Fun and Easy Name Activities For Preschoolers
Name Recognition Activities
Can your kids pick out their own names when presented with a bunch of different name cards? When kids learn to recognize their names, they learn that letters go together and have meaning.
The first step of name recognition is to focus on the first letter of their name followed by recognizing the other letters. In the beginning, Susie might confuse her name with Sam. Eventually, she learns that both start with the same letter, but the other letters in their names are different.
Let’s take a closer look at some fun activities that will help kids with name recognition.
Name Coloring Pages
The best place to start when teaching kids to recognize their names is to learn to recognize the first letter of their name. These name coloring pages are a great way to help kids learn that important letter.
Name Art Activities
These printable name coloring pages are a great resource for name recognition activities. There are so many ways you can use the cute pages. You can use them as coloring pages or for process art activities. The art work is great on a bulletin board or for hallway decor. Check out the post about using coloring pages for fun name art activities for lots of fun ideas.
You can use the coloring pages to build fine motor skills. Use them with playdough, or get out small manipulatives like mini-erasers or pom-poms and tongs and kids can place items over the letters to learn their shapes.
For another name art activity, print a child’s name on a large piece of paper with a white crayon. Let them paint over the paper with watercolor paint to reveal their name on the page.
Names Card Activities
You can use these free editable name cards on your early childhood word wall or for various name recognition activities. Use them for your morning routine or add them to your writing center to encourage kids to write their names.
Name Matching Game
Make a name matching game. Kids can match up their friends’ pictures and names. They can also sort names by beginning letter, number of letters, etc.
Name Practice Activity Mats
If you are looking for a versatile name activity, these editable name activities mats are it. This one page, name mat gives you sooooo many ways to work on name practice. The mats are perfect to work on name recognition, name tracing, name writing and more. Kids can use playdough, dry erase markers, and letter squares to practice their names with these name practice activity mats.
Sorting Magnetic Letters with Name Cards
Kids can learn to recognize all the letters in their names by sorting magnetic letters. Use the same name card template as above to make your own name cards.
Picture Name Puzzles
Make a name picture puzzle. Here is one by Tot Schooling.
Build My Name Activities
Building names is a fantastic hands-on activity that helps preschoolers learn to put the letters of their names in the correct order. These easy activities provide a great opportunity to focus on the individual letters of the child’s name to work on letter recognition and learning letter sounds. Here are some creative ideas for name building activities:
Bottle Cap Name Puzzles
Get out the Sharpie and add letters to bottle caps. Kids can spell their names with the bottle cap letters. Store each individual name puzzles in a small container or bag.
Cut and Paste Name Crafts
Kids can practice scissor skills, line tracing, and even get some hole punching practice with these adorable cut and paste name crafts. From a coconut tree….
to an apple name craft and school bus name craft, and more. You and your kids will have so much fun with these easy to prep printables.
Letter Rocks
Gather smooth, flat rocks and write letters on them with a permanent marker. Kids can use these rock letters to build their names,
You can incorporate a name activity in a pond or frog-themed sensory table with water beads and plastic frogs. This is also a great activity to use in an outdoor play space.
Printable name Puzzles
Printable name puzzles are a great resource for helping kids arrange the letters of their names in the proper order. You can make your own name puzzles by cutting up written names on sentence strips or construction paper, or you can use an editable name puzzle template to make printable name puzzles.
The templates allow you to quickly customize puzzles for your entire class when you add the letters of your students’ names to a class list form.From crayon name puzzles , wiener dog name puzzles. school bus name puzzles, train name puzzles, and more perfect for fun name activities throughout the school year.
Pool Noodle Names
Cut up some pool noodles to make pool noodle name activities.
Name Building with Blocks
Add letter stickers to the side of small duplo blocks or building bricks. Kids can attach the letters in the correct order to a long block to build their names.
Name Parking Lot
Frugal Fun for Boys added letters to matchbox cars and created a cardboard name parking lot.
