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Play to Learn

A delightful preschool experience

10 Ways to Help Children Master Name Writing

Play to Learn Preschool

What’s in a Name?

Name writing is one of the most important things a teacher can pass on to a Pre-K student.  There are many different tools, art mediums, and sensory experiences to practice this important kindergarten readiness skill.  It doesn’t happen overnight, but with practice each day, most students leave preschool writing their names.

Rainbow Name Writing

One easy way to help students practice is rainbow name writing.  Each student has a sentence strip with his name written on it.  The student uses markers to trace each letter, over and over again, to make a “Rainbow Name.” When the name is finished,  the teacher can tape the strip together to make a name hat!
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Bingo Daubers

Just because a student hasn’t yet mastered a pincer grasp doesn’t mean they can’t start practicing name writing.  Bingo markers are an easy way for students to paint their names with dots.  This helps them get a feel for the letter shapes and builds letter recognition.

Play to Learn Preschool

Dry Erase Boards

An economical way to practice writing is on dry erase boards.  Supply a set of class names (written on name plates) handy so that the students can copy from them.  Students will often practice writing the names of their classmates as well as their own!
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It is important that teachers model the letters for students.  In this picture, the teacher wrote the letter and then the student practiced by copying it.
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This student was able to copy his entire name from the model.  (Colin)  It is quite typical for letters to not be in order, and that’s ok.
Play to Learn Preschool
Some students are not quite ready to copy their names or even letters.  Teachers can support these students by writing their name and placing it in a page protector.  The student then traces the letters with a dry erase marker.  Sometimes teachers also need to add a mark (in this case, star stickers) to show the student where to start each letter.
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Water Colors

Students love to use art supplies to practice name writing.  Children can trace their names with water colors, and still see the lines underneath.

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Sensory Tray Name Writing

Sensory trays, sucn as rice, salt, flour, or sand are terrific ways for preschoolers to practice writing their names.  The extra benefit of adding sensory learning uses more of their brains and helps cement the letters that they are learning.

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Shaving Cream

Writing letters in shaving cream (or whipped cream) is another great sensory-rich way to practice. It is messy, so be sure to have students wear protective smocks.  Even if they are not creating letters, the movements, such as the swirls pictured below, are excellent pre-writing practice.
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Magna-Doodles
A great addition to a writing center is a set of Doodle Pro writing toys.  This picture captures the very first time that Lucy wrote her name.  She was so proud of this accomplishment!

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Make it Practical!
It is crucial that preschoolers write for real purposes.  Students can create waiting lists in class any time there is a line of childrenwho want to use a toy, center, or bike.  Even if the name writing isn’t very legible, students can identify their own name.
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Students “sign in” to be seen by the doctor at our hospital dramatic play center.  Putting the sign-in sheet inside a clear page protector and using a dry erase marker helps extend supplies.

Writing at Home

It’s also important to make sure parents realize the importance of having writing materials (pencils, crayons, pens and markers) easily accessible for their children at home.  A small pack of writing materials – such as some mini notepads and silly pens –  makes a great gift as well!
Are you looking for more great Name Activities?  Try these 10 Easy and Fun Ways to help Children Learn to Spell their Names.
Many people have asked about our decision to use capital letters with some students. This post will give you a glimpse into our reasoning:

Print these EDITABLE NAME PRACTICE PAGES for your students who are learning how to write their names. You just type in your class list and print customized, differentiated name worksheets for each child. So quick and simple!

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Have fun playing and learning with your children today!

Be sure to follow Play to Learn Preschool on Pinterest to see all of our ideas:

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Comments

  1. l.neale says

    These are some really great ways to practice writing their names!! I love the rainbow hat idea! It gives them lots of practice writing and a cool hat when they're done. I also really like the sensory stuff too! This could go really good when learning the letter N, since name starts with an N!!
    ~Lanna