Why Name Games Rock for Preschoolers!
It is the beginning of the year, and you are scratching your head about exactly WHAT to do with you preschoolers. We know that we want to keep our students engaged, build community, play and learn, but we don't exactly know how to start. Well, we have you covered! My favorite beginning of the year activities are name games for circle time! Let's dive into WHY!
Playing name games at the beginning of the school year during ciricle time is more than just fun—it's a powerful way to build classroom community and foundational literacy skills. These activities are designed with three key purposes in mind:
Building Classroom Community: By engaging in these games, children learn each other's names, fostering a sense of belonging and connection within the group. This creates a supportive environment where every child feels valued and seen.
Promoting Name and Letter Recognition: Research shows that children typically learn the letters in their names first because they hold personal significance. CHECK OUT THIS BLOG FOR MORE RESEARCH ON LEARNING THE ALPHABET. Through these activities, children begin to understand that their name is not just a collection of letters, but a word with meaning and value. This recognition is a crucial step in early literacy development.
Encouraging Multi-Sensory, Child-Focused Learning: These games incorporate multi-sensory exploration, making learning both engaging and effective. By using touch, movement, and visual cues, children are more likely to remember and connect with what they are learning. The activities are designed to be child-focused, ensuring that learning is meaningful, relevant, and most importantly, fun.
By integrating these name games into your classroom routine, you're not only helping children recognize their names and letters but also laying the groundwork for a strong, cohesive classroom community and a love for learning that will last all year long.
8 of Our Favorite Name Games for Preschoolers
1. Magic Appearing Name
Step 1: Write each child’s name on a separate white piece of paper using a white crayon.
Step 2: Pass out the papers to the children, ensuring each child receives a different name.
Step 3: Encourage the children to paint over the paper with watercolors to reveal the hidden name.
Step 4: Have the children find the classmate whose name they revealed, give them their sheet, and share a compliment about their painting.
Why We Love It: Enhances fine motor skills, supports name recognition, and fosters classroom connections.
2. Name Puppet Show
Step 1: Allow each child to choose a classroom puppet.
Step 2: Label the puppet with the child’s name using tape.
Step 3: Encourage children to work in groups of 2-3 to create a puppet show using their named puppets.
Why We Love It: Encourages oral language development, storytelling skills, and name recognition.
3. Name Balance Beam
Step 1: Use painter’s tape or walking stones (love these) to create a balance beam on the floor.
Step 2: Write each letter of a child’s name on separate post-it notes and stick across the balance beam.
Step 3: As children cross the balance beam, they say each letter of their name aloud.
Why We Love It: Promotes letter recognition while developing gross motor skills.
4. Where Is ___ Name Song
Step 1: Write the following poem on chart paper:
"Where is ____, Where is ____,
Here I am, Here I am!
Give a little clap, and a little tap.
Sit back down, sit back down."
Step 2: Write each child’s name on a notecard.
Step 3: Hold up one name and ask the child to identify their name. Sing the song as the child stands and follows the motions.
Step 4: Continue with each child in the class.
Why We Love It: Supports name identification, builds confidence, and introduces rhyming.
5. Class Interview
Step 1: Print out a class interview sheet. See below to download one we created for you!
Step 2: Give each child a clipboard and pencil.
Step 3: Children go around the room asking classmates questions from the interview sheet.
Step 4: If the interviewed child answers "yes," the child writes their name in the corresponding box. If a child can't write their name, write names on labels and the children can use a sticker with their names on it instead.
Why We Love It: Encourages oral language development, helps children get to know each other, builds confidence, and develops fine motor skills.
6. Post-It Letter Sort
Step 1: Write each child’s name across individual post-it notes, one letter per note.
Step 2: Stick the letters on the table in front of each child.
Step 3: Hang alphabet letters (A-Z) around the room.
Step 4: Children take one letter from their name and match it to the corresponding letter on the alphabet posters. Continue until all the letters in their names are sorted.
Step 5: Count the total number of each letter in the classroom and discuss.
EXTENSION: Complete the counting part of this activity over several days while studying different letters of the alphabet. Sort and graph each time on a mater graph to see which letter is the most popular in the entire class.
Why We Love It: Supports letter recognition, name identification, sorting, and counting skills.
7. Who Stole the Cookies?
Step 1: Write each child’s name on a pretend cookie.
Step 2: Place all the cookies in a container.
Step 3: Draw a name out of the container and ask the child to identify their name.
Step 4: Sing the song:
"Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?
___ stole the cookies from the cookie jar.
Who me? Yes, you!
Couldn’t be? Then who?"
Step 5: Draw a new name and ask the child to identify it. Repeat the song with the new student.
Why We Love It: Encourages name identification, learning classmates' names, oral language skills, and confidence.
8. Magnetic Treasure Hunt:
Step 1: Write each child's name on a notecard and add a corresponding picture of the child.
Step 2: Bury magnetic letters in a sensory bin filled with sand, rice, or another sensory material.
Step 3: Provide each child with a magnetic wand to hunt for the buried letters.
Step 4: As they find a letter, they match it to the correct letter on their name notecard.
Step 5: Once they complete their own name, encourage them to hunt for letters to spell a friend's name.
Why We Love It: Encourages letter identification, fine motor development, and sensory exploration.
Do You LOVE Learning Through Games? Check out our Literacy-Focused Game Guide!
Our "Ultimate Game Guide for Preschoolers" merges research-based instruction with engaging play-based games! The guide offers over 85 teacher-led games that focus on the six areas of early literacy. It also has a suggestion list for board games and apps, divided into two age groups (1-3 and 3-5)!
This comprehensive guide is designed to make learning intentional and FUN, while easing your workload as a teacher.
Looking for even more support?
Research-Based Curriculums that take the guesswork out of teaching!
Check out Moving Little Minds Literacy Curriculums!
Learn how we teach alphabetic knowledge, phonological awareness, and pre-writing skills through instruction and play! NOTE: The curriculum follows the alphabet introduction orders mentioned above
Be sure to check out our free resources!
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We believe that every child deserves a bright future, and this begins with a strong foundation in early literacy skills. At Moving Little Minds, we are dedicated to providing research-based literacy activities in fun and engaging ways! By merging instruction with play, we ensure that children are reaching their full potential and embark on their educational journey well-prepared for the future! Let's build those KEY emergent literacy skills together.
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