Preschool Toddler
Language ArtsFine Motor Activities
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When a child first begins learning to read, one of the very first, and probably one of the easiest words for them to recognize is their name.
This is the one word they’ll see and create on their own more than any other so it makes sense that it’s one that you’ll want to practice with them over and over again. No one however, wants that practice to include hours of copying, letter for letter.
As we all know, children will learn and retain more when they’re having fun and right now, both of my kids love to build with Mega Bloks. They’re such a simple toy and yet, are so versatile, they provide endless hours of entertainment when little ones use their imaginations.
Which is exactly why it took only a few short minutes and a couple of pieces of tape to put together a fun name recognition activity that captured their attention for almost an hour!
This is probably one of the simplest activities you could ever throw together.
All you need are some Mega Bloks, although Duplo bricks would work just as well if you have those, some Scotch tape, and a permanent marker.
Before you get started, write your child’s name on a sheet of paper. We actually used smaller sheets of craft foam as they are a lot more durable and the 2 year old was joining us for this activity.
Have your child count out the letters in their name to see how many blocks they’ll need and then just have them gather up that same number of single post blocks.
Once you’ve got enough blocks, start cutting small pieces of tape and attach them to one side of each block. This step is actually a fantastic fine motor work out for those little fingers and what kid doesn’t love getting to play with tape?!
When your blocks are covered with tape, put them all together so that the pieces of tape are all on the same side of your block tower and write one letter on each block.
They should dry fairly quickly and then you’re ready to take that block tower apart and hand it over to your preschooler! If they’re just starting to learn their name, give them the sheet with their name written on it to use as a guide, but if they’ve already been practicing for a while, see if they can build the letters of their name, in the correct order, without any help.
When you’re done, the tape easily comes right off and those blocks are, once again, ready to become another rocket ship or pirate sword :)
