Environmental Print: Words Are All Around Us!
Some of the very first exposure our children have to written symbols as words is through environmental print. These are words found within children’s natural surroundings—for instance, on road signs, grocery labels, and fast-food signs: STOP, McDonald’s, and Cheerios. Playing with environmental print is a great way for children to start developing knowledge about reading and writing even before they have had any formal reading instruction. Drawing attention to words on billboards, cereal boxes, and so forth, is a way of teaching children letters and words in meaningful contexts. So go ahead and point out that Kroger sign (letter K), the Corn Flakes cereal box, the Taco Bell sign, and more.
But why stop there? Create your own “environmental print!” If we show a toddler a picture of a cat and tell her it is a cat, we can also show her the word “cat” and tell her it says cat! Make labels for your house, such as door, TV, wall, chair, table, mirror, sink, tub, bed, rug, etc. Some labels may be written in your native language or in another language. And keep making new ones. When children see the same labels day after day, they tend to tune them out. So as they seem to lose interest in some labels, make different ones; in fact, have your child help make new ones.
Sources: Consultant Kat Hall, and Family-Friendly Communications for Early Childhood Programs, D. Diffily and K. Morrison
