how do you packadoo?

Packadoo is a playful tool kit for learning the ABCs.
Each card is hand-painted with whimsical illustrations that
bring the alphabet to life in full color.

Hello! So glad you're here!

What you choose to bring into your home is important, and we are truly honored that you’ve selected our Packadoo ABC cards. We know you’ll be making happy memories with these helpful little cards for years to come. Feel free to use your imagination when you play with these cards—there’s no right way or wrong way to use them. But, if you need some suggestions before you begin, we’ve teamed up with Dr. Lindsay Robinson to share some expert tips.

Questions? Want to share your adventures? Please email me and tag us in your photos at @lanasshop. Hearing about your experiences means so much!!

Tips for learning and playing, from 6 months up

Age: 6 months - 2 years

Talking with your kiddos is one of the best things you can do for them at this stage, and PACKADOO cards are handy conversation starters that you can use throughout your busy day. Kids benefit from listening to you, and every colorful card’s illustration can help bring a new story to life.

Make up stories together. Use your imagination! Pick up 2-3 cards and use them to tell a tale about a fun camping adventure or trip to the grocery store.

Chat with your baby during a walk. Bring PACKADOO along for the ride! Pick 1 or 2 cards that represent items that you can search for while you’re out and about. Name those things and point to them, so your kiddo can see the connection.

Prolong tummy time. Lay the cards out one at a time and let your child look at the subject of each card while you point to it and discuss it.

Distract your baby during diaper changes. Keep your PACKADOO cards by the changing station and hand your kiddo a card to look at and talk about while you change their diaper.

Age: 2 - 4 years

This is a great time to start working on your child’s phonological awareness (recognizing sounds in words) and phonemic awareness (manipulating individual sounds in words). Packadoo can help! Try one of the following activities to prepare them for becoming readers. But there’s no hurry: The focus at this age is on oral language, so don’t worry too much about teaching the alphabet or the sounds of letters.

Continue to develop oral language. It’s so important to talk (and to develop imagination) at this age. Pick 3-4 cards with your child and see what kind of story they inspire.

Clap out syllables. This one is so much fun! Guide your child in clapping the number of syllables in the word on the card. Ex. wildflowers. wild/flow/ers. (3 claps for 3 syllables.)

Identify individual words in a sentence. Make up a short sentence using one of the cards. Then clap for each word in the sentence. Ex. Look at the tent! (Clap for each word).

Practice rhyming. Come up with some fun, rhyming words to go with the words on the card. Ex. Nest, pest, best.

Hear beginning sounds. Holding one of the PACKADOO cards, say the word on the card, putting special emphasis on the first sound. Then say several other words that start with the same letter. Ex. Tent. Table. Tricycle. Turkey. Have your child try to mimic the first sound they hear. Extension: Once your child can identify the first sound, have them try to come up with their own word!

Foodie Edition: Choose a card and identify the first sound. Then, while you’re walking around the grocery store, see if you can find other things that have that same sound.

Age: 4 - 6 years

Introduce kiddos to letters and their sounds. Generally, kids at this age are moving towards understanding that what they see in print represents different sounds and words. PACKADOO helps you make those connections in a playful way.

Continue to develop oral language. It’s still so important to talk and to develop imagination at this stage. Pick 5-6 cards and make up a story using the cards.

Teach consonants and vowels. When you’re looking at the alphabet together, introduce upper and lower-case letters at the same time, along with the sounds they make. Try starting with consonants because they make sounds more consistently.

Here are some suggested methods for getting started:

Have fun with “repeat after me” games: “This is the letter ‘s.’ S makes a ‘ssss’ sound. Now you try!”
Begin with letters S, C, W, X, Z, P, and K. They each have distinct sounds, and the upper and lower case are the same.
Leave time between letters that have similar sounds or look similar. Ex. don’t teach B and D at the same time.

Try some of these activity ideas:

Choose a card to be the letter of the day (think Sesame Street)
See how many words you can think of that start with the letter on the card
Letter hunt: Spread the cards out on the floor. Then call out a consonant and have your child find the card that shows that letter.

Spell the child’s name.

Letter hunt: Spread the cards out and then have your child try to find the letters of their name. (You can always give them a little help if they can’t quite spell their name yet.)

Play games!

Word Hunt: Search for the words you see on the PACKADOO cards in a book or out in the wild. Keep a list and see how many you can find!

Memory game: You say, “I’m going on a camping trip, and I’m bringing…” and then pick up 1 card and say what’s on the card. When it’s the next person’s turn, they say, “I’m going on a camping trip, and I’m bringing…” while picking up card #1 and also picking up another card.

Dr. Lindsay Robinson is a mom of a three-year-old and a Goldendoodle. She loves to read, share the joy of reading with others, and equip parents with the tools they need to support their children in literacy development. She has a PhD in Literacy Education from the University of Minnesota, and currently works as a Literacy Content Lead for a large, urban school district.