Make Books Accessible to Preschoolers

Preschoolers should be encouraged to include reading in their daily lives. Reading will help them to succeed in school as they grow older and help them to gain an understanding of many of their favorite subjects. Making books accessible to preschoolers makes it easy for them to spend a few spare minutes reading a book. Keep books in several areas of your home or preschool classroom so preschoolers have easy access to the books that they want to read. Keep books on a low shelf so that preschoolers can easily reach them.

What You Need

Plastic magazine holders

Colored construction paper

Marker

Optional: Stickers

What To Do

Sort your preschool book collection by similar themes. You can separate them by seasons so that you can easily find books that correspond with different parts of the year. Group your preschool books based on any similarities you see between them such as, alphabet books, zoo animals, farm animals, bugs or any other themes. Holidays are also a great way to group books and they can be kept in storage when they are not needed.

Measure the flat space on the front of the magazine holders that you have purchased and cut pieces of colored construction paper to fit the space. Label each book holder in large letters. Since preschoolers can not read, it is helpful if you draw a simple picture on the label or put corresponding stickers so preschoolers can easily tell what type of book each holder contains.

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Helpful Tips for Parents

• Learning environments matter. A space with accessible books, puzzles, art supplies, and natural materials at child height encourages more learning than a child-proofed empty room.

• Read aloud daily for at least 15 minutes. This single habit is the strongest predictor of kindergarten reading readiness and long-term academic success.

• Curiosity is more valuable than knowledge. A curious child who doesn't know the answer will find it. A knowledgeable child who has lost curiosity will stop learning.

• Sleep is educational. Memory consolidation — the process of moving learning from short-term to long-term memory — happens during sleep. Well-rested children learn more effectively.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should formal education begin for preschoolers?

Play-based learning is the developmentally appropriate educational mode for children from birth through age 6–7. Formal academic instruction (sitting at desks, worksheets, direct phonics drills) before age 6 consistently produces short-term knowledge gains but long-term motivation losses. The children with the richest preschool play experiences often outperform academically drilled peers by age 8, when the developmental advantage of play-based executive function development becomes apparent in school performance.

What is the role of technology in preschool education?

High-quality educational apps and programs (PBS Kids, Khan Academy Kids, Starfall) used in limited, adult-co-viewed sessions can supplement preschool learning. However, interactive human experiences (conversation, shared book reading, hands-on experimentation, social play) remain far superior as primary learning modes. Screen-based learning is most effective when it is: co-viewed with an adult, limited to 30–60 minutes per day, followed by extension activities in the real world (after a nature app, go outside), and consistently educational rather than commercial.

Related reading: See also our alphabet activities and our read-aloud guide for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 📚 Pre-Reading Skills — Activities that involve letters, sounds, rhymes, and print directly build the phonological awareness and letter knowledge that are the two strongest predictors of successful reading development.
• ⚡ Executive Function — Planning, sequencing steps, holding rules in mind while acting, and stopping a prepotent response all build executive function — the cluster of cognitive skills most strongly predictive of long-term academic and life success.
• 🤔 Critical Thinking — Being asked "why do you think that?" and forming and defending an answer develops the analytical reasoning children need for reading comprehension, mathematics, and evidence-based argumentation.
• ✏️ Pre-Writing Development — Drawing, tracing, and early mark-making develop the fine motor control and visual-motor integration that handwriting requires — making every drawing activity a contribution to writing readiness.

Reading is so important to a preschoolers educational development. Reading can help preschoolers to be better prepared for kindergarten and develop better reasoning skills and emotional understanding.

Storing a collection of preschool books can be a challenge. Simple magazine holders can be used to make it easy to find the perfect book for your preschooler.

Questions to Ask Your Child

Use these open-ended prompts to extend the learning during or after the activity:

• "What was the most interesting thing you learned today?"
• "Can you explain this to a stuffed animal as if they've never heard of it?"
• "What part do you want to practice more?"
• "How is this connected to something you already know?"
• "What would you want to learn more about?"
• "If you were the teacher, what would you tell the class about this?"

There are no right or wrong answers to any of these questions. The goal is to keep the conversation going, model curious thinking, and give your child practice putting their experience into words.