A house full of invitations to learn

First, an invitation to read

A lovely way to stimulate kids is to get them to love reading. The key here isn't the number of books on offer, but the variety: picture books, novels, comics, wordless picture books, nonfiction, cookbooks, seek-and-find books, fairy tales and legends, alphabet books, and so on. In short, by exposing our children to different types of books, we let them explore and appreciate different structures. Have books for yourself, too. With kids, it's important to be a role model. A child who sees a parent reading (even if it's the newspaper) will take in that reading matters. They'll tend to copy the model. That said, I firmly believe that reading on a tablet or phone doesn't count! Not with young children, anyway! Here, we have a soft spot for the work of Élise Gravel and Mélanie Watts (Scaredy Squirrel, Chester). At the same time, my little ones are also discovering the fantasy worlds of Harry Potter and Beatrix Potter. Variety is what matters!

***Books can often be borrowed from the library. Personally, my 2-year-old has access to our own books, but he isn't gentle enough yet for library books. It depends on your situation. Books can also be secondhand. There's no need to spend a fortune at bookstores.

Let's “cut loose” with invitations!

First of all, what is an invitation? It means setting out materials that the child will use and handle to do the activity they're invited to do. So there are invitations to write, to create, to count… Here are a few ideas for invitations that could easily be offered at home.

Invitations to create:

1. A bin filled with cardboard scraps, glue, scissors, googly eyes and empty toilet paper rolls; invite the child to make something (a monster, an animal, an insect, etc.)
2. A bin filled with bits of wood, leaves, pinecones and small stones; invite the child to make a model, a mask, a crown, etc.
3. Cardboard boxes (cereal, cracker and granola bar boxes), scissors, paint and paintbrushes; invite the child to create a themed decoration (Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc.)

The idea is to suggest a concept (a theme) and let the child run with it. You'll probably be surprised by the result!

Invitations to write:

1. A bin with letter stamps. The child can use them to write labels, the names of family members, etc. The child could also make a drawing and write what it is using the stamps.
2. A bag with letters (on scraps of paper, necklace beads, Scrabble tiles). Invite the child to pick one and go on a hunt around the house for words that start with that letter. If your child is still little, they could choose a sound (e.g., ch, sh, r, p) and find words around the house with that sound.
3. A bag of store flyers, scissors, glue; invite the child to cut out letters or words to make a message.

*Quick tip: “invitations to write” look a lot like the writing workshops/stations/centres used in kindergarten and the early elementary grades. If you do a quick internet search (Pinterest, for example), you'll easily find inspiration!

**I suggest using a bin, but only because it's practical; when you're done, you put the bin away! But of course, use whatever you have on hand!

Quick-fire suggestions

Here are a few invitations that are easy to set up and are always a hit with kids:

• Dry-erase whiteboards
• Chalkboards
• Modelling clay
• Puppets and figurines (to develop the imagination)

At our place, a lot has been set up for the kids, but we often improvise. We use dried beans, noodles or stones for counting. We pull out the sugar or flour to trace letters or words in it. Use what you have on hand and get creative; an invitation isn't that complicated! What forms do your invitations take at your house?

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