Promoting Literacy-Rich Daily Occupations

Featured Talking is Teaching Resources

The “Talking is Teaching: Talk, Read, Sing” campaign is designed to promote children’s early brain and language development. We are proud to partner with occupational therapy practitioners who are helping to lay a strong foundation for learning through participation in daily activities. This site offers information and resources to support the important work of OTs to engage families and help children develop school readiness skills. Please explore and share the following resources to help families engage in more language-rich interactions during daily activities and within a variety of settings.

Posters

Print posters with activities and conversation prompts.

Parent Handouts

Share tip sheets designed specifically for parents.

Grocery Stores

Encourage parent-child engagement in the grocery store.

Playgrounds

Learn more about literacy-themed playgrounds.

Laundromats

Turn wash time into talk time with laundromat resources.

What is Occupational Therapy?

Learn more about OTs and AOTA.

Training Materials & Parent Engagement Resources

Family Engagement Event Training Video Series

Five-part video series on how to successfully run a family engagement event.

Watch the videos

Activity Cards

A set of cards with fun and playful ideas for talking, reading, and singing with children everyday. 

English | Spanish

Developmental Milestones Chart

Tipsheet with developmental milestones from birth through age 5.  

English | Spanish

Parent Handouts

Download our tip sheets and guides designed specifically for parents and caregivers at http://talkingisteaching.org/communities/resources/handouts.​​

Playgrounds

We know that playtime can be talk time too – an opportunity for parents and families to engage their children in brain-building activities while exercising their bodies through fun, interactive activities. That’s why Too Small to Fail partnered with playground developers, Shane’s Inspiration and Landscape Structures (LSI), to support families by integrating Talking is Teaching creative content onto panels and signage in playgrounds. With conversation prompts in both Spanish and English, the panels encourage fun, language-rich interactions between parents and children as a regular component of playtime. View all playground panels here.

"Let's Talk Posters"

Let's Talk posters serve as reminders to parents and caregivers, and provide conversation starters. Download posters at http://talkingisteaching.org/communities/creative/posters. 

Grocery Stores

For many people, a trip to the grocery store—especially with young children—can seem mundane or even challenging. Knowing that one of the easiest and most effective ways to increase parent-child engagement is by turning everyday moments into learning activities, the grocery store experience was created. Through the installation of strategically placed signage, this campaign uses research-based messaging and activities to stimulate conversation between adults and young children as they make their way through grocery stores. Learn more about grocery stores here.

Laundromats

Families spend an average of 2.5 hours during each visit to the laundromat. This makes laundry time a valuable, yet often overlooked opportunity for parents and caregivers to engage their littlest learners in talking, reading and singing, and can turn this often tedious routine into a fun, educational experience! That's why Too Small to Fail has teamed up with the Coin Laundry Association (CLA) and its LaundryCares Foundation to distribute tools and information to help parents turn laundry time into meaningful opportunities to talk, read, and sing with their children. Download resources and learn more about our work in laundromats here.

What is Occupational Therapy?

For more information on occupational therapy, please visit the consumer page of American Occupational Therapy Association website at www.aota.org/consumers or download the factsheet below.