The Name Game

I wanted to find a way to help MC learn the letters in her name, but since she is still a one-year-old, I wanted to keep her moving. I came up with a name game that does both.

First, I cut out some paper squares (about 5"x5") and wrote one letter from her name on each square. I taped each letter on the floor, in order. Since I will not be sharing her real name, let's just use "Name" as the example:

Then, I gathered magnet letters, foam letters, letter toys etc. These will be used for letter matching. My plan is to teach MC to match the letter I hand her to the letter on the floor, verbally emphasizing the sound the letter makes as she does so. To make this more challenging in the future, I will place the letter manipulatives around the room, so she'll have to find them before matching.

I then created letter sticks, by putting foam letter stickers onto large popsicle sticks. I am going to keep these in a cup, pulling one out at a time, and asking MC to stand/hop on the matching floor letter. At first, I will say the letter out loud, hop on it myself, and then ask her to do the same. My hope is that she will eventually be able to look at the letter stick and hop onto the correct matching floor letter without my help.

Lastly, I created a die out of cardstock and wrote one letter from her name on each side. Since there are six sides, you may have to write some letters more than once or leave some sides blank. Or, if your child's name is longer than six letters, you may have to create two dice. MC will get to roll the die, and whichever letter lands up, she will get to hop/stand on the matching letter. When she gets older, I will have her say the letter and sound it makes out loud before hopping. For now, I will say it. 

I also pulled out some letter flashcards that I keep nearby. When I hold up a flash card, she will have to stand/hop on the matching letter. Another way to use the floor letters is a simple hop scotch game. Start at the beginning and hop onto each letter, saying it's name and/or sound at the same time. Also, your child could roll a ball or toss a bean bag onto the floor letters and say or hop onto the letter it lands on. 

There are many ways to play this simple name game! And for active kiddos, it makes learning the letters of their name a lot more fun!