STOP! Do you notice anything about that sign? How about the letters S, T, O, and P?
In your everyday life, letters and words constantly surround you: on signs, in store windows, on vans and trucks, on packages. Name a surface and there’s probably some kind of lettering on it. This is called environmental print.
One great way to work on your child’s letter recognition is to go on a hunt for all the letters of the alphabet. Take a neighborhood walk, and you may be surprised at how many letters you find. Bring along a camera and a list of all of the letters in the alphabet, then cross each one off once you’ve snapped a shot.
When you’re done, you can use printouts of your pictures or photo-editing software to make a collage of your letter finds (in alphabetical order, naturally).
Finally, talk about your collage. What are things that you notice about the letters? What’s similar about them? What’s different? Were there places you were surprised to find letters? Which letter is your favorite?