One of my first endeavors at the beginning of school is to fill the room with the student's names! This helps the children feel welcomed and at home. It is a comfort for them to see their name around the room. Here are a few of the things I do:
My first homework assignment is this name tag for their cubbies. I send home a 5 x 7 index card and ask that the children find the letters of their name in magazines and create their name. I put them on construction paper and laminate!
Here is another one -so cute!!
Here is peek at the cubbies and those name tags.
I put up our Letter Posters. And check out the frames above the posters. I put each child above their cubby. It looks so endearing! So guess where I found those cool frames?
IKEA!! Just $1 per frame (two in a package). Oh how I adore IKEA!
In honor of my sick daughter (who adores movies) – I used a “movie” theme. I took photos of each child in black and white. (Don't you just love the look of black & white? So cool.)
I put each photo on black construction paper and used a gold paint pen to write their name and make a quick dot or slash border.
So sweeeeet!
I have a chart paper with everyone's name on my front white board. It is our “reference” sheet for names.
This idea comes from Mrs. Flynn (who is so efficient – love it!) – these are little name tags with magnets. It is at the top of my white board and tells the children where they sit. I changed the seating for two children. They knew because they had looked! Yay!
These are my attendance/lunch tags (with a magnet). The children move their name to the lunch board in the morning arrival. The names remaining let me know who is absent.
Each child makes a birthday poster the first week of school. I put them in order of dates and hang. This is a great reminder of the next birthday.
Another thing I do that is not pictured:
- Every child has a name tent at their table.
- The first class book I make is a “Friend, friend, who do you see?” with a photo of each child and their name.
- The second class book is baby photos of the children (I type “I see Ethan.” or whoever the baby is).
- The next class book is of family photos.
Here's a class book idea I love from Fairy Dust Subscriber – Amy Pylant:
- Each child has a page with the familiar rhyme and their picture. Our favorite is Peek A Boo Guess Who.
- I mount each child's photo on a piece of card stock.
- I take a second piece and cut out a peek hole somewhere on the page so that when laid over the photo you only see a portion of the face.
- The text on each page reads, Peek A Boo guess who? The children have to guess who and even after many repetitions, they still want to read it even though they have memorized who is behind each peek hole! So much fun and laughter!
- I like to write their name at the bottom of the page so they see their name in print.
I love your black and white photos! I love IKEA too. Sure wish we had one close. I also stock up when we travel. The homework assignment with their names is adorable! I am going to do it. Thanks for sharing!
So many great ideas for class books! Love it!
Class books are so powerful!
Yes they are! I usually send the one with family pictures over to families so children can show and talk about who their friends are! Parents love this way to get to know who is in the class with their own loved ones!
Great ideas to make kids fmiliar with their names and other alphabets in their names. Definitely doing these
Your ideas are very inspiring. Thank you for sharing.
Great ideas I’m excited to implement some of the ideas.
I have a ‘Home/School’ pocket chart. When the children arrive they move their name from the ‘Home’ side to the ‘School’ side. Of course, at the end of the day, they do the opposite.
I use their names in a class book to demonstrate the phonemic awareness skill of recognizing how many syllables are in a word. (In preschool, we just talk about how many “parts” a word has). I have them stamp their name with large letter stampers we have with a space between the syllables. We then count the syllables in their name and they write the numerals above each syllable. I then include a photo of each child on the page as well.
Sorry I don’t have a photo to show an example…hope it makes sense!
I love all these ideas! Thanks!
I have a question regarding how to write/display the children’s names…upper/lower case, or all caps.
I teach PreK and my new co-teacher feels we should start with all caps when displaying there names, then gradually as we introduce lower case change there names to reflect upper first, lower for the rest of the letters. What are your thoughts? Thanks 🙂
There is so much debate on this topic. I have done it both ways and here’s my feeling. I like any display of the child’s name to be written like it will be for the rest of their lives – first letter uppercase and the rest lowercase. Environment print is the first introduction of written language and I like have it as it would be in normal print.
I also delay formally teaching them how to write their names until I know they are developmentally ready. When we have children writing their names in all caps – it is simply an indication their fine motor skills are not there yet. I do not rush the process. I assess and watch for indicators that their fine motor skills are ready for handwriting. (Their drawings are very good gauge.)
That said, if I have a child with clear developmental delays – all caps like Handwriting Without Tears program is perfect for special needs. I individualize.
When I taught older students (up to Grade 3), it was common that students wrote sentences correctly – starting with a capital letter and the rest with lower case letters, but their own names they still wrote with all caps. As they had started writing their names with capital letters in preschool, it had become a habit that was very difficult to get out of.
