Building Early Years Literacy Through Play

How early years literacy is built through everyday moments - helping children become confident communicators, readers and learners.

Literacy is the ability to read, write, speak and understand information to be able to communicate in everyday life. Literacy skills apply to many aspects of life, like being able to read a book, sign or message to understand it, writing or speaking your thoughts and feelings to communicate with others, using language to communicate with others and understanding and using information in daily situations.

When we think about literacy in the early years, it starts in the everyday moments of connection between children and the people who care for them, during conversations, songs, play, stories, drawing, and even grocery shopping.

From birth, children are building the foundations for language, communication and literacy through their relationships and interactions with others. These early experiences help children make sense of the world, express themselves, and develop the confidence to communicate their ideas.

Some of the richest learning opportunities in early literacy happen through play.

Start with Talking

One of the most powerful ways to build early literacy is to talk with your child.

Whether you are hanging out the washing, preparing dinner or exploring the backyard, every conversation helps children build vocabulary, listening skills and understanding. Children learn language when it is meaningful and connected to what they are experiencing.

You might:

• Narrate your day as you go about everyday tasks.
• Describe what your child is doing while they play.
• Talk about feelings and emotions characters are demonstrating in cartoons or books.
• Ask open-ended questions such as, "What do you think will happen next?"
• Introduce new words connected to your child's interests.

For children learning more than one language, each language adds a unique way of understanding and connecting with the world. Being bilingual is about more than speaking two languages, it shapes a child’s identity, relationships, and sense of belonging. Strong oral language skills in both languages also support early literacy and lifelong learning (Herrera et al., 2022).

Pictured: Hola Spanish playgroup at Fitzgibbon

Children develop early literacy skills at different rates, but late talkers - children who have delayed speech and language development in the early years - may be at greater risk of later difficulties with reading, vocabulary, comprehension and writing.

While many late talkers catch up to their peers by school age, some continue to experience subtle language and literacy challenges that can affect their learning.

Families who are concerned should seek advice early from a speech pathologist or child health professional, as early support can strengthen language skills and reduce the impact on later literacy development.

This resource from Raising Children Network has some guidance surrounding early literacy flags for the 4-to-5-year age range.

Sharing a Book Together

Reading together is one of the most enjoyable ways to support literacy development.

Rather than focusing on finishing the story, think about reading as a chance to connect, explore new words and spark conversations. Books introduce children to new ideas, build vocabulary and help them understand how stories work.

You can make story time even more engaging by:

• Choosing books with rhyme, repetition and colourful illustrations.
• Talking about the pictures.
• Asking questions about the story.
• Relating events in books to your child's own experiences.
• Following the words with your finger as you read.
• Allowing your child to make up their own story to the pictures.
• Visiting your local library together. First Five Forever is a wonderful initiative which uses stories, rhyme and repetition and sessions are run all over Queensland in local library branches. You can find a session near you here.

Exploring a book and relating it to an art activity is also a meaningful way to explore books in a creative way. How the Birds Got Their Colours is a great way to explore the book and then do the activity together.

Remember, reading doesn't always have to happen at bedtime. Reading signs on a walk, a recipe in the kitchen or a shopping list at the supermarket all help children see that literacy has a purpose in everyday life.

Play with Sounds and Rhymes

Before children learn to read, they need opportunities to hear, notice and play with the sounds within language.

Songs, rhymes and word games help children develop phonological awareness - the ability to hear and recognise sounds in spoken words. This is an important foundation for later reading and writing.

Simple ways to explore sounds together include:

• Singing nursery rhymes and favourite family songs.
• Clapping syllables in names and words.
• Playing rhyming games.
• Making up silly rhymes during play.
• Trying tongue twisters and sound games.

Create Literacy-Rich Play Experiences

Play provides endless opportunities for children to experiment with language, symbols, storytelling and communication.

When literacy is embedded into meaningful play experiences, children begin to understand how reading and writing are used in the real world.

A few simple ideas include:

Set Up a Pretend Café

This ice-cream stand activity on our free member portal is a fun one to explore.

Children can:

• Create menus.
• Take orders.
• Draw pictures of food.
• Make signs for their café.
• Talk with customers.

Build and Create

Construction play encourages children to:

• Draw plans.
• Label their creations.
• Describe what they have built.
• Follow visual instructions or pictures.
  
  

Become Everyday Storytellers

During imaginative play, children naturally use language to:

• Create characters.
• Develop storylines.
• Negotiate roles.
• Solve problems.
• Express ideas.

Whether they are being a vet at the clinic, exploring outer space or hosting a picnic with their teddies, children are developing literacy through meaningful communication and storytelling.

Explore Dress Up Play on the free member portal (free membership required and login required).

Encourage Drawing, Scribbling and Mark-Making

Long before children write words, they communicate through drawings, marks and symbols.

Providing easy access to paper, crayons, chalk, pencils or paint invites children to experiment with making meaning through marks. These experiences help children understand that symbols and print can communicate messages. Taste safe fingerpaint is a good way to explore textures and mark making for babies to toddlers.

You might encourage your child to:

• Explore different mediums to make marks.
• Create signs for play spaces.
• Make cards for family members.
• Label their artwork.
• Experiment with writing their name. This can also be done with different materials like playdough, or if you have rainbow rice, asking them to draw the letters of their name in the rice or use playdough to form shapes and letters.

Follow their Lead in Play

Some of the best literacy learning happens when children are engaged in something they genuinely enjoy.

When adults join children's play, listen to their ideas and build on their interests, learning becomes meaningful, motivating and fun. A child fascinated by dinosaurs, trucks, fairies or bugs already has a natural pathway into literacy through books, conversations, drawing and storytelling related to those interests.

Sometimes the adults role is to simply to be curious alongside our children, asking questions, exploring ideas and creating space for conversation.

So the next time you are busy creating an ice-cream shop, reading a story, repurposing items from nature into specialist mud pies or pretending to be a dirty dinosaur – this type of play is helping children build the early literacy skills they need to thrive.

If you wish to access any of the activities linked in this blog, make sure you are signed up to be a Play Matters member – it’s free and gives you access to our play portal and network of playgroups.

References

Australian Education Research Organisation. Early Literacy Practice Guide.

Victorian Government. Play (Emergent Literacy) – Literacy Teaching Toolkit.

Play Matters Australia. Building Blocks for Literacy Development (2025).

Herrera, S. G., Martinez, M. I., Olsen, L., & Soltero, S. (2022). Early literacy development and instruction for dual language learners in early childhood education. National Committee for Effective Literacy for Emergent Bilingual Students. https://multilingualliteracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/NCEL_ECE_White_Paper.pd

Learning and Literacy Clinic. (n.d.). How late talkers develop literacy and reading skills. https://www.learningandliteracyclinic.com.au/late-talkers-early-language-delays-literacy-development