Inside: Children start learning their name by recognising the letters, ordering them then starting to write it around the age of 3 years old. These 10 hands-on name recognition activities are a perfect way for any child to practise!
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How to teach name recognition to preschoolers and toddlers?
To teach name recognition to children, you must first start teaching the alphabet and letter recognition. Children will learn to recognise the first letter of their name, followed by the shape of their name. Once they can recognise the shape of their name, you can encourage them to order them using the following name activity ideas.
10 Name Recognition Activities for Preschoolers and Toddlers
Name Activity 1: Build your name with Duplo blocks
1. Use the sharpie to write on the individual letters of your child’s name onto the individual blocks of Duplo, ensure you use a capital letter at the beginning and lowercase of the remaining letters.
2. Use the sharpie to write your child’s whole name onto the large duplo brick
3. Encourage your child to match the letters from the individual blocks onto the large block
4. Ask questions such as, What letter or letter sound comes first? What letter or letter sound comes next? Model to your child the sound the letter makes.
Related: Your child will love this Duplo Hearts Letter Matching activity too!
Name Activity 2: Where’s my name?
1. Write on a large piece of paper a mixture of names including your own child's (to make this more challenging you can write in each name in different sizes and colours).
2. Encourage your child circle all the one which says their name
3. Can they recognise any of the other names?
Name Activity 3: Car park name ordering
1. Write the letters of your child’s name onto the stickers
2. Place the sticker on top of the cars (1 letter per car)
3. On the paper draw a road for the cars to go along and at the end draw a car park with the at the end in the order of your child’s name
4. Play with the cars with your child and recognise the letters/sounds on them
5. Can they place them into the car park in the correct order?
Name Activity 4: Magic Reveal Name
- Use the white wax crayon or a candle to write your child’s name on the piece of paper
- Use the paintbrush and watercolours and watch the name appear!
- Repeat (as usually children think this is magic!)
Name Activity 5: Tape Resist Name Painting
Name Activity 6: Recognise it, Make it, Write it
- Use the piece of paper and split it into 3 equal sections
- Write your child’s name (along with a few others) in the top section - this is the recognise your name part.
- In the second place magnetic letters (if you don’t have these, cut up small piece of paper with each letter on) of your child's name
- Can you find your name and circle it (top section), can you order the letters of your name (middle part) and can you write your name (third part)
Name Activity 7: Paper cup letters
1. Write the letters of your child’s name on top of each cup
2. Draw around each cup on a piece of paper in line
3. In the middle write your child’s name (each letter per circle)
4. Can you child move the cups into the correct order?
5. Repeat by mixing up the cups and trying again
Name Activity 8: Rainbow Dot Sticker Name
Related: Here are more super easy dot sticker activities for your preschoolers.
Name Activity 9: Sticky Note Name
1. Write each letter of your child’s name on to the sticky note and put them in order
Top tip: Sticky notes are great because you can stick them onto the wall and they will not leave any sticky marks. Try these easy Sticky Note Ice cream Math activity ideas too!
Name Activity 10: Dot the letters
- Write your child’s name in a highlighter onto the piece of paper
- Squirt some paint into the paint tray
- Use a cotton bud to either dot or go over the highlighted letters
Top tip: If you don’t like your child to use paint, dot paint markers are a great alternative.
Name Activity 11: Peg the letters
- Use the sharpie to write the letters of your child’s name on each peg (1 letter per peg)
- Peg the pegs in the correct order to spell your name.
Name Activity 12: Train name
- Draw a train engine onto the piece of paper
- Cut up squares of different coloured paper (these will make the carriages)
- Write each letter on one of the squares
- Can you order the letters of your name to make the train?
That’s not all. Here’s a list of fun gross motor activities for kids to practise spelling their names and get moving!
What’s next after name recognition?
After your child is able to successfully recognize his or her name, you can move on to teach your child letter formation, starting with the letters in their names. Do not rush into getting them to write their names with a pen and paper, instead try these sensorial letter formation activities which engage their senses and make learning letter formation much more memorable and fun!
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