In preschool my heart sinks every time a child says he/ she does not know how to write his/ her name. As I think about writing in preschool, a child should put some scribbles, lines or any other marks on the paper and tell that the name is written there. When I hear a child telling that he cannot write his name, it makes me think that the child has been shown or taught the “proper” way to write the name and obviously cannot do it yet, therefore does not do it at all.
Preschool is all about experimenting, exploring and trying all sorts of possibilities. I keep telling the children that there are many ways to write their names. I start with my handwriting which to them looks very much like scribble writing, then I show other options, including scribbles, xxx, all caps, first cap and lower case letters. That usually gives enough freedom to a child to chose and do whatever the child is ready for.
What a wonderful and encouraging way to support the children in their writing. It is so important that children express their thinking through their fingertips and writing. Thank you for supporting that in your students!
I like this approach. With exposure to many types of writing, experimenting, opportunites, and positive encouragement a child may learn at his level and gain confidence.
i make an A-B-C name book. A is for Alice and she likes apples. M is for Marc and he likes monkeys. The child’s picture is on the page and they draw a picture of what they like with a large letter on the page. The kids love this book because they can read it to each other and their parents. When the class goes up a grade in September, our new class passes the pages on. The older students love to see what they said as a Transitional Kindergartner.
Love this! I especially love the child’s photo. I bet they do love it!
I love the “Peek-a-Boo, Guess Who” book! 🙂
There are so many good ideas here thank you. I love the birthday posters. I add names to our word wall. We also play games using our name tags.
Thanks for sharing your awesome ideas. I appreciate your generosity.
Love the “homework idea” with the name card and magazines clippings!
Thanks for sharing. Seeing the pictures is so helpful, especially since I am a visual learner. I love the ikea frame pictures to feature their faces. And I love the magazine letter hunt idea too!
In my class (I’ve done this in Kindergarten and in Grade one), I’ve put their names on laminated frogs and they’re on the carpet waiting for them at the start of the day as they enter the classroom. Students have to find their name (this is reading and name recognition) and then stick them on the chalk board (they have magnets on the back) under the title “Who’s Hopping Around Today?” It also serves as attendance and used for other activities as well. Students continue to use their frogs to learn how to write their names independently, and other students can write their friends’ names too by using their frogs as well.
Love the birthday idea. It really makes each child feel the importance of being in the established community in the classroom.
I agree, Brenta. Birthdays are such a special time for our friends!
Love all the name art, and letting the children recognize their names. We also like to assign an animal with that name so the child can find it easily. ie: Matthew-Monkey
Lucy-Lion
Nathan-Narwhal etc.
How fun! I love that!
Thank you so much for all your great ideas I will be working with these ideas as we begin the new year. For now we have names on cubbies and the parents mailbox’s but your ideas are cooler so will see how we will improve our name use through out the classroom. Thank you
I can’t wait to see what ideas you come up with in your own classroom. Please share!
Love all of these ideas!! Thank you!
I love the idea of the birthday poster. It is a great way to use as a birthday board. It is also a different way that I haven’t seen before.
I also love the class book ideas. I’m always thinking about different class book ideas. Thanks for sharing!
We have ‘all about me’ books and posters with their name on the front and filled with pictures of their families, pets, favourite toys books etc. These are sent home on the first day of the year and come back to school when completed. They are great for comforting and distracting children who are a little upset and promote lots of talk about likes, experiences and similarities and differences.
I love All About Me books. Such a wonderful practice!
They love to be highlighted and praised!
I love the cubby tag, it gets the families involved right from the start of the year.
Dear Sally!
Thank you for sharing all those great ideas! I love the Star poster- it is so simple, but it makes every child feel very special? I love also a framed picture above the cubie. It can help especially at the beginning of the school year. In our class we use a welcome name card with childs name&picture at the door, a table card and of corse artwork signature. Children wright their names according to their abilities. At the beginning first or first 2 letters and then slowly the whole name. Its good to see their progress. When a child has his/her unique way to sign the artwork, we let them do it. We and even other children recognise whose work it is!
I have a question- I saw in your class name cards one what was Maris. Is he a latvian boy? Its a typical Latvian name (I am from Latvia myself).
It is a girl and as far as I know, a name the family liked. I do not think they had Latvian roots.
