Teaching name recognition to your little learners can be a lot of fun! Yes, that’s right, I said FUN!  Today I am sharing my favorite way to make name recognition lessons both engaging  and hands on for your preschooler!

So, what is the secret to teaching students how to spell their name? It crafts! I am going to show you how you can begin to teach name recognition to your preschooler with my hot cocoa name craft as the perfect example!

What you will need:

• Paper
• Printer
• Glue
• Scissors
• Crayons/ Markers
• PowerPoint (optional)

Name Craft Prep:

I start by opening my winter hot cocoa name craft template in PowerPoint. Then I simply edit each student’s name onto the mug and add each letter of their name to the marshmallows. (If you prefer kids to write their own name on the craft you can skip this step and just print the blank template.)

Once all the names are edited, you can print! I love these name crafts because each student gets one page with everything they need, which cuts down on prep work and supplies used.

Pro Tip: Print on cardstock. The thicker paper helps those little fingers cut and paste the craft.

How To Use The Winter Craft To Teach Name Recognition:

Now that you have your hot cocoa crafts prepped with each name you can give student’s their craft page with scissors and glue. If you want to make the craft last even longer, print in BW and let students color their mug!

Students can now cut out each letter marshmallow and add it to their hot cocoa mug to spell their name. Since their names are already typed on the mug, they have a guide for the order that the letters of their name should go in. 

When I first introduce name crafts to my kids, I do not worry as much if they line the letters up correctly. Instead, we focus on recognizing each letter that is their name and sounding it out. As we keep doing the crafts, we focus more and more on making sure that the letters are in the correct order. So do not stress if your little ones do not get right on the first few tries.

Skills We Are Working On:

It’s obvious that our focus with this craft is to learn name recognition, but that is not the only benefit that this craft is providing your preschooler! By cutting and pasting each marshmallow, your kids are also developing fine motor skills! Your students will gain confidence in their scissor skills and well as learn how to use glue while crafting.

Use The Crafts As Classroom Decor:

One reason I do seasonal name crafts is that it makes for free classroom decor! Hanging these up on your bulletin boards is not only adorable, but the kids LOVE it! Student’s love searching for their name on the wall (bonus name recognition practice too!!) and they are so proud to see their artwork displayed for all to see!

Want to grab this craft to use in your classroom? Find my Winter Hot Cocoa Name Craft on My Teachers Pay Teachers.