15 Activities for Your Preschooler to Practice Their Name

Are you looking for a way to teach your preschooler how to spell their name? Maybe your little one is home with you more than you expected in 2020, and you are looking for some great preschool activities. 

 

I know I am! My 3 year old and I have been together nearly everyday since March! 

   

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I love him dearly and am looking at this time together as time we will never get back. However even that, I’m beginning to try new and different activities with him!  

 

We recently started working with him on learning how to spell his name. So here are 15 activities to get your little one practicing their name! 

 

Make it a Chant 

 

This is simple and can be done anywhere! The one I made up for my son is, 

 

L-U-CAS that spells Lucas, he’s the best! 

 

You could easily change it up and make it fit better with your child’s name. 

 

Stickers

 

I found big poster letter stickers at The Dollar Tree. These were perfect for my son to practice his name! 

 

I simply drew enough boxes on the paper for each letter of the child’s name. Then I wrote a letter of his name in each box. 

 

Next I had my son use the stickers to cover up the letters I wrote. It helps him to have the letters there because he’s still learning how to spell his name. 

 

It also helped him to place the stickers down correctly onto them. This way the stickers were less likely to be upside down or backward. 

 

Play Dough

 

This is tricky for my 3 year old. It’s still good practice for his fine motor skills. You roll the play dough out. Then you can easily manipulate it into different letters. 

 

This was a regular center (for high frequency words) in my kindergarten class and they did need support with it in the beginning of the year. By the middle of the year they did much better! 

 

It is great because it works on fine motor skills and sustaining attention. 

 

Pom-Poms 

   

My son loves to do this! I get a bag of pom-poms from The Dollar Tree. Then I wrote his name on paper and covered the letters in glue. Then I had him cover his name with the pom-poms. Simple and he could do it pretty much with little supervision! Mom-Win! 

 

Bath Letters 

 

We have these awesome (affordable) letters for our bathtub! They are perfect for getting your little one to practice their name in the bath! 

 

I do have to say that if your child has more than one letter  (that is the same) in the name you may need to add an extra set of letters in the bath. This could also be beneficial if you want to use them in a water table or backyard pool. 

 

Pudding or Jello in a Cookie Sheet (with an Edge)

 

I love this one for the sensory involvement! First take a cookie sheet and packet of dry jello or pudding mix. 

 

Next pour the dry mix into the cookie sheet. Now you get to have some fun! Have your child write letters or their name in the mix using their finger! 

 

I start by having him try lines and shapes. Then I give him letters 1 at a time. Finally with a lot of guidance and a model (I write his name so he can see it), I let him try his name! 

 

This won’t be perfect and I do set strict boundaries with this activity. My rules are no throwing, no tasting, and no dumping. If he does any of those 3 things then I put it up for a bit. After a little bit of time we try again, this is huge!!! He has to feel successful and know he can do it! 

 

Magnetic Letters 

 

I use magnetic letters to practice his name! 

 

Magnetic letters are great because you can practice in various places around the house like; on a cookie sheet, your refrigerator, the dishwasher, the washer or dryer. 

 

I give him a model (write his name so he can see it) or provide him a way to put the letters directly on his name. 

 

Puzzle Pieces 

   

This is similar to magnetic letters. We have a Melissa and Doug alphabet letter puzzle and we use the letters from the puzzle to make his name! 

 

You can easily make this into a game. First, you give your child a model (a paper with their name written on it). Then you can put all of the letters of your child’s name (you may need to add in some magnetic letters here if your child has multiple of the same letter in their name) in a bag. Next your child pulls a letter at a time out of the bag. Finally they can see if they can match it up to the letter on their name! 

 

I also like to put “extra” letters in the bag. Its kind of a trick to see if he can figure out that we don’t need to use those letters. My son’s name is Lucas so I would put “M” in the bag. If he pulls it out, I’m hoping he will recognize that he doesn’t need it! 

 

Coloring Page

 

When I started teaching kindergarten my first task for all of the students was to make sure they knew how to recognize, spell, and write their name. The first way I did this was having them color their name tags for the classroom. I printed off name tags in various fonts (using block letters or other fonts available) to let them color them. It gives them exposure and a chance to talk about the letters in your name.

 

You could easily write their name with a marker with fun handwriting and then let them color it! 

 

Sidewalk Chalk 

 

Have them practice writing their name on the sidewalk outside! My son loves doing this! He’s still learning to write so right now we are just working on different lines and letters. 

 

Shaving Cream

 

A fan favorite! I am pretty stern with boundaries on this one: no throwing, no smashing, and no putting on anything except the table or counter I have put ti on. After we get our boundaries out of the way I put the shaving cream directly on the kitchen counter (you can always use a cookie sheet if you prefer). Then you have your child write in the shaving cream with their finger. 

 

We use this in school for practicing high frequency words and other spelling patterns. 

 

Dry Erase

 

Let them practice their name on a dry erase board. Kids love trying out different pens and pencils. We have big dry erase board in our office and my son loves getting to write on it! 

 

Alphabet Beads on a String 

 

Alphabets beads are sold at craft supply stores and sometimes in the craft sections of big box stores. They are nice to make a necklace out of. It allows your child practice with fine motor skills (stringing on the beads) and then they have something to keep. 

 

Pipe Cleaners 

 

You can use pipe cleaners to make your child’s name. First, you just need to bend and arrange them to make different letters. Once the letters are made you can either keep them off of paper or glue them down to paper. 

 

Sensory Bin

 

My son loves his pasta sensory bin. I throw the puzzle pieces and magnetic letters right into the pasta. Then I have them search and find! I give them a paper with his name spelled out to match up the letters. He loves finding them and putting them on his name! 

 

Newspapers, Magazines, and Flyers

 

This one definitely takes some support and supervision! He is still working on his scissor skills. I give him old coupons, flyers, magazines or mail laying around and let him search for letters! Then I assist him with cutting them out. Once he has a good pile of letters then I let him spell his name and glue them down! I love to see him get creative and come up with different fonts and colors to use. 

   

Its important that your preschooler know how to recognize, spell, and write their name in kindergarten. I hope this gives you some new ways to begin practicing today! 

 

Comment below to let me know your preschoolers favorite way to practice their name! 

 

Remember to share this with a mom or caretaker of a preschooler – they will thank you! 

 

Love, Ashley E

 

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