Love these ideas. I teach kindergarten in an IB school. I use names for self registration. The names are written on a name tag( I change them according to the theme) and stuck to the entrance door. When the child comes in the morning they do self registration by picking their name tag from the door (name recognition) and matches it with the beginning sound of his name on a alphabet chart(sound recognition ). If they are ready ( I have board fixed on the wall which is at their eye level) they can copy writing their name on the white board.
Great ideas!
Love all of these! It is so important for a child to see and hear their name in their classroom. I like to have them make name sensory tubes. They use letter beads for the name and put them in a mini test tube with water and glitter. This goes in a center. The kids write the letters they see in the tube and then try and figure out whose name it is! Not sure where the idea came from but I would love to give them credit as this is a great way for kids to explore and learn their classmates names. Thanks for sharing these ideas!
Frances, what a wonderful idea! I love when we share ideas. I agree that children love seeing and hearing their names. It’s certainly honoring our young children.
These are all such great ideas! I teach pre k and kindergarten. We have a sign in table where each child’s name is written on a rock. They put their rock in the basket when they arrive. I also have a sign in sheet where they can make a mark or write their name if they are ready. I also add their names to the word wall. I also have a pocket chart with everyone’s name and photo posted. I leave a basket of stones with letters of the alphabet on them next to it. They love to practice spelling their name and that of their friends.
Thank you for sharing. The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other, I am so excited to start the new school year with these great ideas. Love the black and white photos.Love the idea of filling the classroom environment with the children’s names. As you said, it truly gives the child a feeling of belonging and ownership.
Some fantastic ideas here! I’ve just had a thought- what about making name tags with whichever letter that the children are learning highlighted in a different colour? For example Maya and Asa would have ‘A/a’ written in, say, green when they are learning ‘a’. Maya would be back to black when they were learning ‘s’ and Asa would have black ‘a’ s and green ‘s’. Does this make sense? What do people think?
I love the idea of having the children cut out the letters of their name and make their own cubbie tag. I have very young children, but parents could help with this activity.
I am new to the site and I am starting the loose parts collecting. I would love to use small loose parts and canvas to make the alphabet instead of the traditional letters that come in paper form that tapes to the wall.
I love using names in the classroom! One of my favorite beginning of the year projects is decorating name tags for their lockers/ backpack hooks. I cut cardboard pieces and I trace their names in pencil. The students use paint to trace their names and decorate their name tags. This year I asked students to bring a framed family photo to display above their backpack hooks. I LOVE the IKEA frames that you shared! Very fun!
Love your name tag idea! And love the family photo above the backpacks. It creates such a feeling of a larger circle of community. Beautiful!
I was inspired with your ideas to display the children’s names more around the room. Thank you, Leanne
Very nice ideas. We will be implementing some of these for sure.
I can’t wait to hear what was the children’s (and your!) favorite!
Some lovely ideas here! I use the name tags at the registration corner where children come and mark their attendance. Also the classroom jobs like line leader, caboose, teacher’s helper etc have their names and photos.
It is a ritual to mark attendance after they have unpacked their bags in my class. They have name strips on the registration wall, where they write their names.Some learners who are unable to write are provided support, either visually or by joining the dotted letters in their name.Thanks for sharing the above ideas!
And thanks for sharing yours!
Oh Sally Sally
Over the moon you are with your work that helps us so much. bless you..
The children sign in to class each day and it is any way they make their mark it is their name, I keep this for developmental stages of growth in their ILP(individual learning plan) folders, share with parents for their progress, and it is meaningful work because it is the only thing I use for my attendance report.
I also write a book with them and we make up stories and we always put their names in the stories, so they perk up when they hear their name and see what they are doing, These are always well loved books that the children return to time and time again. At the end of the year we put them in our school library and they muse over them finding their older siblings and friends names inside the books.
I must say that you again have inspired me, I love the pictures and the movie theme because we have limited use of color printed photos here.
Keep Warm and Snug,
Your Friend, Arctic Ice Princess
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for your kind words. You are an inspiration to me! I love the idea of incorporating the children’s names into stories. It’s so important to honor children and this is a magical way to do it!
Thankyou Sally, what perfect timing I am just starting at a new school and I will use the black and white photos, the IKEA frames the Anthony Brown book “look who I see”,the Birthday art ideas. I have used similar ideas through the school year but these are perfect in my first week with the children. The photos were inspirational. Thankyou
For art projects, I’ve tried to respectively give children the choice to have their name displayed on the front or back, or written themselves. When given children the choice, in my experience most children chose the back! So to give the artists credit, I wrote their names on index cards to place under their art. Not only did I do that, I also tried to display them at their level. It didn’t take long for the class to have recognized each other’s name! I was completely astounded when they started recognizing letters in their friends name that they have in their own name. It was so much easier than sitting down a class of 20 three and four year olds and TELLING them the letters waiting for them to “make the connection” when the did it on their own. Proud child-led teaching moment.
