What's YOUR name?

"Hi there! Welcome to our class, what is YOUR name?" "Oh, (fill in the blank with student name), is here, we can sing her name in our welcome song!" "Uh oh...I have a paper from someone, but I don't know who it did all of this hard work...there is no name!" "what is the first letter in your name?" "How many syllables are in your name?" "If you have an S in your name, tap your nose!"

Let's face it, in kindergarten, your name is REALLY important. As a teacher, I want my students to know their names (both to write them and read them) VERY quickly at the beginning of the year. So, I have been spending a significant amount of time coming up with new and exciting activities to try out with my kiddos during those first few weeks of school. Here is what I have found so far...feel free to add to the list by commenting:)!

Name Tracers- A pretty simple concept but yet SO valuable. Use note cards or sentence strips to write students names either in dash lines or gray marker. Laminate and students can use dry erase markers (or dry erase crayons) to trace and then erase.


Name Puzzles- Use notecards or sentence strips. Write the students name on the card and then cut apart like puzzle pieces. Students will love putting their own name together and then will even learn to put other student's names together! Laminate for durability!



My Book of Names- I have been thinking about doing something like this for the past few years and will be using it this year. In the picture below I have written the students names into the book, and for some early kindergarteners that would be possible. In order to differentiate I might give some the names of each student printed on paper and let them glue the names into the book. Either way, this is a fun way to help students learn to "read" each other's names. Follow up with the homework assignment of adding the names of different family members! Your students will be so excited to show off how many different names they can write and read!




And some more ideas without pictures!
~Shaving Cream Name Writing- Give each child a glob of shaving cream and allow
them to practice writing their name!
~My Name Book- I love this idea! Check it out!! My Name Book
~Write a students name in glue on a piece of paper and allow it to dry. This can
be used for SO many different activities. After the glue is dry allow the
children to paint over it. Place a second piece of paper on top of the glue
name and create crayon rubbings. Add glitter to the glue before it dries for a
sparkly effect.
~Give each child cut outs of their name. Give them a variety of materials to
decorate with (sand, glitter, feathers, beads, magazines, beans, paint, ripped
paper, etc.) The children will make beautiful collages of their names!
~Add a picture of the child and their name to the digital photo frame I mentioned in this post ! Your kiddos will LOVE seeing themselves
on the screen and everyone will get a few more chances to practice recognizing
their name and their friends' names!
~We will also sing TONS of songs with our names and do many graphing activities with our names. If you want to learn more about graphing your students names check out this site!