Think about those empty spaces of time throughout your day. If you're a parent, it might be driving in the car or waiting in line at the grocery store. If you're a teacher, it might be transition times between activities, walking through the hallway, or those last few minutes before lunch or dismissal. Using those idle moments to engage with language can be both enjoyable and productive! Here are some ideas for how to fill those empty spaces with literacy.
Sing songs. This is a very quick, no-prep activity that can be done anywhere and anytime. I do this often with my children in the car, and they love it! We do nursery rhymes and other children's songs. This exposes them to language and makes language feel like something fun to play with. One of our favorites is "Down By the Bay." We take turns filling in the last line of "Did you ever see a ____ ____ing a ____?" Some examples are "did you ever see a bear combing his hair," "did you ever see a duck driving a truck," or "did you ever see a mouse painting a house." My kids love singing this song and coming up with silly images. I love that it makes them laugh and helps them practice coming up with rhyming words. A rich experience for something so simple! There are loads of songs you can sing. If you need ideas, Google "kids songs" or "nursery rhymes."
Play I-Spy. I often do this one in the car with my kids too, but again, it can be used anywhere and requires no preparation. "I spy with my little eye something that is _____." We usually do this with colors because of the ages of my kids, but when it's just my oldest and me, we will sometimes do letters ("I spy with my little eye something that begins with P."). My kids have fun being the one to pick the object and also trying to guess what the others have picked. This could easily be done in a classroom as well. There is much more going on here besides literacy (color learning, observing your environment, problem-solving), but it's a great language activity too.
Listen to audiobooks or podcasts. I love using the Libby app to download audiobooks from our library! I do this for a lot of books for myself, but I've been impressed by the options for kids too. We've done several Fancy Nancy books, Pinkalicious books, and Pete the Cat books, just to name a few. They are generally pretty short, and they definitely keep my kids' attention. We have also found a few podcasts that my kids and I enjoy, including Pinkalicious and Peterrific, The Arthur Podcast, and Julie's Library. We also bought our children Tonieboxes last year for Christmas, and these have been a huge hit with our kids in the car and at home. If you're not familiar with them, they are boxes that work like speakers and they have little figures you buy separately to put on the top of the box, and then they will tell you stories or play songs. We even have a couple of figures that you can record your own audio on, so I recorded myself reading some of their favorite books, so they can listen to them anytime they want. My kids are too young to have other devices like phones or tablets to access audiobooks on their own, but these Tonieboxes serve that purpose, and my kids love them!
Implement Word of the Day or Idiom of the Week activities. I used to do these when I taught in K-12 schools, and it was always something the students enjoyed. They had fun playing with language, learning new and interesting words and then trying to use them on their own. If you are looking to implement this, think about your schedule and routines and where this might fit. Do you always have a few minutes left before dismissal? That's perfect! Or are you looking for an activity to settle students down immediately after lunch? That's a great time too! These activities can be very quick; it only takes a few minutes to talk about the word or the idiom. But it's also something that you can spend more time on or come back to multiple times throughout the day/week. I have an Idiom of the Week resource available on my TPT store if you are looking for something to get you started.
Observe your environment. This is related to the I-Spy game, but instead of a game, you are just asking children to notice what is around them. I like to use this when waiting in line with my kids or when waiting at the doctor's office, but I can imagine plenty of other scenarios in schools and at home where this would work. Give your child something to look for and then ask them to identify what they see around them. Some examples are, "What colors do you see that you know," "What letters do you see that you know," and "What numbers do you see that you know." You could also ask them to pay attention to their senses (for example, "What sounds do you hear?").
By utilizing these idle moments to engage with language, both parents and teachers can contribute significantly to the language development and overall literacy of children. Embracing these moments as chances for growth and connection can lead to a more enriching and fulfilling daily experience for everyone!
Great ideas! These are all so simple. They will be easy to implement!