Making name puzzles doesn't get any easier than this.
"Name puzzles help children use their own name to learn about letters. By putting together their names, children learn how to look at letters. They notice the distinguishing features and orientation of letters. They learn that words are made up of letters and that the order of letters is always the same." (Pinnell and Fountas, 2011).
Materials Needed: Magnetic letters, a magnet board, Sharpie, pencil, piece of paper, and some tape.
Directions:
1. Trace your child's name onto paper using the magnetic letters.
2. Outline it with a Sharpie. Darker edges make the letters easier to distinguish.
3. Attach the paper with tape to a magnetic board (ours was also a white board). I could've written the letters using white board markers, but I feel like the marker gets wiped off too quick, so that's why we used the paper.
4. Have your little one start spelling! We talked about how names and words get written from left to write in English... so after some practice, my little guy spelled his name from the left to the right each time.
He said each letter as he put it in it's correct spot.
Names are too fun and don't get old. He kept wanting to do this simple task again and again.
I love all these Name songs at Preschool Express.
The Happy Birthday song fits perfectly with my son's six letter name... so this was the version my husband and I came up with 🙂
"A-N-D-R-E-W
A-N-D-R-E-W
A-N-D-R-E-W
That's how you spell Andrew!!"
We sing it with gusto!
What are some of your other favorite activities to help your child learn his name?
I think this the most basic, simple, and enjoyable literacy activities I have ever seen. The child's name is so important to them, you did an awesome job presenting this activity. I will be re-producing this activity when I return to work.