Fun Activities Help Improve Literacy Skills

Now that winter is here, Family Literacy Day is a perfect excuse to stay in the house and keep warm! On January 27, celebrate the 11th annual Family Literacy Day (FLD) by doing learning activities with your family.

Family Literacy Day was created in 1999 by ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation and Honda Canada to celebrate parents and children reading together to become lifelong learners. Thousands of Canadians take part in this initiative every year by hosting FLD parties or participating in literacy activities.

We can all improve our literacy skills if we spend just 15 minutes a day reading, writing or surfing the Internet. Family Literacy Day isn't just for kids, either. Did you know that as we grow older, we lose our literacy skills? Spending time reading and playing word games together will help keep everyone's skills sharp.

"It's important for parents to read to their children because reading is like a muscle - if you don't exercise it often you may not be able to maintain the same level of reading ability as you age. This is why reinforcing reading and writing as a family activity benefits people of all ages," says Margaret Eaton, President of ABC CANADA. "Developing early childhood reading and writing skills helps develop the learning skills necessary for good communication skills later in life, and can ultimately contribute to a child's chances for success."

Anyone can do these literacy activities all year round:

1. Create a quiz! Write out 10 interesting facts about yourself in question and answer format. Write down your answers and test your family to see if anyone really knows you.

2. Create an all-star card! Place a sports photo of you or a friend on a card and keep track of the points scored during the sports season. It could be goals, assists, home runs, touchdowns, etc. At the end of the season, write them on the card and you're an all-star!

3. Find a pen-pal! Write a letter to a friend or family member that has moved away. Tell them about all the new and exciting things in your life. Mail it or send it by e-mail and ask them to send you a letter back.

4. Design your own board game! There's no limit to how much fun you could have with this. Use a piece of cardboard and draw out your idea for a game. Write out the instructions and play away!

5. Keep a family book journal! Start a journal to keep track of how many books each of your family members has read over the course of one year. Write down the titles of the books, any new words that were learned, etc. After a year, get together and share stories from the journal!

Visit www.FamilyLiteracyDay.ca for more Family Literacy Day tips and event information.

- News Canada