We are a tech-heavy household. That’s not to say that we don’t do any hands-on activities, such as crafts, coloring, and puzzles. It’s just that both my husband and I love technology and use it daily. So, it’s only natural that our baby girl will grow up in a technology-filled house and will learn to use it early on.

She already knows how to navigate our iPod touch, knows how to work a computer mouse, and knows many techy words. How many three year olds do you know that have words such as blog and email in their vocabulary?

Mine does.

The latest activity that she likes to do is play on the computer. Since she learned how to use the mouse, she likes to go on “the real computer” (our laptop) and play games online.

Of course, we limit how long she plays at any given time and we’re sitting right next to her when she plays. This way, she can still interact with us as she plays and we can guide and help her if she needs us to.

Where does she go to play online games? Here are some of her favorite places to visit:

• Noggin
• Sesame Street
• PBS Kids
• Nick Jr
• Playhouse Disney

Of particular interest to her are the Dora games and lately Special Agent Oso has been a hit as well.

Does your toddler or preschooler play computer games? What sites do they enjoy? Do they have a favorite game?

Yesterday we headed out to the Playground Music and Arts Festival at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando. We heard about the event on PBS while watching Pocoyo one morning. Guess TV advertising still works sometimes, huh? It was sponsored by the Orange County Arts Education Center and Playground magazine.

After 20 minutes of searching for parking and my daughter so kindly telling my husband that he was “going the wrong way daddy!” because he turned in the opposite direction from the lake, we started walking around the lake to see all the different booths and displays. There were student art shows from various local schools. Local artists were also set up displaying their artwork and we even saw a local woman who makes Puerto Rican vejigante masks. My daughter said the masks had big teeth, but was also truly intrigued by them and you could see she was trying to make out what they were. I wish I had gotten the name of the lady or her link, because now I can’t find her information. If anyone knows who she is or saw her there, let me know.

Anyway, we finally made our way to the playground area, where there were bounce houses from Monkey Joe’s, a clown making balloon animals from Birthday World, and lots of other kid-friendly events. Baby girl got a balloon bracelet from the clown, which I’ve never seen done before. I was also very happy that my girl did not get scared by the clown and actually talked to her.

Guess where we spent most of our time?

Once we convinced her that there were other things to do and see, we headed over to the stage where the lady from Belly Button Yoga was leading a small yoga session for the kids. Of course, my never one to be shy daughter, headed on up and did her yoga.

That's the look of SERIOUS concentration going on.

There were also some performances from various local dance and art centers. And it was hot. Really really hot.

We ended up making our way fully around the lake and right back to the bounce houses for one last round of fun before heading home.

Any locals make it out to the festival yesterday?

Now that you have some resources for helping your child read, do you want to know about a good book to read to your toddler or preschooler?

This is the cutest book and your kid is going to love it. Well, only if he/she is as awesome as my baby girl. hehehe

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems

We first learned about Knuffle Bunny while watching Between the Lions one day with baby girl. The story was read on the show along with the pictures from the book. And the pictures? Stunning. A mix of city photography and illustrations. You’ll have to “look inside” the book to see what I mean.

By the way, the title is pronounced Keh-nuffle; the K is NOT silent.

My favorite lines from the book are “She went boneless. She did everything she could to show how unhappy she was.” If you remember what tantrums are like (or are currently dealing with them), you’ll know exactly what those lines mean. Of course, the reason behind those lines will help you appreciate, or at the very least, understand the tantrums a little more. It gives a new perspective on things…from your kid’s point of view.

My daughter’s favorite part of the book? Pretty much all of it. She loves to look at the pictures and loves to repeat what Trixie (that’s the main character) says. She laughs at the same parts each time we read the book. In advance mind you, since she already knows what will happen next.

Apparently, there’s a sequel now to Knuffle Bunny, which I keep meaning to pick up. Looks like Trixie is now a preschooler herself.

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity

And, there’s also a DVD from Scholastic with the Knuffle Bunny story on it.

Knuffle Bunny… and More Great Childhood Adventure Stories

I just added the DVD to our Netflix queue so hopefully baby girl likes it.

If you’ve never read Knuffle Bunny, then you have to buy the book. I promise…you – I mean your son/daughter – will love it.

And no, I did not get asked to review this book or write about it. I really just like the book a lot.

My daughter is three. As a preschooler, she loves to “read” and loves for us to read to her. She received a Leapfrog Tag system from her tio for Christmas and uses it on an almost daily basis. That is how she can “read” a book to us.

But, she can also take a regular book and either tell us the story from memory or a lot of times she’ll just make up her own story with the pictures. I’ve heard these are all good things for learning to read. So, I take it we’re on the right track.

Now, how do we take it to another level?

Well, I’m no teacher, so I don’t magically have the answer. Luckily for me, though, there are plenty of resources out there for parents like you and me to learn more about how to help our kids learn to read and develop their language skills.

5 Reading Resources for Parents

1. Scholastic Parents: Books & Reading – Provides information by age bracket, a newsletter, and articles.
2. PBS Parents Reading & Language – Also provides information by age, articles, and some quick tips. There’s also the PBS shop that has products for parents.
3. Reading Rockets: For Families – This site has articles and information with tips on reading with your kid, as well as for recognizing when there might be issues in reading (for older kids obviously). They also have a facebook page if you want to connect with them.
4. Literactive – You can get more than just information on this site. They provide activities and worksheets that you can use with your child.
5. U.S. DOE Free Publications – I’ve linked to the Top 10 publications from the Department of Education with the first 4 listed being information on how parents can help their kids get ready or learn to read. They’re divided by age level.

These are great for all parents, but also good for those home-schooling parents out there. And, there’s so many more sites out there!

If you want, you can browse all the sites I’ve bookmarked on delicious and tagged with reading.

What methods have you found work for helping your child learn to read?