PIC-A-PUZZLE: Alphabet Match

Learning Guide

Parents and Educators!

Thanks for choosing us to help your child learn and explore. There is never a wrong way for children to begin to develop their skills as young readers. There is no wrong way to play this game, however, here’s a few tips and tricks to help your child grow into the game as they develop.

Game Basics

Directions

Place the pieces letter-side up. Ask your child to find the matching upper and lower case letters. Once the child has a match, ask them to flip the puzzle over for a picture surprise! The picture is a search game and the child then finds items that start with the letter.

SIDE ONE: We included a few elements to help your child make the letter match on side one. First, there are three die cuts which limit the number of lower case and upper case letters that fit together. Second, the lower case letters have very recognizable items next to them that begin with the letter. This is helpful for kids who know their upper case letters and sounds but are still learning lower case letters. They can find the lower case letter by looking for the item with the sound they know connects to the upper case letter.

SIDE TWO: The goal on this side of the puzzle is for the child to identify what begins with the letter on the front. A few things to note. First, if the child identified the item on the front of the puzzle, they have a head start on the items on the back of the puzzle. The item on the front came from the image on the back.

Second, the list of items on the bottom right of the picture are often not the only items in the picture that start with the letter. For instance, in the letter “T,” we removed “toast” because kids identified it more frequently as “pancakes” than “toast.” That comes down to exposure, and it may be that your child identifies “toast.” Your learner is not wrong for identifying words that are not on the list. The word list is there to help the teacher or parent, and also for children who are starting to read. It is not there to be a standard for right and wrong.

Third, the items were picked to teach introductory sounds of letters to your learner, but your learner may find items that begin with the letter, but have an alternative or more advanced sound. For instance, on the “I” panel there is an I-pad and although the goal is to teach the short sound of “I,” the child is not wrong for identifying “I-pad” which has the long sound of “I.” If this happens, it is a learning opportunity. Introduce the idea that letters can have different sounds. Tell them they are right, and then ask the child if they can find any other items that begin with the targeted sound.

tools to adjust the game to your learner

Children vary in attention spans, giftings, focus, abilities, and everything else in between. Below this section, we discuss tips based on developmental level, but before that, here is a quick primer of all the ways you can adjust the game to your learner in case you are short on time.

Limit the number of puzzles. In our experience, only very advanced learners can handle all the pieces the first time so be mindful that your child may need a modified set. We recommend between 4 to 7 puzzles as a starting point, but adjust this to your child’s needs and attention span.
Separate upper case and lower case letters. Especially if your child is learning lower case letters for the first time, separating the lower case and upper case letters into piles makes the task more achievable. It is a great way to limit the number of pieces that a child has to choose between.
Limit the items they identify in the search. For the search, a great modification is to not require the learner to find all the items listed on the side. Some learners will do better if they start with just finding any item that begins with the sound and then move on to the next puzzle. This is especially true of children who are self-critical. If your learner tends to be critical of “mistakes,” rebrand the game so their task is complete by finding one or a few items. As they get more familiar with the game, you can then add more items. This creates an achievable win and provides room to learn and grow.

Learning by Stage of Development

Further expanding on the tools above, below we lay out the learning process in stages. Each child is unique, but these are common stages that children progress through with tips for each one.

Early development/Exploration

Initially, your learner will be curious and want to explore. Encourage them to notice each letter has picture clues to help them. Start to ask them to name some of the images they recognize. If they are frustrated with this, you can always make the match for them and have them start to practice telling you a story about what’s in the picture. This is a pre-reading skill to read the pictures. It’s always fun to expand the vocabulary of our children. If they call the alligator a crocodile, explain the difference and encourage them to add “alligator” to their vocabulary. The next time you see the picture, see if they remember the word.

Next Stages

Once your child recognizes letters and sounds, scramble the cards where the letters are face up and see if they can make a match. Depending on their development stage you may want to start with four to seven letters (8 to 14 puzzle pieces) at a time to not overwhelm them. If they are having fun, you can let them be the guide and add more puzzles. You can also allow them to guide the conversation by sitting with them and looking for images that might be more challenging to find. This is a great way to expand their vocabulary. If at any point the game becomes frustrating, be sure to encourage your child with the words they have found. Remember, identifying a few items is a great start1

Advanced Skills

Now that your child has mastered all the skills of matching, and finding the images hidden in the picture, you can add a challenge. Have them draw the image on their own scratch paper and try to label the images (first with just the initial sound). It is important in their development that kids phonetically spell works so it is okay to start with the beginning sound and work towards adding the ending sound. Using the middle sounds come last for development. It’s more important to explore and discover than always get it right, so celebrate their growth and continue to encourage new skills every day.

