Language & Art
Explore pictures and paintings to teach your child new words.
Talking about pictures and paintings is a great way to let kids know you’re interested in what’s going on in their imaginations. It’s also a great way to begin conversations and help kids learn new words!
Watch the video together. Later, let kids draw or scribble, then talk about what they’ve drawn: “Can you tell me more about this?” “Let’s make up a story about what is happening in your picture.” “I see you used a lot of dark red in this picture. Look, my sweater is dark red, too.”
Terry Crews Is an Artist
Terry Crews, Count, and Abby talk about the word “artist.”
Alphabet Art
Alphabet art is a fun, hands-on way to help kids recognize the shapes of letters. It can also provide an opportunity to layer in learning across subjects. Watch this video and think of ways you might incorporate letter crafts into your work with kids and families.
Abby’s Letter Garden
Prepare children for school success by exposing them to uppercase letters, helping them recognize them, and write them themselves.
Building and Rebuilding Language Skills—and Community!
An article about building children’s language skills by enriching your interactions.
I Know My Letters
A printable alphabet coloring page.
Creating Alphabet-Rich Environments
Alphabet recognition involves learning the names, shapes, and sounds of the letters in the alphabet, and it helps get kids ready for phonics learning. There are so many ways to introduce the alphabet to young children. Adding a little alphabet magic to your environment can be a great place to start.
Building a Reader
An interactive course that explores key literacy goals, strategies, and activities to support learning around language and literacy in children ages 2-5.
