Celebrate National Literacy Month with MAGNA-TILES

Download a month of hands-on literacy activities, book-inspired builds, and playful learning ideas.

September is National Literacy Month. It celebrates reading and how children grow through language, stories, letters, and words.

A love of literacy begins with simple moments. Share a book, sing a song, or notice letters in a name. Discover new words, ask questions, or make up stories together. These experiences strengthen listening, speaking, and imagination. They set the stage for reading and writing.

That’s why literacy doesn’t have to stop when the book closes.

With MAGNA-TILES, children bring literacy into hands-on play. Use MAGNA-TILES LEARN Letters, opens in a new tab and MAGNA-TILES building sets, opens in a new tab. They can build letters, explore sounds, and make words. They can also recreate story settings and tell their own stories.

Meet LEARN Letters

MAGNA-TILES LEARN Letters make letter learning hands-on. Children explore early literacy skills through building, matching, and word play. Literacy is about more than recognizing letters. It is also about:

•          listening and speaking
•          making connections between sounds and symbols
•          building vocabulary
•          expressing ideas
•         understanding stories
•          using imagination to create meaning

Play creates natural opportunities for all of this.

A Month of Literacy Play

We created A Month of Literacy Play with MAGNA-TILES Building Sets, opens in a new tab. This calendar has simple activities for home, the classroom, or small groups.

Each week builds around a different literacy theme:

·         Week 1: Play with Letters

·         Week 2: Play with Sounds

·         Week 3: Build with Words

·         Week 4: Build the Story

·         Week 5: Celebrate Literacy

You will find activities from MAGNA-TILES Learning Hub, opens in a new tab resources. It includes daily play prompts and a Read and Build activity each Friday.

Friday Read and Build

Each Friday, the calendar pairs a book with a MAGNA-TILES build. This invites children to bring stories into play. They can recreate settings or build characters. They can also imagine what happens next.

These prompts help build reading comprehension. They encourage children to think beyond the words on the page. They practice understanding meaning by retelling events. They also describe characters and make connections.

Featured books in the calendar inspire story-based play. Find them at local bookstores, libraries, and favorite retailers.

In Canada, explore reads through Indigo Kids, opens in a new tab. Here, stories and MAGNA-TILES play come together. Join us on September 19 for a special MAGNA-TILES play event, opens in a new tab at Indigo Kids.

Designed to Support Meaningful Literacy Moments

The goal of this resource is not to check off every day perfectly. It is to offer ways to weave literacy into play throughout the month. You will also see select activities that connect to additional printable play guides from the MAGNA-TILES Learning Hub.

Download the A Month of Literacy Play with MAGNA-TILES Building Sets calendar. Enjoy activities that combine reading, building, talking, and imagination.

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DOWNLOAD THE CALENDAR

Try a few prompts or use the full guide. We hope this calendar makes literacy fun for children!