So what about the diversity piece?

As a starting point, children are curious and we find that they ask questions about the differences they see in the characters featured without any prompting. The first part of building inclusion with your learner is to listen for these moments and respond. Create a safe place for your child to ask anything on their mind and to have a conversation with you. As a parent, this is a great way for you to learn the lessons your child is learning about people who are different.

We recognize that there may be an impulse to react or immediately silence your child if they note differences. We encourage you to instead turn it into a moment where you celebrate the noted difference, or as it makes sense, build empathy and understanding. Depending on what is said, it may also make sense to consider how the child drew the conclusion they did about the difference. It is situation-specific, but learning begins at home and children pick up on our attitudes or biases very well. It may be that working with your child to build inclusion first requires building inclusion and countering biases within yourself.

Moving to a more proactive approach to building inclusion and identity, we have intentionally chosen images and activities where the kids in each photo are working together, interacting, or learning something new. Ask your child some of these questions to spark conversations:

What is happening with the kids?
How do you think that makes them feel?
Have you ever felt that way?
What do you do when you feel like that?
How do you tell your friends how you are feeling?
How are they showing care and being kind to one another?
Is there anything that is new for you?

Letter Details and Tips

Below are some background details on some of the images as well as helpful tips from what we learned when we played the game with children. Do you have something to add? Reach out to customersupport@picdiversity.org. We are always open to input.

A: Do you know the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? In short, alligators have a shorter, and wider head than crocodiles. An alligator’s mouth shape is more like a U, whereas the crocodile's is more like a V. Crocodiles also tend to be more aggressive. Within the United States, crocodiles are only found in southern Florida. Alligators, on the other hand, live throughout the southern states.

B: Sometimes children identify the ball as a “soccer ball.” That is a great opportunity to highlight the “b” sound against the “s” sound with a question like, “Does “soccer” or “ball” start with the “b” sound?”

C: The featured caterpillar is a monarch caterpillar and the caterpillar is on milkweed. Milkweed is the only thing that a monarch caterpillar will eat. Migratory monarchs are endangered so it is important to have food like this available for them.

Sometimes children identify the “cat” as a “kitty” or “Kitty cat.” Reemphasize the word “cat” with your learner. Use your judgment on whether or not your learner is ready to learn that two letters (“c” and “k”) can have the same sound.

D: A lot of fun “D” words here, but one that is not listed is “dock.” “Dock” is not a word a child would readily identify, but if you create stories with the pictures, “dock” is a great noun to introduce.

E: Nouns that start with short vowel sounds are challenging to find. The items your learner will probably immediately identify include “elephant” and “egg.” The number 11 in the background may not be a number your learner knows yet. We included it in this type of chart because it is a chart often used to teach numbers in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten classes. The image introduces the concept.

To get to exercise, we found it helpful to ask learners, “What are the kids doing?” Another option is, “Why are the kids standing like that?”

Another word left off of the list is “elbow.” If your learner is working on naming body parts, “elbow” is an opportunity.

F: It is not on the word list, but one of our favorite words for this panel is “friends.” “Friends” is a great word to incorporate if you discuss the panels with your learner.

G: Children enjoy silly. If your child struggles to find the items, you can ask them, “Can you find something that the children eat?” (Answer: grapes). “Now what about the goat?” (Answer: grass). Depending on your learner, you may get a laugh.

Another great fact about this panel is that it features a left-handed guitar and guitarist (The child on the left). Many left-handed guitarists learn to play with the right-handed guitar, but some choose to play with the left-handed guitar.

H: One great noun left off of this panel is “house.” “House” is not a noun a child will readily identify in a picture like this, but it is a great noun for you to use if you create stories with the pictures.

I: Words that begin with the short sound of “I” are few and far between. As a result, many schools and curricula teach the sound using the word “igloo.” An unfortunate result is that the image is explained with the false narrative that the igloo is a home for the Eskimos. Our hope with this panel is to provide an accurate narrative.

