The Picture Alphabet

The Picture Alphabet Letters A through E. The letter A is turned into an avalanche. The letter B is turned into a butterfly. The letter C is turned into a curved road. The letter D is turned into a door. The letter E is turned into an elevator.
The Picture Alphabet letters F through J. The letter F is turned into an elevator that skips the first floor. The letter G is turned into a grin. The letter H is turned into a house. The letter I is an itty bitty person. J is a jumping person.

Using Picture Clues to Help Teach Kids How to Read and Write

What is The Picture Alphabet?

The Picture Alphabet uses “picture clues” to help bridge the gap between the time kids recognize a letter and when kids understand which sound it makes. We hope these “picture clues” make the process of learning to read more fun and less frustrating for both kids and the adults teaching them.

In this video, we start by turning the letter “A” into an “avalanche”. Kids learn the letter’s A’s shape (a tall mountain) and the sound that it makes (the beginning sound in “avalanche”).

Why Should I Try The Picture Alphabet?

What I love most about The Picture Alphabet is creating fun stories with kids using the “picture clues”. For example, in this video we tell a story using the letters in the word “KID”.

The itty bitty person (the letter I) kicks (the letter K) a ball in their backyard. They accidentally kick the ball so hard that it flies over their fence and breaks the window on their neighbor’s door (the letter D). Oh no!

We hope The Picture Alphabet not only helps beginning readers learn how to read and write but also gives them the opportunity to become creative and imaginative storytellers. It is so much fun to see how kids use the picture clues to come up with their own stories.

Where Do I Start?

If you are brand new to The Picture Alphabet, welcome!

If your child is just starting to learn their letters, we hope they especially enjoy the short videos (~10 seconds) we created to help them learn each letter’s shape and sound.

If your child knows the letters of the alphabet and is just starting to sound out CVC (like “cat”) and CVCC (like “jump”) words, we hope they enjoy our silly stories about a mouse, octopus, and an itty bitty person.