Fabulous idea, Maryssa!
Thank you for sharing your ideas! We also use names everywhere we can. We have painted the names of the children on various rocks and the children pick their rock from a pile and place in a basket when they arrive, then put back in pile when they leave. Once the children have left our program and are about 7-8,I mail it to them. Some use as paper weight, for one it has become a lucky rock he carries with him when he feels nervous about something.
What a charming and meaningful idea. So special!
There are some great ideas here. However, I wonder if you have thought about the implications of assigning gender to your students (lining up each name under ‘girl’ or ‘boy’) and what that would mean for a child who is perhaps exploring their gender or doesn’t feel like they belong in either category. Just a thought.
Hi Emma – You can adapt these ideas to suit the needs of your children! The main focus is names, names everywhere! :heart: Thanks for sharing
Thank you so much for bringing this up Emma, it is a very important topic to discuss in our profession. It is critical for us to reflect on classroom practices that divide children by gender and ask children to identify with a gender and ask ourselves why we do it and what value it has for children.
This is such a great conversation to have. I avoid using gender to describe children. It makes me uncomfortable, and I have seen children become uncomfortable, or even self advocate and deny the gender they have been assigned. Having said that, I think that it is hard “habit” to break, and we need to look at it as an evolving evolution towards a less binary view of people. I feel that teachers/people need to learn new ideas, and then reflect and make those changes in their own ways. I have watched teachers who are really awesome and experience, with a great deal of offer become discouraged in their practices because they have areas/practices that are not evolved with the times, trends, and the cultural changes, and don’t feel valued anymore. In my opinion, this is not healthy for them, or the ECE community, and so I think it is important for us reflect on our own practice, model for each other, and share our thoughts, but also allow space to growth, and appreciate that change that is meaningful takes time, and patience. I work with a wonderful co-teacher, who has taught me so much, and they still call the children “boys and girls.” Makes me cringe every single time. I don’t think it is possible for her to stop doing it, and she does not need to feel my disapproval ever time it happens. So, I chose to let it go, and remember that she has taught me so much, and brought so much to the children, and this one persons evolution in this area is not my job to fix 🙂 More than anyone wanted to know, but it is a topic that I have been thinking a lot about lately.
Ellie: Thank you so much for reminding us to allow for growth and change. 12 yrs ago I was sorting out coat hooks in a small room by gender because it was the quickest way I could think of to limit searching time for parents. Then we had our first child who resisted birth gender ID. I wish I could say we were open about it, but we weren’t as much as I would now wish. (Although we did change the organizing principle!) But by the time the second child came along that organization and any other gender differentiation was gone. Now I’m working on our music teacher to stop calling for volunteers “Girls first, then boys!” It takes time but we do change!
Thanks for all your suggestions! They are awesome! My question is: how do you bind your books?
I make class books a lot, like the ones mentioned here. I like to laminate book spages and then use binder rings. I have also simply put book pages in sheet protectors (and the binder rings) too.
I believe it is valuable not just to have their names written, but also to hear their name being spelled, and also to experiences their names as sounds, and feel letters with their bodies. When I release the children from group, to a field trip, choices, etc.I sometimes do it by spelling their names, or even just the first letter of their name. We also play games where I will “draw” a shape or letter on their back, on the bottom of their foot, or just in the air. As well, I will challenge the children to make a shape or letter shape with their body. They are invited to ask however many peers they think they might need to make the shape, and then lead their peers in where they will lay, and then assess if the body shape they made looks like they intended. It gets more challenging as they develop. They LOVE this.
My colleague and I use “Name Cycles” in our classrooms. We use these cycles as a way to choose our “Star of the Day” (line leader/helper/etc). The cycles are adapted from a presenter we once had visit our school. Each cycle has a unique activity to work on letter and sound recognition.
I teach grade one. I like to use the names tags on magnets, like Mrs. Flynn, as voting cards. For free choice they place their own name card under the picture of the activity on our whiteboard and switch when they are done. Or before a writing task,they place their magnet name beside a writing goal, which I have listed on a chart and we review constantly. We do all kinds of sorting activities in the beginning of the year and whenever I can use their names I do. i.e., Yes/No T-chart, for any kind of question, We also create graphs, how many letters in each name and place them on top of each other to make a bar graph. I also create a sheet of name stickers for each student, cheep dollar store sheets with 30 to a page, then I have them handy to label workbooks, art work, make a fast name tag for guests to the classroom. Their names are waiting for them on baskets, desks, coat hook area, the welcome sign on the door, display space on the bulletin board and I usually graffiti print their names on a large sheet of paper for them to colour and it becomes our first artwork to decorate the room. Oh, I start the school year with a poem, Everyone has a Name! I love working with their names too!
