May 25: Name activities

Learning to recognize and print you own name is an important skill. There are many fun ways you can work on your child's name with them! I'll share some of those in this blog post.

Write their name with baking soda sidewalk paint and spray it with vinegar for a fizzy reaction!

Check out the fizzy sidewalk paint recipe here:

https://handsonaswegrow.com/outdoor-play-homemade-sidewalk-paint/

Use clothespins and a cut up alphabet mat to work on letter recognition as a prerequisite to name recognition (I'll send lowercase and uppercase alphabet mats directly to you after this as an email attachment)

Use manipulatives like magnets, puzzle pieces, or foam letters to match to the letters of their name

Write their name and then use pipe cleaners to form the letters of their name to trace overtop - this is also a great fine motor activity!

Incorporate name printing into a tactile sensory experience like playing with shaving cream 

Practice matching the letters of their name with sidewalk chalk (write a bunch of random letters and have them circle the letters of their name or draw lines from each letter in order to spell their name) 

Write the letters of their name on stickers for them to match to their written name for practice

If printing is a challenge, practice writing their name with a keyboard or on a tablet with a visual reference

Create family photo cards with names to create an understanding of names and to play a variety of name games

 For more ideas of ways to use the photo cards, check out this link: https://teachmama.com/family-playing-cards-take-em-make-em-then-play/

Practice writing each letter of their name on rainbow coloured paper strips

For more information about setting up the rainbow name activity, check out this link: https://handsonaswegrow.com/learn-spell-name-make-rainbow/