A creative couple have designed an alphabet poster to help children grasp “weird” words emerging during the coronavirus crisis.
Amy and Will Upfield designed ‘The A-Z of coronavirus’ to help youngsters, including their own three-year-old daughter Willow, understand the fast-changing world.
The design is based on the familiar alphabet posters found in homes, schools and nurseries across the country.
But instead of traditional associations such as A for Apple or B for Ball, it features new ones including B for Boris, D for Distancing, H for hands, L for lockdown, N for NHS and O for outside.
Alongside each letter is an amusing image and a small, child-friendly explanation aiming to help “little minds understand why the world around them is a little bit weird right now.”
Amy, who runs the Ideas and That advertising agency with her husband near Faversham in Kent, said: “This is temporarily life changing.
“And kids are going to notice. So we wanted to find a way of explaining the words that they are going to hear and things we are going to have to do.”
The mum-of-two, 33, said the aim was to “find the fun, focus on the positives and let children know that it won’t last forever.”
Since the coronavirus struck, Amy and Will, 30, said the generosity of “businesses big and small” encouraged them to do their bit to help.
They initially created the posters for friends and family, but after receiving positive feedback, decided to make them more widely available on their company’s LinkedIn page.
Amy said: “As owners of a business ourselves, as well as parents, we were inspired. So we racked our brains and came up with an idea that combined both our superpowers: creating and parenting.”
To help children settle into their new routines, the couple designed the poster to explain the situation gently, focussing on the changes children are likely to notice most.
Time outside, friends, grown-ups, the elderly, school and the all-important hand washing routine all feature in the new poster.
Amy noted that the poster is really helping her own toddler, Willow, make sense of the changes around her.
The creative director said: “It’s really refreshing. Our daughter now thinks of coronavirus as ‘the naughty bug’ that needs to sit on the ‘naughty step.'”
She added: “On ‘N for NHS’ there are pictures of animals dressed up as doctors and nurses. She now understands that these are the people helping to make patients better again.
“She can now recognise Boris Johnson and his fluffy hair. There’s no way she would have known that before.”
Will added that the poster helps parents have important discussions with their children to help them navigate these unusual times.
He said: “It is important parents take the time to speak about school, for example, and answer questions about when they might go back. It helps parents not to shield their children from everything.
“Now my daughter is happy and understands a lot more. It’s definitely helping us.”
The poster is available for free on the company’s website and can be printed out as A4 downloads featuring four letters a time so that children can decorate and colour them in at home.
Amy and Will are also donating 50 full-sized A2 posters on their company’s LinkedIn page on a first-come-first-served basis.