THank you for sharing this is great timing for the start of year traditions we’re trying to build in! We are doing some fine motor teaching for parents about how writing develops at our ages (2-3!) and it’s not about letters yet. It’s our first documentation panel so this was a great inspiration. I like the ABC book idea someone had with Alice like Apples…
A thought: some schools will not divide by boy/girl in efforts to create a welcome environment if a child identifies as a different gender, as some transgender people remember the confusion at such an early age. It really depends on the group where you work, and how you approach it as a team. Lots of right answers, I think.
I can’t download the lose part book.please help.
Hi Sryia! We’re so excited you want to learn more about loose parts. Just click here and enter your email to download the Loose Parts Start Up Guide. Enjoy! https://fairydustteaching.com/looseparts-startupguide
These ideas are wonderful!! Thank you for sharing your ideas with all of us. We have been gifted some beautiful materials over the years, some of my favorite ways to incorporate the children’s names are:
1.) Painted wooden blocks, these are building blocks that are in the block corner all year long. The blocks have each child’s name painted on the them, in various fonts.
2.) River stones with hand painted names (we use these are our name tags at Circle time).
3.) In our language corner: A photo album that uses photos of the students and follows the classic Eric Carle story Brown Bear, Brown Bear. For example: “Bobby, Bobby who to you see?” (photo of Bobby) turn page, “I see Sara looking at me.” (photo of Sara).
4.) Lunch box shelf has a photo and written name for identifying where each child’s lunch box should be placed.
I’m with the toddlers so letters arent part of our learning yet but I feel that if they see their name they wi pick up on the letters easier in preschool. I use a lot of face pictures around room on the cubbies, creative board, our wish you will board at circle (all faces are around a heart and if your away that day your face is in the heart so show your missed), on the dry rack for art work and every picture has their name on it so they can represent what it means.
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful ideas! I love having children’s names posted clearly with their artwork or in places where they have their own belongings (cubby areas/ art bins etc).
I know this post is a few years old but it is relevant to separate the children by boy/girl and pink/blue? There are going to be children who don’t see themselves in these 2 categories. Can’t you divide them into 2 teams and use green and orange (or your other favorite colors?)
Great ideas! I must admit – I have evolved in my thinking since this post and agree – it needs updating!! Thank you for your important contribution!
I work as a 3 year old teacher. Thank you for all the amazing ideas. Every year, in the beginning of the year I would read “brown bear, brown bear what do you see ?”. The next day I would make a book with their pictures with “preschoolers, preschoolers, who do you see?” I would leave it in our library and that would be one of the book that the children love to read over and over again.
I work as a 3 year old teacher. Thank you for all the amazing ideas. Every year, in the beginning of the year I would read “brown bear, brown bear what do you see ?”. The next day I would make a book with their pictures with “preschoolers, preschoolers, who do you see?” I would leave it in our library and that would be one of the book that the children love to read over and over again.
Hi. That’s a great idea. In my class, we have 3 photo albums and we use them sometimes at circle time or when we have a new friend in class.
These are great ideas! One thing I do is write or print out each child’s name on a large piece of paper and give them multiple art materials to decorate each letter. We then hang them around in classroom with their self portraits and hopes and dreams to decorate our classroom. The results are beautiful and help the children to view the classroom as their own space.
I love the idea of putting the children’s name in the classroom! I will definately be applying that next year 🙂
One of the ways I like to use the kiddo’s names as a way to develop literacy skills is using playdough to make their name in coils. We did this as one of the first activities and it went so well! The children loved it, challenged themselves and I remember one child finished his name quickly and decided to start making different words. He ended up doing three words in a row! I was so proud!
I love the way you use their names as a platform for beginning writing. I have found that my preschoolers are excited about reading and writing their names at a very young age. My favorite name activity I do with my children is a name game. I write 1 letter at a time on the wipe off board. The children begin guessing the name. Once there are enough letters that they are able to predict or read the name I finish the name and excise that child. I do it as a transition activity. The children love it! Ibstsrt with the youngest child’s name since their attention span is not long. The older children can often read all the names pretty quickly. At that point I mix up the letters and often start with a middle letter or end letter and work my way out.