Find resources / Group parenting programme / The importance of play / Reading together and telling stories

• Understand the role of stories and language in children's learning.

As a group, talk about what books and toys their babies like.

How do we ‘read’ to babies? The major emphasis is sharing and enjoying stories and language, not learning to read. Look at the pictures and talk about what’s happening.

Working in pairs, choose a book, then:

• Talk about what’s going on as if you’re looking at the book with your baby. "Look at the baby. Look at the daddy. What are they doing? What’s going on here? They’re laughing. They’re having fun…" and so on.
• Make up many ways of talking about the pictures.

Encourage participants to make a book for their baby using some photos and a small photo book (or ‘brag’ book). Then write some simple captions to go with the photos. For example: Look at pēpi (use the child’s name). Look at māmā. Look at the whare. Look at the kurī. Who’s laughing?

Have fun. Make up some silly rhymes using a simple phrase like, ‘Have you ever seen…’.

• Have you ever seen a bear combing his hair?
• Have you ever seen a mouse painting a house?

• A range of children’s books and other reading materials.
• Book making materials