How to Make Custom School Bus Name Puzzles

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Use these editable school bus name puzzles to work on alphabet recognition and name practice with your kids.

Name activities are such a motivating way to introduce letters and sounds to kids. Here is the latest version of editable name puzzles that I have created. This one, a school bus version provides another way to help kids practice their name and learn alphabet knowledge

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE RESOURCE

The following are included in the editable school bus puzzle resource

2 styles of editable school bus puzzles for names with 3-13 letters
Class List Forms – Complete the form and letters are automatically added to the puzzles
Print Planner- Helps you determine which pages to print
Printable labels- to attach to storage containers, bags, or envelopes

Two Different Puzzle Styles: Two styles of puzzles are included in the resource. One has black letters that look amazing when printed on brightly colored paper. The second style has outlined letters so that kids can color them with crayons

How to Customize the School Bus Name Puzzles

Easy-to-Use Class List Form: You can make school bus name puzzles for kids with 3-13 letters in their name. You will need to use the most recent version Adobe Acrobat Reader to add your kids’ name to my document. To customize your puzzles you just need to enter your kids’ names into the document’s class list form.

For this puzzle, you will need to add the last two letters of kids’ names in the special spaces on the form. This will make sure that those letters print on the end of the school bus.

As you add all the names to the form, they will be automatically added to the puzzles in the document.

Print Planner Page: A print planner page is included to help you quickly determine which pages to print.

Each puzzle prints on 1 sheet of paper.

If you puzzle prints with some blank pieces, you can just cut them out and add those to your scrap bin.

Labels: You can also print labels to organize your puzzles. Attach a label to an envelope, a sandwich bag, or a plastic container and store the matching puzzle pieces inside.

LITERACY ACTIVITIES

Kids can work on spelling and recognizing their names with these puzzles, but here are some additional literacy activity ideas.

Alphabet Knowledge: As kids are working on the puzzles, here are some questions that will help build alphabet knowledge.

What letters do you see?
What do you notice about the shape of the letters?
Are there any duplicate letters?
What sounds do you hear when I say the name?

Letter Formation: Encourage kids to practice letter formation by finger tracing each letter on the puzzle pieces.

Syllable Recognition: Clap out the syllables in a name to emphasize and count the syllables.

Create Rhymes: Create silly rhymes by changing the first letter of the name (Example…. Ten rhymes with Jen and Bracie rhymes with Gracie)

Complete a Friend’s Puzzle: In addition to working on spelling their own names, kids will enjoy putting their friends’ puzzles together. Which name has more letters? Which name has less letters?

ADDITIONAL IDEAS

The printable puzzles are fun to use for practicing names, but they can be used for additional activities too. Here are a few ideas:

Fine motor/scissor skills practice– Let kids cut out own puzzles.
Glue them down– I designed these puzzles to fit onto sentence strips. Kids can glue their puzzle pieces onto a stip.
Bulletin boards – Use these strips to create a name bulletin board.
Color puzzles – Instead of names print puzzles with the names of colors.
Word puzzles – Use the document to CVC word puzzles or sight word/hight interest word puzzles.