Know Your Birds: Name and Color

Six birds fill the page, each drawn large in its own box with its name in capital letters underneath: peacock, duck, owl, parrot, penguin and hen. Your child names each bird, talks about it for a moment, then colors it.

Between ages 3 and 5, children learn many new words by talking about things they can see. A picture gives them something to point at, and a question like "where does a duck live?" helps them use words to describe, compare and explain. These birds are different enough to talk about: one swims, one hunts at night, one lays eggs, and one cannot fly at all. Coloring inside the large outlines also gives small hands steady crayon practice.

Point to the word under each picture as you say the bird's name. Your child doesn't need to read it. Just seeing that each picture has a written name helps build early print awareness.