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by Liana Mahoney
Topics: Preschool, Reading
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Pre K students are eager to get ready for school! Knowing the letters in their name is an important sign of kindergarten readiness. Children need repeated practice to learn the names of letters and the order in which the letters appear in their name.   And at this age, their restless little bodies demand that the practice be as hands-on as possible!

Here’s an activity that’s all hands-on...hands-on the fridge, that is! It’s a refrigerator name game!

What You Need:

  • Ink jet magnet sheets (or, use cardstock and adhesive magnet strips)
  • Scissors
  • Computer
  • Printer

What to Do:

  1. On your computer, type out your child’s name in a bright color and super large font. Be sure to bold the letters, and leave lots of space between each letter in the name, as you will be cutting the each of the letters out later. On the same page, type it your child's name again (or copy and paste) exactly as you did the first time, so the name appears on the page twice.
  2. Print the page onto ink jet magnetic sheets.  Follow the manufacturer’s directions to print the page on the magnetic sheet (or cardstock).
  3. Cut the names into two separate strips so that each strip has your child's name on it. Leave one strip completely intact. Cut the other strip apart into individual letters.
  4. Put the name strip on the fridge at a height your preschooler can reach.  Show her that this is what her name looks like.
  5. Spell her name aloud and point to each letter as you name it aloud. On a second reading, have her join you.
  6. Put the individual letters on the fridge near the strip with her name.  Ask her to name and find the first letter in her name using the individual letter magnets.
  7. When she finds it, help her to hold it near the matching letter on the name strip to check that they are the same. Then she can put the letter on top of the matching letter.
  8. Repeat for the remaining letters in her name. Be sure to celebrate each step along the way, especially once she has spelled her name completely!!

Activity Extensions: