Storytime Snuggle Guess
What you need
- a favourite picture book
How to do it
- Get comfy together and open to a new page
- Cover the picture with your hand and ask 'what do you think is there?'
- Reveal it and talk about what's happening
- Let them turn the page when they're ready for the next guess
Why it matters
Guessing before the reveal gets them actively thinking about a story instead of just watching it, which builds real listening and imagination.
What they're learning
- prediction
- Guessing what's under your hand is early inference — the same skill behind understanding what happens next in a story or situation.
- vocabulary growth
- Naming the reveal each time steadily builds the words they'll use to describe their own day.
- shared attention
- Taking turns to guess and reveal keeps both of you focused on the same thing, the foundation of real conversation.
What to look for
Listen for them offering their own guess unprompted before you even cover the page — that's growing confidence in their own ideas.
A tip
Pick a book they already know well — familiar pictures make guessing easier and less frustrating.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: just point and name what you both see, no guessing
Harder: ask what might happen on the next page before you turn it
