Choose the key word signs, pick a format and make it yours.

Our Children’s Key Word Sign Poster Generator lets you create personalised:

• Communication boards;
• Visual routines;
• First & Next supports;
• Strategy boards;
• Flashcards;
• Lanyard Cards;
• Signs of the Week;
• Wall prompts and posters.

All using our Australian Children’s Key Word Sign library.

There’s no complicated design software and no need to keep searching for a resource that is almost right. Choose the key word signs you actually need, customise the wording and colours, and save your finished resource as a
print-ready PDF.

Create portrait or landscape Key Word Sign posters around the vocabulary that matters in your setting. That might be play, feelings, mealtimes, a current learning topic, a favourite interest or the signs your team is currently trying to use more often.

The benefit of making your own is that you are not limited to somebody else’s choice of vocabulary. You can put the signs you actually want children and adults to see and model in one clear resource.

Communication boards can make useful vocabulary visible right where communication is happening. A board for water play, for example, needs very different words from one used at lunch, in book corner or on the playground.

With the Poster Generator, you can create a personalised Key Word Sign communication board around that activity or environment. Choose the vocabulary that is genuinely useful, change the wording if needed, or hide the written text completely for a cleaner visual board.

Visual routines can help children understand what is happening and in what order, especially when spoken instructions, remembering several steps or unexpected changes are difficult.

The useful thing about creating your own is that the routine can reflect what actually happens in your setting. Your morning might be bag away → sunscreen → outside play, while another service or family may follow a completely different sequence. You can also combine two signs within one routine item, so something like Book Corner can be represented properly rather than being reduced to a generic Book card.

Moving from one activity to another can be difficult when a child, especially a neurodivergent child, is unsure what is happening next or is leaving something they enjoy. A simple First & Next visual reduces the amount of information they need to process and makes the next step easier to see.

Instead of relying on a generic board, you can create the pair that is relevant in that moment: First pack away → Next outside, or First shoes → Next car.

Recognising a feeling / emotion is only part of the picture. A child may know that they feel angry, worried or overwhelmed, but still need support to remember what might help them in that moment.

The When I feel… I can… format lets you create a visual using strategies that have actually been taught and practised with that child while regulated. One child might use squeezing, movement and asking for help, while another may prefer breathing, a quiet space or a familiar calming activity. That makes the resource much more meaningful than a generic “calm down” poster filled with strategies that may not suit them.

Flashcards are useful when you want to focus on a manageable set of signs rather than present a large amount of vocabulary at once. You might create six signs connected to a story, five first signs for a family, or a small set of signs educators are practising that week. Alternatively the cards can be used for memory games, go fish, bean bag toss or flashcard hide and seek.

Choose the vocabulary you want, leave out everything you don’t need, and print the finished cards using the built-in cutting guides.

Learning lots of signs at once can feel overwhelming, particularly after training. A Sign of the Week or 2 Signs of the Week resource gives staff, children and families a small, achievable focus and helps keep Key Word Sign visible between training sessions.

Display the signs in a staff room, classroom, foyer or parent area and encourage everyone to use them naturally throughout the week. Then change the resource when you are ready to introduce the next signs.

Wall prompts are useful when one sign needs to be visible exactly where it is likely to be used. You might put WAIT near a door, WASH HANDS beside a sink or HELP close to an activity area. Alternatively you can use them to designate areas like book corner, doll house or blocks.

They are not only prompts for children. Having the sign visible in the environment also reminds the adults around them to model key word signs consistently.

Every generated resource includes a QR code linking back to the Children’s Key Word Sign Dictionary. If an educator, teacher, therapist, family member or relief staff member needs a reminder of how a sign is performed, they can scan the code and check the sign video tutorial in the dictionary.

That means the resource is not just something for the child to look at. It can also help the adults around them learn, remember and model the signs alongside speech.

The Poster Generator can be used across early learning, schools, allied health, home and wherever there are children. Early learning services can create resources for routines, transitions, play, mealtimes and feelings; schools can create classroom and individual supports; allied health professionals can build targeted communication resources; and families can create visuals around the routines and vocabulary that matter at home.