The Inuit are a group of different, but culturally similar, peoples that live in the arctic and subarctic regions. The word “Inuit” literally means “people” in the Inuit language, Inuktut. As a quick aside, Inuit means people so saying “Inuit people” is redundant as you are saying, “People people.”

There are a lot of different names to identify the people within this region and differing views on which terms are derogatory and which are not. A good rule of thumb for your learner is to teach them to learn about someone’s history and their tribe and how they refer to themselves. That is a good lesson for many contexts.

The igloo is not the common type of housing used by the Inuit anymore. Igloos are culturally significant and may be used for hunting or emergency shelter, but they are not the homes of the Inuit today. The homes of the Inuit are modern homes, like the one you live in or the one in the picture.

In the background of the “I” panel, we included pictures of the qilaut. The qilaut is a drum native to the Inuit. One unique feature is that it has a handle, unlike many drums. It has been used for many years by the Inuit. It is beaten with a stick, the qatuk.

J: This is a classic morning breakfast scene that features the letter “J.” “Jelly” is featured, but sometimes children say “jam” which is also correct, even if it is not on the list.

For children in colder climates, we found that they sometimes identify the green and blue puffer as a “coat” rather than “jacket.” If that happens, point to the blue jean jacket. That generally gets to the “j” sound.

K: The koala in the picture is on a eucalyptus tree as eucalyptus leaves are their primary diet. In fact, koalas are found in the eucalyptus forests of southeastern and eastern Australia.

L: This panel is our pitch to the entrepreneurial spirit. Many children get their first exposure to business and money management by selling lemonade. If your child is excited by the idea, maybe it is time for them to get a stand.

A common word that comes up that is not in the word list is “lamp” or “lantern” instead of “light.” As noted earlier, the goal is to practice the “l” sound so this is correct even though it is not on the list.

M: If it concerns you that the children are hiking at night without a parent, remember that someone had to take the picture.

It may be challenging for your learner to find the items in the background of the picture (“Moon” and “Mountains”). Ask your child questions like, “What’s shining down on them?” or “Where is the motorcyclist on the road going?” to help your child find them.

N: Most children will say “nest,” but some of you have done a fantastic job teaching your 3-year-olds to identify the actual names of birds (in this case, Robin). If that is your child, stand tall and be proud. The next question for you is then, “Where does the Robin sleep?” That should get your learner to “nest.”

The other area to note is that children sometimes say “nail polish” rather than just “nails.” Again, that is correct. The goal is to practice the sound, not just get the words on the side of the panel.

O: This is a challenging panel as there are not many vowels that start with the short sound of “O.” Children tend to usually get “octopus,” but “otter” and “ostrich” depends on their exposure. If your children do not know about these creatures, this panel is a great opportunity to pull out your phone and show them some great videos of these fantastic creatures.

We have had parents point out that “ocean” is another “O” word featured on this panel that is not on our list. The list is limited to the short sound of “O,” however, if your learner is ready to incorporate two sounds, “ocean” is a great way to do that.

P: This was a fun picture to create and it is full of “P” words not on the list. If you are teaching your child colors, you can integrate “pink” or “purple.” If you want to talk about sustainable careers for their future, you can add “painter” to “pirate” and “princess” (that is a joke). We hope you have as much fun with this image as we did creating it.

Q: There is no question that this letter qualifies as a quandary for the game maker. “Queen” is generally identified by learners (though if your child says, “princess” this is a great opportunity to refer back to the previous panel—what does “princess” begin with?” You can then follow with, “Who is the mother of the princess?” If your child is still unsure, this likely means you have avoided inundating your child with fairytales at bedtime. This is another stand tall and proud moment).

To get to “quack” all you have to ask is, “What does the duck say?”

The question mark is more challenging as many children do not know the mark yet. If you are doing an abbreviated version of the panel, skip it. We included it, though, because some kids do have exposure to it, and either way, it is a learning opportunity. One way to get there, “The queen is asking the ducks if they are hungry. She is asking them (what)? What is it called when you ask someone something?” If this turns frustrating for the child, move on. Question marks are abstract.

R: Another fun image, this panel is a child-favorite. We did not list all the “R” words, so if a child says “rain boots” or “red” please give them credit.

