Phonological Awareness

Have fun with music! Point out and name the animals on the cover of the book. Then sing a song about the animals. For example, you might sing:

"The cows on the farm say moo, moo, moo. Moo moo moo. The cows on the farm say moo, moo, moo, all day long.
The sheep on the farm say baa, baa, baa. Baa, baa, baa. The sheep on the farm say baa, baa, baa, all day long.
The pigs on the farm say oink, oink oink. Oink, oink, oink. The pigs on the farm say oink, oink, oink, all day long."

Phonological Awareness

Practice your dramatic abilities and really ham it up (pun intended) when you read about the singing pigs and "that isn't right" lines on pages 3 and 4.

Oral Language

The book ends with a nice quizzical conclusion: ("It's quiet now. What do you say?") Ask your child what he says? If your child is not verbal yet, give him prompts. You might say:

    "Do you say moo? Do you say BAA?"

Then end with:

    "That isn’t right, you say MAMA!"

Oral Language

Gather some of your child’s stuffed animals and make the sounds that they would make. Use the stuffed animals to recreate some of the parts of the story, such as the pigs dancing and singing "LA, LA, LA" or the dogs chasing cats.

Learn more about the importance of pre-reading skills as your baby grows and find more easy activities to help strengthen these skills in your 6- to 11-month-old.