Name Writing! Five Ways to Make Learning to write your name Fun!

How many times a day do you write your name?  How many times a day do your students write theirs?  I bet the answer is A LOT!  It is important that students master name writing because they will be doing it all their life and in the classroom less time writing the name on the paper means more time learning and completing the work!

Teaching your child how to spell and write their name is one of the best things you can do to ensure they are ready to be successful in school.

We know that writing the name over and over again is BORING!  We do not want that!  We want this to be a fun and enjoyable activity so we have come up with some suggestions for how to make name writing fun!

SING!
Make a song!  Choose a song based on how many letters are in the name.  Don’t let a bad voice hold you back, songs make recalling information much easier for many kids!

1. With three letters sing to “Happy Birthday”- Exp. “S-a-m spells Sam (repeat)”
2. Four letters goes to the tune of “YMCA” - Exp. “L-e-a-h, nanana (repeat)”
3. With five letters sing to the tune of “Bingo”- Exp. “There was a girl who had a name and Marin was her name-o. M-a-r-i-n, M-a-r-i-n, M-a-r-i-n and Marin was her name-o!”
4. Six letters- “Farmer and the Dell” Exp. “M-i-r-i-a-m, M-i-r-i-a-m, Hi ho the derry-o, M-i-r-i-a-m.”
5. Seven letters uses “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” Exp. “B-r-e-n-d-a-n, that’s the way you spell Brendan.”

We’d record a video example but you REALLY don’t want to hear our singing voices!  Be warned, these songs are catchy and you will be humming them in the shower.

FIND THE LETTERS:
Have them find the letters of their name in books, magazines, on cereal boxes, and anything else with letters.   Make the letters into a collage!

Play "I Spy" with the letters in their name while you are out and about.  Can they find the first letter of their name on a license plate or street sign?  What about on the cereal box?

PLAYDOUGH:
We love playdough!  It makes everything more fun.  Make the letters out of playdough!  Playdough helps strengthen the muscles that are used to write but it is much more fun than just tracing your name.  

Start by writing the letter on a piece of paper and then have your child put the playdough on top.  Gradually switch to making the letters without the paper.

BUILD IT:

We have lots of letter tiles, magnets, and blocks around.  These are perfect for building names!  Start with playing "I Spy" with the letters: "I spy the first letter in your name."  Then build the name and have the child touch and say each letter or sign their special name song.

If you have more than one child practicing their name make comparisons between the two!  Which name is longer?  Which has fewer letters?  Are any of the letters the same?

NAME PUZZLE:

This is our OxBox best seller!  The editable file lets you type in your child’s name and generate the puzzle.  Print out the puzzle (you can also laminate it for durability) and cut out the individual letters.  Start by having your child name the letters in their name. Then have them match the individual letters to the full name.  Gradually have them build their name with the letter tiles, without referencing the completed version. Go slowly to build confidence and avoid frustration!

*Teachers: this name puzzle is a perfect morning work or center activity!  Have students complete their name puzzle every day until they can do it perfectly!

Check out the Editable Name Puzzle on Teachers Pay Teachers!

Have another way to practice?  We would love to hear it! Please comment here or tell us on Instagram at @oxboxteaching!
 
Happy name writing!