Introducing AI concepts in the earliest years of schooling can help children make sense of intelligent technologies, yet few resources exist for K–2 classrooms. This paper presents the design and outcomes of a professional development (PD) program supporting K–2 teachers as they explored AI literacy and co-designed unplugged classroom activities. Grounded in AI4K12's Five Big Ideas in AI framework, the PD combined hands-on learning, collaborative design, and micro-teaching opportunities. Guiding activities included Train the AI (pattern recognition), What Happens Next? (consequences of AI use), Who Did the Robot Hear? (data diversity), and Teach the Robot (model training). Educators then created screen-free, English Language Arts-aligned activities using storytelling, sorting, and embodied play to introduce AI topics such as machine learning and fairness in age-appropriate ways. The PD emphasized integrating AI into existing K–2 literacy routines, lowering implementation barriers while supporting vocabulary development, reasoning, and empathy. Teacher reflections revealed growing confidence in adapting AI topics for young learners and highlighted the value of peer collaboration, clear language, and tactile materials.

Early elementary teachers are eager to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) concepts to their students but lack age-appropriate resources for exploring abstract ideas such as bias, trust, and fairness. This poster reports on a professional development (PD) program that engaged K-2 teachers in co-designing unplugged, literacy-aligned lessons for AI literacy in resource-constrained classrooms. Grounded in the AI4K12 ''Five Big Ideas in AI,'' the PD combined three phases: concept exploration, lesson co-design, and micro-teaching practice. Through the co-design process, teachers created lessons to help translate abstract AI concepts into classroom-friendly activities. Teachers emphasized the importance of simplifying technical language, embedding activities within familiar English Language Arts (ELA) routines, and using embodied and narrative approaches to sustain student engagement. This work contributes a replicable PD model for introducing AI to early elementary teachers, concrete examples of unplugged AI literacy lessons, and early evidence that abstract AI concepts can be meaningfully connected to literacy and play in K-2 education.