Fun with Songs, Rhymes, and Games

What was your favorite nursery rhyme as a child? Do you remember the songs or lullabies that your parents or grandparents sang to you at bedtime? Sharing songs, rhymes, and games with young children is important for two reasons: first, these activities offer a great opportunity to start building literacy skills. Secondly, the lyrics, melodies, and rhythms are part of a child's cultural heritage; they are a special link to past and future generations.

Parents can make these activities a part of their daily routines even if they don't feel comfortable reading. If a mother remembers the songs that her mother sang, for example, singing those songs to her child is a wonderful way to continue a family tradition, and to expose the child to language and rhyme.

Colorin Colorado has compiled a number of our articles that offer an overview of some of these activities in our new section, Getting Ready to Read: Family Activities. The articles are available in English and Spanish, and include many ideas that parents can start using at home right away.

Also, be sure to take a look at our Meet the Author section, and the clips from our new video interview with Lulu Delacre, an acclaimed Latina author and illustrator who has published numerous children's books. In these video clips (also available in Spanish), Lulu discusses the ways that songs and games can help build early literacy skills (a great feature for parent literacy workshops!).

She also describes the inspiration behind her beloved characters, Rafi and Rosi, and reads aloud from Rafi and Rosi: Carnival! And don't miss the clips where she discusses how she got started publishing collections of Latin American nursery rhymes, and the importance of maintaining connections to one's heritage - another great segment to use in parent discussions about reading! (The full interview will be available online in the spring.)