Here are some name activities for preschool to help children practice spelling their name. Children’s names are so important to them! When teaching Pre-K children to name letters of the alphabet, the best letters to start with are the letters of their name. These are the letters that have the most meaning to children.
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Name Activities for Preschool
The beginning of the school year is a perfect time for children to work on name activities for preschool.
Each of these name activities is a hands-on way to practice spelling their name. It also helps children learn letters in context, rather than showing them isolated letters.
These name activities will work well for independent activities or teacher assisted lessons. Use them in a Literacy Center or at small group or at arrival time (for morning work).
As children are first learning to spell their name, provide them with a name card to look at. Later, when you want them to learn to spell their name from memory, you can leave off the name cards.
Letter Tiles in a Cup
Place letter tiles for each child’s name in a cup. The disposable punch cups are inexpensive. Label the cup with their name using masking tape or an address label. Children will pour the letters out of their cup and put them in order to spell their name. The cups can be stacked for storage.
You can use other letter manipulatives in a cup, such as magnet letters or letter beads.
Kinetic Sand Name Activity
Put kinetic sand in a tray and spread it out over the whole tray. A two-pound bag of kinetic sand filled this tray well. Have children press the letters of their name with alphabet cookie cutters in the kinetic sand. You could also add things like mini seashells, small pebbles, or plastic jewels to place on the letters of their name.
Wooden Block Names
Write the letters of each child’s name on dot stickers that you can get from an office supply store. Attach the stickers to wooden cubes. Have children put the wooden cubes in order to spell their name. These stickers can be removed the next year to reuse for the next group of students.
Sticker Names
Write the letters of the children’s names on dot stickers and have children stick the stickers on paper in order.
Clothespins on a Stick Name Activity
For this activity, write the letters of each child’s name on clothespins, one letter per clothespin. Have children put the letters in order to spell their name and clip them to a wooden paint stick or an extra large craft stick. This makes great fine motor practice as well!
These paint sticks can be purchased at a hardware store in a pack of 10. You can either write the letters on the paint stick for children to match, or leave the letters off the paint stick so that children have to recall how to spell their name.
Letter Bead Name Activity
Have children put the letters of their name in order by stringing beads on a string or a pipe cleaner. You can use larger letter beads or the small craft beads from a craft shop. These could also be stored in stackable cups.
Linking Cube Names
If you have extra linking cubes, write letters on them with a permanent marker and have children hook them together to spell their name. (You can also write on them with dry erase marker if you only plan to use them for one lesson.)
Magnet Letter Name Spelling
Children can spell their name with magnet letters on a magnetic board.
If your students enjoy these name activities for preschool, I have more activities coming in the next few weeks!
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