Oral Language

Before you begin reading, show your baby the picture of the sun on the front cover. Explain that morning is the time when the sun rises up and turns nighttime into daytime — and that daytime means we need to be out of bed and ready to play. Even though your baby doesn’t understand all the words you are saying, he loves listening to you talk, and is learning more about language and speech sounds each time you talk to him.

Oral Language & Phonological awareness

Emphasize the rhyming words and repetitive phrases as you read them. Each page contains a small rhyme and ends with the phrase, "Good morning, Sun." You can try to tap your baby on his arm to identify the rhyming words as you read each phrase. Below is a sample rhyme from the book — the words in bold are the rhyming words. As you read them, tap your child’s arm:

"Little rooster, you’re early to rise. Cock-a-doodle-doo and open your eyes."

Every time you read the phrase, "Good morning, Sun," make a big circle above your head using both of your arms. With time and repetition, your baby will mimic your sun movement and will begin to understand the rhythm and rhyme of the book.

Phonological Awareness

Try saying good morning to other familiar objects in the room. While cradling your baby, lightly bounce him to each syllable of the word as you are saying good morning. Start with one or two syllable words, such as crib, blanket, teddy or bottle. It might look like this:

"Good morning, crib." (Lightly bounce one time for crib.)

"Good morning, blanket." (Lightly bounce two times for blanket.)

The light bounce in between syllables is a great way to associate physical rhythm and speech sounds. It’s also a perfect introduction to the concept of phonological awareness.

Explore more activities for babies from birth to 5 months and continue building phonological awareness and oral language skills.