In a reading corner where dolls and stuffed toys are present and children pretend-read, such activities primarily support early reading development by:

• A. Increasing awareness of the structure of words
• B. Fostering concepts of print
• C. Building knowledge of letter-sound relationships
• D. Expanding oral vocabulary

Answer: (B)

This activity targets understanding how print works in books. When children pretend-read with dolls and stuffed toys, they rehearse behaviors that show print has meaning and how books are used: turning pages, following text from left to right and top to bottom, recognizing front pages and covers, and connecting pictures to spoken words. Through this play, they begin to understand that print carries a story and that you interact with a book in a predictable way, which is the foundation of early reading.

While they may overhear or imitate new words and may notice letters, the primary benefit here is learning the conventions of print and how to engage with printed text, not yet decoding letter-sound relationships or building explicit vocabulary knowledge through this play. This makes fostering concepts of print the best fit for what the activity supports.