new book.
2. Have a “word of the day” and use it in conversation: Expand your child’s vocabulary one word at a time. You can take this a step further and add a little competition to see who can find more opportunities to use this new word in conversation. If you need a little inspiration on what words to use, you can download some vocabulary cards here. Bonus: Here are some activities you can use to help make these words concrete for your child.
3. Read a book about a different culture and discuss it: As you discuss the book, talk about similarities and or differences they might have noticed between some of the things in the books vs. what they are used to in their culture. Consider these titles:
- The Water Princess by Susan Verde , Islandborn by Junot Díaz, Plantanos Go with Everything by Yasmin Ramirez , What Do You Celebrate by Whitney Stewart , Same, Same But Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw, Ohana Means Family by Ilima Looms.
These books offer diverse and engaging stories for children, exploring themes of culture, celebration, and understanding differences.
4. Retell a story using “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “why” questions: Encourage critical thinking and understanding of narratives.
5. Draw and label a picture of a favorite fall activity: Enhance fine motor skills and creativity. This activity can be differentiated based on your child’s skills. If your child is not yet able to write words, they can label the picture with the first sound they hear in a word, if they have more knowledge of the alphabet they can attempt to sound out the word and write as many sounds as they hear. Avoid outright spelling the word for them.
6. Read a non-fiction book and discuss facts learned: Spark curiosity and love for learning about the real world. As you introduce the story, be sure to let them know that you’ll be reading a nonfiction book which is a book that tells you facts and information about the world around you.
7. Choose and write down one early literacy goal that you will commit to working on with your child for this month.
8. Read a bedtime story together. Before you begin the story, read them the title and let them know who the author and illustrator is. As you read, use the pictures to help you make predictions about the story.
9. Have your child journal about one good thing that happened during their day. This activity can be differentiated based on where your child is in their writing journey. Check out these awesome journals here that can be used.
Option 1: Draw and label a picture of one good thing that happened today. Use the beginning sounds of the words to label the picture.
Option 2: : Draw and label a picture of one good thing that happened today. Label the picture with words.
Option 3: : Draw and label a picture of one good thing that happened today. Label the picture with words. Write one sentence explaining the drawing.
Option 4: Draw and label a picture of one good thing that happened today. Label the picture with words. Write 1-3 sentences explaining the drawing, what happened and why it was a good thing or how it made them feel.
10. Play “I Spy” with things that start with a letter sound your child is working on learning.
11. Teach your child a fancy word: encourage them to use the word in a sentence.
12. Discuss the characters and setting of a book: Be sure to explain to them that characters are the people, animals and creatures in a story and the setting is where the story takes place.
13. Practice writing the letters in the child’s name.
14. Teach your child a new letter sound.
15. Ask your child to describe their day in order: Develop sequencing skills and encourage storytelling.
16.Listen to a podcast or audiobook on a topic of interest: Explore new worlds through the power of audio.
How to Get Started:
Download the Bingo Card.
Customize as Needed: Feel free to adapt the activities to your child’s age and interests.
Complete the Bingo: Aim to complete a row, column, or diagonal on the bingo card throughout October.
Celebrate and Share: Reward your child for their achievements and share your experiences on social media using the hashtag #EarlyIntellectBingo to inspire other parents.
With the October Early Literacy Bingo, you’re fostering early literacy and nurturing a lifelong love for reading and learning. So, grab your bingo card and embark on this literary journey with your child. Happy reading and happy learning!
If you have any questions or want to share your experiences, feel free to reach out to us.
If you haven’t yet, sign up below and download the bingo card.
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