The Best Activities to Help Kids Learn their Name!

When a child is first learning their letters, some of the most motivating and meaningful letters to start with are the letters in their first name. Below are some fun activities to help with learning their first name, but could easily be changed to a last name or sight word. Click the title of any activity below to be linked to the full description on Instagram.

Salt Painting

Using liquid glue, write your child's name on a piece of construction paper. You can use any color, but it looks extra bold on black construction paper! Then, have your child use water color paints to tap paint onto the salt letters. Be sure to have a lot of paint on your brush for best results.

Name Rainbow

Write your child's name in all the rainbow colors... a red set, an orange set, and so on. Cut them out and have your child place them in the matching color arc of the rainbow. You can make the activity more challenging as time goes on by flipping the letters over and mixing them up first to make it more of a "game".

Name Post Its

Write one letter of your child's name on each Post It (or cut squares of paper). Mix them up and have your child lay out the letters of their name in order. When you are first starting, you may need to have their name written at the top of the paper but as they get better with their name you can take that away to make it a bit harder. A fun twist on this activity is to hide all the letters around the house, have your child run and find them, then come back and put their name together. It's fun to add a little physical movement sometimes!

Chalk Tracing by @entertainmytoddler

@Entertainmytoddler shared this fun activity on Instagram. Head outside and write your child's name on the sidewalk with chalk. Take a little bowl of water and a paint brush and have them trace over their name with the wet paintbrush. There is something so fun and satisfying about this activity!

Build Your Name

For this activity you will need craft sticks and pipe cleaners. Write your child's name largely on a piece of paper. Use the craft sticks for the straight lines and the pipe cleaners for the curves. Have your child build their name, bending the pipe cleaners as needed. This is a great one for hands on learners!

Name Dots: created by my_busy_kid

Check out this fun project (linked above) from our friend on Instagram @my_busy_kid. Write your child's name on paper leaving a little bit of space between each letter. Have them use dot markers (linked here) and dot the letters in their name. So simple, but still so fun!

Roll and Color

This is a fun dice activity that will really feel like a game! Your child will roll the dice and color a letter using the corresponding chart. Depending how many letters are in your child's name and their counting skills, they may need a little help figuring out which color corresponds with which number.

Name Cut

Take a piece of poster paper and write a letter of your child's name in each column. Use magazines (if you have any) and cut out the letters in their name that are all different colors and fonts. If you don't have any magazines laying around, you could always use junk mail flyers or print out different fonts on your computer. Then, let your child glue down the letters in the corresponding column. You can leave this up on the wall and return to it over time as well.

Roll and Write

This is a fun variation of "Roll and Color" mentioned above. Divide your child's paper into empty sections. They will then roll a die and write their first name using whatever they are supposed to according to the chart. For example 1:crayon, 2: paint, 3: letter stamps, 4: marker, 5: make a name bracelet, and 6: rainbow write (each letter is a different color going in rainbow order). This activity is always a hit because it adds a fun element of art along with the name practice.

Wikki Stix Words

Wikki Stix (linked here) are such a fun, hands on toy. Have your child practice making their name with them first, then let them play with them however they want after. Once you have finished this activity, toss then in your travel bag for later. These are great for restaurant entertainment!

DIY Name Puzzle

Take some old cardboard (or cut apart a box) into enough little squares to write one letter of your child's name on each square. You can get as creative or simple as you want for the coloring part. Then add sticky velcro dots to the back of each letter and velcro dots onto the cardboard in a line. Have your child put the letters in the correct order. Save this activity because it will be something they will want to come back to again later.

Name Tape Hunt

On a large piece of white paper write your child's name with the letters slightly spread out. Draw a line in between each letter to make sections. Take painters tape and rip it into pieces. Write one letter of your child's name on each piece of tape. Take all the pieces and hide them all around your house. Have your child run around to find all of the pieces of tape and stick them under the matching letter on their paper. This is a fun one because it provides an opportunity for learning as well as physical movement.

Spaghetti Letters

Cook some spaghetti, drain it, and place on a plate or tray to dry. If you want to dye your spaghetti, add a couple drops of oil to your drained pasta and one drop of food coloring. Mix it around until the spaghetti changes color then place on a plate or tray to dry. Make sure to test that it is dry before playing with it. On paper, write some letters, words or numbers. Give your child the spaghetti and have them trace the letters using it. They can easily cut the spaghetti to different lengths using their pincher grasp (good fine motor practice too)! To make it more challenging, say a letter or number aloud and have your child create it with the spaghetti.

Name Scramble

For this activity you will need a large piece of paper, post-its, and two different types of stickers such as letter stickers and dot stickers. Write the letters of your child's name on the stickers and post-its. Write your child's name at the top and have them place the correct letter stickers/post-its in the corresponding column. If your child needs more of a challenge then don't write their name at the top of the paper. For a fun twist, hide the letters around the house and have your child go on a hunt to find them, then add them to the paper.

Name Poke

Grab a box, write a name, poke some holes with a toothpick, and you have yourself an activity for your toddler!⠀

Foil Fun

These letters are from a ready made kit called "Foil Fun". It is a fun way to practice the letters of your child's name. You can use this kit in a variety of different ways and is an easy one to bring with you on a trip as well. Foil Fun is linked here.

Letter Mats

These letter mats are a great way for your child to practice individual letters. You can laminate them or put them in a sheet protector so you can use then over and over again. Kids can write on them with dry erase markers, form playdoh to make the letters, even fill them in with Pom Poms. The options are endless to keep them engaged and learning. Letter mats are linked here.

We hope you and your child enjoy these activities. It's such an exciting time when children start recognizing letters in their name and learning how to spell it. Tag Stay at Home Activity Mom on Instagram in any of these activities you try! Have fun learning!

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