Another element that children sometimes ask about is the prosthetic. They usually do not have “prosthetic” in their vocabulary, so this is a great time to introduce the word. We also find that children perceive the prosthetic as a powerful addition, like a superhero. Children see the world through a fresh lens and we encourage you to take a look through their perspective.

S: This panel includes another example of a prosthetic, but for the arm. The featured prosthetic is 3D-printed and is a more affordable (and therefore accessible) model. Using this example with the example in “R” is a great way to help your child understand the meaning of “prosthetic.”

Some of the items that start with S not on the list include, “Sandals,” “Sand,” and “Shoes.” We limited the list to what we most commonly heard, but some kids will volunteer these other words. If your child says “shoes,” determine whether that is because they know the “sh” sound starts with “s” or if they were just guessing. Both are teaching moments, but different lessons. If they were just guessing, you can teach them that “sh” begins with “s.” If they already knew this, acknowledge their victory and ask them to continue finding words that start with the “s” sound.

T: The one element to listen for that we did not include on the panel is “toast.” We found that children continuously identified the turkey’s meal as “pancakes” so we removed the word to avoid confusion. That said, if your child enjoys toast, your experience will likely be different. Applaud them for “toast.”

U: If you have not figured it out yet, illustrating the short sounds of vowels is challenging. That is the case here. “Umbrella” is usually found quickly. “Underwear” is an opportunity for giggles, though you might need to ask your learner, “What’s hanging on the line?”

To get “up,” point to the arrow and ask, “Which direction is it pointing?” if you want to take your learner a step further, sometimes “Where is the cat sitting?” gets the response “under the umbrella.” If they are very engaged, this may be a good stretch moment for them. Use at your discretion.

If you are doing a quick, modified version, have them identify “umbrella,” maybe try for “underwear,” and move on.

One thing to note for advanced learners, “up” is an easy word to start with. If you are sounding out words, this is a great word to introduce.

V: Our goal was not to portray Nero fiddling while Rome burned, but we understand if that is your first reaction. In our defense, this is a violin, not a fiddle, and children generally do not know the story of Nero.

Some children may find it challenging to identify “van.” The “van” is a learning opportunity. Many individuals in wheelchairs require accessible vans when they travel. Vans can be converted into mobility vans and that is the concept here.

W: The most commonly identified item in this picture is not the walrus, or whale—it is the watermelon. Every child seems to know watermelon. If your child is one who does not know about the whale or walrus, this is another teachable moment to teach them about the creatures in the ocean.

We found that learners often overlook the water in the glasses once they spot “watermelon.” A teachable moment is to ask, “What are the children drinking?” Once they identify “watermelon,” you can explain that they are two words that both start the same. If your learner is engaged, a good follow-up question is, “Why do you think ‘watermelon’ starts with ‘water’?

Another piece to note on this panel is that some teachers avoid teaching words like “whale” initially because they say the pronunciation is a bit different with the “h” following it. We leave that to your discretion as the chief educator.

X: The only letter that exceeded Q in difficulty is this letter. This is the only letter where we included illustrations for the letter that do not begin with sound we are trying to teach through the illustration. (Side note: If your child is one of the few who knows X-ray fish, they are featured in the side aquarium.). For all the other children, we also included the more common “Exit” as a way to illustrate the /ks/ sound.

The reason that the beginner sounds featured in this game were chosen as a starting point is that they are the most common sounds a child will need when they begin to sound out words in reading. This panel is a bridge for that future development. You can show that the name of the letter (X as in X-ray) incorporates the /ks/ sound. Next, show the sound in “exit.” Finally, show that even though they are spelled differently, “X-ray” and “exit” begin with the same sound. Adjust to your learner. If they are not ready for this piece, get to “X-ray” and move on.

Y: Most children find yo-yo, but yogurt depends on the child’s exposure. If you do not give your child yogurt, skip that noun.

Yellow is more abstract as they have likely heard it used more as an adjective than a noun. if your learner struggles with it ask, “What color do you see on the walls?” or “what color is the paint?”

Z: “Zebra” is usually identified quickly. If your child struggles with “zoo,” ask them, “Where do you go to see zebras?” We included “zoo” because it is an easier word to sound out that begins with “z.” This is an opportunity for advanced learners.

Our hardest noun in this set is “zipper.” If your child is stuck, ask, “What are they using to close their jacket?” or something along those lines.