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Fine Motor Freebie
Free Alphabet Building Mats
Strengthen fine motor skills and letter recognition with these FREE letter building alphabet mats for literacy centers, morning tubs, or early finisher activities!
⎯ Fine Motor ⎯
Editable Name Writing Practice Activities
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Teaching preschool and kindergarten students to write their names is an important milestone in their educational journey! Not only does it help them develop essential fine motor skills, but it also fosters a sense of identity and ownership over their work. To help students master writing their name, I use a variety of engaging and interactive name writing practice activities. Each year, especially at back to school, I have my students use their name practice mats as they practice writing their name!
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Name Writing Practice Activities
Before diving into our name writing practice activities, I read a variety of name books. One of my favorite name books to use year after year is Chrysanthemum. The name activities that pair with this book are endless!
After reading Chrysanthemum and several other name books, I have students practice their name using a few different name poems. This is also a great “getting to know you” activity for back to school!
Recommended Resources:
Editable Name Mats | Name Tracing & Name Writing {Italicized Font}
Name Tracing Editable Name Practice Mats | Name Activities & Name Writing
Name Mats | Editable Trace & Build Name Activities
As students become more confident and excited about their name, I introduce a few other name writing practice activities including my favorite name practice mats. Did I mention they are editable?!
Name Writing Practice Mats
Each year, I start by adding each student’s name to the editable name mats template.
From there, all 20 name practice mats autofill with my entire class list. Talk about a huge time saver!
After printing the pages, I insert them into sheet protectors or durable dry erase pockets. You could even make a binder for each student to store in their desk, cubby or book box.
I, personally, like to have my students use black, fine tip dry erase markers. For easy access, I store the dry erase markers and erasers inside each table’s supply caddy.
The editable mats make it so easy for the students to practice their name over and over again! Just trace and erase!
When I introduce these editable name mats to my students for the first time, I do a LOT of modeling! This means that I work with a group of students at my small group table.
I show them exactly how to trace each letter in their name, and I sometimes show them what NOT to do (they always get a kick out of this)! For this reason, I like to start the year with the name practice mats using the font that shows the correct path of motion.
My students use these name writing practice mats during centers, morning work or as an early finisher activity.
At the beginning of the year, I place them inside a magazine box on top their table. This way, each student at that table group can quickly grab their name mat!
Trace and Build Name Mats
These Name Practice Trace & Build Mats are very similar to the Name Tracing Practice Mats but with the added bonus of students being able to actually sequence the letters in their names using magnetic letters.
The prep is the exact same as the tracing mats.
Simply add your class list, print and that’s it!
Insert the practice pages inside sheet protectors or durable dry erase pockets for the students to practice again and again!
The magnetic letters from Educational Insights perfectly fit each letter!
You could also use the magnetic letters that contain blue for consonants and red for vowels. This helps the students break their name into syllables, count the number of consonants vs. vowels and more.
More Name Activities
Read more about my favorite Name Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten!
Learn how to make these picture name puzzles that are self-correcting!
Strengthen fine motor skills with these Fine Motor Name Activities!
Don’t forget to check out our complete list of name books for back to school!
DON’T FORGET IT… PIN IT!
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Ashley Sharp
As a dedicated Kindergarten teacher for nearly 20 years, I believe the words “fun, play, and creativity” can sit right alongside the words “developmentally appropriate, engaging, and rigorous.” Learning is meant to be fun and messy!
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