Five practices (Read, Write, Talk, Sing, Play) that caregivers can use to develop early literacy skills starting at birth. Reading books together is the single best way to help children develop early literacy skills. Read together every day and talk about the books you read. Lois Ehlert has written many bright and colorful books about lots of different subjects. For Playspace, we are focusing on planting vegetables and flowers. All of her books are worth reading, both the marvelous words and seeing her bold and beautiful artwork. Lois Ehlert has also been the illustrator of a few books written by other authors. The back of this paper lists the books Lois Ehlert has written. Here are a few books she has illustrated. • Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. • A Pair of Socks by Stuart Murphy • Limericks by Lear by Edward Lear Writing activities help children learn letter names and sound out new words. Writing also helps children understand that written words represent ideas, places and events. • Lois Ehlert labels a lot of things in her books. You can label things in your house. Write out the name a few things and stick the word by the object. This will be fun to use when starting to identify letters and words. • Allow your child to help you make the grocery store list. Tell him/her what you need and let him/her “write” it on a list. • Write out/draw a simple recipe together. For example, draw a slice of bread, then a jar of peanut butter, and so on until you have made a recipe to make a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich! Singing helps children hear the distinct sounds that make up words. Songs also teach new vocabulary and introduce new ideas and concepts. Words to these songs can be found on the back of this paper. • “The Farmer Plants the Seeds” • “I’m a Little Flower Pot” • “The Vegetable Song” • “Out in My Garden” Children learn how to express themselves, the meaning of words and other literacy skills by playing. • Take out some spoons and plastic bowls and cook together with your child. • Gather various scraps from around your home (like Lois Ehlert did when she was young) and work together to create a collage picture. • Get some gardening gloves, a few shovels, find some dirt and dig, dig, dig! Talking with your child is one of the best ways to help develop language and other early literacy skills. • Take a trip to the grocery store together. Walk around the fruit and vegetable aisle and talk about the different colors and sizes of fruits and vegetables. • Talk together about planning your dream garden, listing off all the things you would want to grow. They can be real (cucumbers) or dream-like (rainbows and unicorns.) • While you are cooking in the kitchen, talk about what you are doing and how you are preparing the food.