Additional Name Building Activity Ideas
Here are some more fun ideas for name buidling
- Wooden letter blocks – You can also make DIY letter blocks
- Magnetic letters
- Letters on clothespin clips
- Letter beads strung on a pipe cleaner
- Clear discs on a light table – Use a thick sharpie to add letters to the discs.
Name Book Activities
I love DIY books….and kids LOVE them too. Here are some fun books that you can use for name practice activities.
Picture and Name Books
Insert kids’ pictures with names into a small photo album to create a simple picture book.
Editable Name Practice Books
These name books are super-easy to customize with all your kds’ names. There are 15 different page choices, so you can create custom name books that give your kids various ways topractice their names. Stop by this post to learn more about the name books for preschool and kindergarten.
ABC Lift-the-Flap Name Book
Kids LOVE books that feature pictures of themselves and their friends. Add a customized lift the flap name book to your class library and I guarantee it will be a hit. These ABC Lift-the-Flap Book will help kids focus on the beginning sound/letter in names.
Rhyming Name Books
These hilarious DIY lift the flap rhyming name books are perfect for name recognition, beginning sound, and rhyming activities. Your kids will have a blast when you share these books at read-aloud time.
Name Coloring Books
Bind some printable coloring pages together to create a custom name coloring book. Kids will learn to recognize their name and the letters in it as they create colorful artwork.
Name Tracing Activities
Once young students learn to recognize their names and have developed their pencil grip; they can start name-tracing activities.
Name Tracing Worksheets
Use name tracing worksheets in your morning tubs or as an arrival activity for daily name tracing practice. These seasonal name tracing sheets will keep the activity fresh with new themes for each season.
Name Mats and Editable Name Books
Editable name books and name practice mats will provide kids with a variety of name tracing practice.
I think it’s fun to rainbow write….or rather, rainbow trace names. Kids can trace their name with one color, and then repeat the process with different colors.
Name Writing Activities
With lots of practice, your kids will soon be able to write their own names. Here are some name writing practice activities.
Sensory Name Writing
If your kids aren’t quite ready for tracing with a crayon, pencil, or marker a sensory activity is a great beginning step to learning letter formation as they write their names in sensory materials with their index finger. Encourage kids to write their names in a salt tray, sensory writing tray, or spread shaving cream on a table and encourage them to write their name there.
Name Writing Sheets
When kids are able to control a writing utensil, they can try their hand at name writing activities. These name tracing worksheets include 3 different levels to help you kid transition from tracing to writing their names.
Name Cards in the Writing Center
Kids often enjoy writing when they can write about something that is interesting to them. What…or rather, who is more interesting than their friends? Add some blank books and name cards to your writing center.
Name Songs
I love signing name songs! Use these fun songs to help kids get to know each other on the first day of school or use them year round as fun ways to learn rhyming words or phonological awareness skills. Here are some of my favorite name songs:
Willoughby Wallaby Woo
This is a classic song by Raffi. Not only is it a fun way to learn names, but it is a GREAT way to introduce the concept of rhyming to kids.
Once kids understand the rhymes in this song, you can use the rhyming name books pictured above for a fun activity extension.
The Name Song
This song helps children hear the sounds and syllables in each individual name.
Hickety Pickety Bumblebee
You might find several variations of this song/rhyme. It will help kids learn everyone’s name and will help kids learn to hear the sounds and syllables in each name.
The Name Game
This is another name song that will help with rhyming. My kiddo loved singing this song on road trips….for every single person we knew.
I hope that you enjoy trying some of these ideas with your kids. Do you have some great name activity ideas that you would like to share? I would love to hear about them.
Purchase Name Activities from the Store
Are you ready to get started with some fun hands-on learning activities with your kids? Try out some of my printable name activities for preschoolers that are available in my store. Click on the images to purchase and download today.
Purchase Name Activities from Teachers Pay Teachers
Do you prefer to shop at TPT? You can also purcase thes printable name activities in my TPT store.