Visual literacy is an important part of every little ones’ education and development. Through images and objects, we learn about the world around us and build understanding and connections between words and their meaning. Visual literacy is learning through interpretation or making meaning from images and seen objects. This process allows for creativity, helps to organise knowledge, clarify thinking and deepen understanding of concepts.

Coming from a background in teaching and education, I can’t help but see play as an opportunity to learn and strengthen skills. I also find it fascinating that some children thrive with different kinds of learning environments and, I often find that visual learners can sometimes have decreased confidence in writing-based activities because they use images, symbols and visual aides to interpret concepts.

MiniZoo animals can help encourage visual literacy while educating children about animals through play. My three-year old is right in that stage where she can recognise letters and numbers, tell you what they are, but can’t read words. Bridging that gap can be a long developmental process, but we can assist by using animal figures from MiniZoo and letter prompts (either bought or made) to spell out the animal names. Sounding out the words and building on their meaning is achievable by assigning the sounds to a known animal.

For example, Miss 3 can recognise an S and an H, and she can also recognise a sheep. Seeing the H come after the S in this context, and seeing the CollectA sheep right next to those letters, allows a connection to be reinforced between concepts and sounds, practising visual literacy. Building upon the ‘sh’ sound, she can then see the connection with the word and animal ‘SHark’, or even 'fiSH', so you can almost physically see the links her little brain is making between the words, the image or physical object, and her understanding.

For older children, larger and more complex words and concepts can be similarly represented with other MiniZoo products. E.g. ‘Environment’ can be visually depicted with animals from a like habitat, and our Let Them Play and Papoose scene builders can assist with creating their home.

Another great way MiniZoo can assist with visual literacy with complex concepts, is with our Life Cycle kits. The Butterfly Life Cycle kit is a fun exercise to try. You can also find a Safari Solar System and Space Toob to help discuss and discover Outer Space at home through play. This exercise can be readily utilised and adapted to suit concepts that your little ones just haven’t got their head around yet.

Flash cards are also a fun way to promote visual literacy, so stay tuned for my next blog, devoted entirely to using MiniZoo animals with alphabet flash cards.

If you love incorporating education into your little ones’ playtime, then check out my Learning at Home with MiniZoo blog for heaps more ideas.

If you do this with your MiniZoo animals, then we’d love to see! Let us know through our Facebook and Instagram pages, and join our MiniZoo VIP Facebook group for even more ideas from likeminded people.

Remember that MiniZoo offers worldwide shipping and free shipping on qualified orders within Australia. You can also shop with Afterpay if you want your figures now and pay later!

Jenna @ MiniZoo