One of the biggest things I discovered as a parent of a baby was that toys could be anything! Plastic food containers, a shelf full of books or set of nesting measuring cups could provide hours of fun for my son as he stacked, pulled and dumped.

I once suggested my mother give my son a salad spinner for his first birthday. She still bought him a store bought gift, but she added her old salad spinner to the gift bag. It is still one of his a favourite toys.

When I got back to work at Brooklyn Public Library after my infant care leave was us up, we already involved with a wonderful play initiative. Our project was to construct play activities to get parents talking with their little ones.

Through a couple of generous grants, we were able to develop Read, Play, Grow!, an early literacy curriculum of simple play activities using everyday household objects and materials.

At their existing baby and toddler story time programmes, library staff set up ‘play stations’ with interactive play activities for little ones and their parents to explore. At each station, ‘play tips’ are displayed with suggestions for parents on things they can say to promote language development. 

Many librarians put out toys for kids to play with after programmes and leave the parents and kids to their own devices. Sometimes that needs to be done due to staff shortages, but I think we need to see playtime as a core component of our programmes, not an afterthought.

It is important to model early literacy interactions with children. When parents and caregivers see library staff or other adults get on the floor to play and talk with children, they see first-hand how to engage them with them. 

Here are some of our favourite "Play Recipes" from Brooklyn Public Library. In each recipe, there's an ingredient list and some suggestions for parents on how they can help make it a literacy rich experience. 

Baby Tubes

What you do: Use an empty toilet paper or paper towel roll to blow gently on your baby. You can also use the tube to play tug-of-war, to roll across the floor as your baby sits up, or to hide a sock or scarf for a peek-a-boo surprise. Older babies can pull out the sock or a scarf with a little help from you. Toddlers will enjoy stuffing the sock in the tube by themselves!

What you can say: 

• Describe actions as they are taking place so your baby will begin to associate language with action: ‘Mummy pulled the sock out of the tube!’  
• When you blow through the tube, ask your baby questions. Even though your baby can’t answer yet, you are helping her learn new words. You can ask: ‘Can you feel the air? Does it tickle? Does it feel like the wind?’
• You don’t have to talk down to your baby, but babies do respond to animated and playful speech and the playful drama of it all, especially in games of peek-a-boo. It is OK to be silly!  

Safety tip: Don’t let your baby chew the tube.  

Board Book Blocks

What you do: Get various board books of different sizes and line them up on their sides like dominos and show your baby how to knock them over. You can also build short towers of books. Often babies and toddlers will knock them over after they watch you do it first! Make a tunnel out of books. Get creative! Don’t forget to read the books when you are finished building.  

What you can say: 

• Make lots of sound effects as you knock books over, it will keep your baby or toddler engaged.
• Ask your baby or toddler, ‘What do you think will happen when we knock the blocks over? Will they fall down? They fell down!’
• You can even play peek-a-boo with books. Hold them in front of your face and say ‘Where did mommy go?’ 

No Mess Finger Painting

What you do: Take a large gallon size zip-closure freezer bag. Fill it with two colors of paint in primary colors (red, yellow, or blue) or a primary color and black or white. You don’t need a huge amount. Squeeze the excess air from the bag and zip it closed. Tape the bag flat to a table with packing tape on all four sides. Now your child can move the paint around to mix the colors together. No mess! 

What you can say: 

• ‘What colors do you see inside the bag? Do you see anything else in the room that is the same color(s)?’
• ‘How does the paint feel? Does it feel soft? Does it feel squishy?’ 
• ‘What happens to the colors when we mix them together?’ 

Safety tips: Keep the bag taped to the table. If the bag comes open, you can mend it with tape.

For the past three years, our Central Library has hosted the annual Big Brooklyn Playdate. Each time, over 100 babies and toddlers (and their parents or caregivers) have come out to play. Brooklyn Public Library staffers transform the Dweck Center—usually the site of gallery exhibits—into a baby and toddler play space with various ‘play stations’ around the room that parents, caregivers, and young children can explore together. Again, we place signs near activities to give parents tips of things to say and ways to interact. 

Two years into Read, Play, Grow! programmes and after the first Big Brooklyn Playdate, we surveyed parents and caregivers about the programme’s effectiveness. A full 74 percent of respondents reported gaining new ideas to use with their children and 44 percent said they use Read, Play, Grow! activities at home. We are delighted these simple activities are helping parents and discover what children already know: play is fun and powerful stuff. 

Whether we have set-up appropriate activities or not, our youngest users are already playing at library and it’s usually in ways that drive the shelvers, security guards and custodians crazy. The youngsters are pulling books off the shelves, twirling on spinning racks and climbing over furniture. This is what young children do and need to do. Let’s redirect this energy to more appropriate play.

While it may be difficult for most libraries to replicate the large-scale, interactive exhibits and spaces of children’s museums, we can create small scale, temporary play experiences in our multi-purpose programme rooms and even on the children’s library floor out of very simple, everyday materials. 

And while play belongs in our libraries, play needs to be front and center in our programmes. Creating playful experiences in libraries helps parents understand that play is central to a child’s literacy and language development.

When we get down on the floor and model positive, responsive interactions, parents see first-hand how to engage a young child with emerging language skills.

We can help parents connect the dots between language, literacy and play. We can help let parents know that the best thing they can do to help their child grow and development is to connect with their child as they squeeze dough, stack blocks and peek through boxes. 

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About the author

Rachel Payne is the coordinator of early childhood services at Brooklyn Public Library and a contributor to the books Library Services from Birth to Five - Delivering the Best Start