1. Week 5 - Monday
Age 2–3
Share the story of ‘The Gruffalo’ with your child, making lots of comments whilst looking at the pictures. Point to things too and ask your child to name them and emphasise any action words such as “The mouse is smiling”, “The fox is running” then ask your child to copy them. It’s really important to capture your child’s imagination to develop their listening and attention skills so if you can try to add different voices.
Age 3–4
Share the story of ‘The Gruffalo’ with your child and continue to extend their vocabulary by explaining any new words like “poisonous”, “terrible”, “roasted” and “tusks”. Make sure you comment on the pictures and ask your child questions about the story. Encourage your child to talk about what they can see in the pictures and support them to develop their own ideas.
Age 4–5
Share the story of ‘The Gruffalo’ with your child, pausing at various intervals to allow your child time to comment on the pictures. Ask your child some questions, for example:
- When does the mouse meet the snake?
- Where is the frog sitting?
- Why is the mouse shocked when he meets the Gruffalo?
Listen to the sounds in the story. They will help your child to make links between sounds and words, like snake and “ssss”. Also, introduce rhyming words by listening out for and emphasising words that sound the same, like “claws” and “jaws”, “toes” and “nose”.