Pre-reading skills in toddlers are the building blocks that come before formal reading.
Long before a child recognises letters or sounds out words, they are learning how books work, how language sounds, and how stories flow.
If you have a baby or toddler, you are already building early literacy without realising it.
This page sits within our
Early Literacy Skills guide, where we explore how reading develops from birth to age three.
Pre-reading skills are the abilities children develop before they learn to read independently.
They include:
- Listening and understanding spoken language
- Recognising pictures and symbols
- Noticing patterns and rhymes
- Turning pages and handling books
- Understanding that print carries meaning
These skills begin in infancy and grow steadily through toddlerhood.
No worksheets required.
