Literacy Spot #49: Instructions

ByChristie Burnett

When we recently received the Playmobil swimming pool set, Immy and I had a great time working together to assemble it. In fact, Immy is even quite good when it comes to helping with Ikea flat pack assembly! She loves looking at the instructions to see which piece we need next and then matching the picture to the pieces available, and looking at how the pieces slot together to form the finished object. Talk about literacy in action!

Of course, it takes a little longer to involve a toddler or preschooler in this type of assembly and often we are in a rush to get the job done before we move onto the next thing on our list of ‘to-dos.’ So I thought that with Christmas just around the corner, it could be a good time for a reminder to slow down and let your young child be involved when it comes to assembling toys and other gifts which come in pieces!

For further ideas for engaging children who enjoy this type of construction with literacy, you might also like to check out this previous Literacy Spot post, Literacy in the Block Corner.

What is Childhood 101′s Literacy Spot? It is a weekly reminder of the importance of young children learning playfully as each week I share one idea for playing around with literacy, taken from my many years working as an early childhood teacher. Visit the previous Literacy Spot posts for more fun ideas for playing with literacy.

Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.

One Comment

  1. Thanks for this insight. Our local public libraries hold children’s activities through the holidays, and the imperative is always to promote literacy. The idea that following instructions is a strong literacy activity validates the “fun” activities we promote.

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