Clap It Out

Your child claps once for each syllable in a word — wa-ter-mel-on gets four big claps.

Category: Literacy · Duration: ~5 min

1. Start with your little one's name. Clap each chunk: "E-mi-ly — three claps!" or "Jake — one clap!" 2. Try familiar words: banana (3), dog (1), butterfly (3), refrigerator (5). 3. Say the word slowly and clap together. Then speed up. 4. Make it a game: "I'm thinking of an animal with TWO claps." They guess: tiger? monkey? turtle? 5. End with the longest word you can think of. Hippopotamus gets five claps and a lot of giggles.