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Name Recognition: The Three Stages In Which Children Learn Their Names

by | Apr 20, 2021 | Educational Content

What is the most important word in your toddler's vocabulary? The word they are most interested in and has the most meaning and value to them? If you guessed their name, you are so correct! With repeated exposure, toddlers who are unable to print their names can begin to identify and learn their names in print. Also, our children's names are one of the most powerful contexts we have for providing systemic instructions in alphabet and letter sounds.

In fact, some teachers will, at the beginning of the school year, create name wall routines that present our little ones with language concepts in the context of meaningful words rather than teaching letters to them in isolation. When this approach is taken, teachers cover the entire alphabet in a month rather than only focusing on a letter per week and covering the alphabet in 26 weeks.

Why is name recognition important?

Name recognition helps our little ones to feel important, builds concepts of print and also helps our little ones to understand that words have meaning.

My girls and I are working on learning their names, so I figured I would share the three stages in which children learn their names with you.

Stage 1: Recognition

The first step in the process of teaching your toddler his/her name is recognition. You can provide your toddler with repeated exposure in and around the home by labeling personal items and intentionally pointing out his/her name to them repeatedly. When your toddler sees his/her name on a daily basis, he/she will begin to identify the shapes of the letters that are in his/her name. Especially the initial letter.

Items you can label:

Books
Toys
Snacks
Clothes

Stage 2: Spelling Their Names

When your little one is confident in identifying his/her name, the next step is to practise spelling his/her name orally daily.

Some activities you can use:

Name on blocks in a Ziploc bag

Clothespin Name Activity

Tactile Name Activities

Stage 3: Writing

When your little one can confidently identify his/her name and spell it, he/she can move on to writing his/her name. When our little ones are at this stage, we can provide them with repeated opportunities to write their names.

Activities for name writing

Rainbow Names

Shaving Cream Name

Writing Names On Multiple Surfaces With Markers Or Crayons

5 Activities You Can Do With Toddlers Who Are Just Learning Their Names

The name recognition activities below are super simple to put together and will keep any toddler busy learning their names and having fun while doing so.

Put A Ring Around Your Name Activity

What you will need to put this activity together:

Some rice for a sensory filler
A container
Construction paper
Markers
Wooden rings (I got my rings from the Dollar Store but bottle caps or small plastic containers can also be used.

The girls enjoyed searching for their names and placing the rings.

Fly Swat Name Identification Game

What You Will Need:

A piece of easel paper.
Markers of different colours.
Fly Swat for each child playing, or they could share and take turns.
Tape to hold the paper in place on the floor.

When the girls and I played, they took turns identifying their names where they could find them. I then asked them to tell me what colour their names were written in. For older toddlers, this activity can be extended by playing a game of I-Spy. You could say "I-Spy Khalilah's name written in blue," and give the child some time to find their name in blue. This can be repeated for each colour and child's name.

Paper Towel Roll Sticker Name Recognition Activity

This activity was created by painting two paper towel rolls to make them look a little fancy. I then used a marker to write the girls' names on the paper towel rolls and on the colour-coded stickers four times. The girls were then given the paper towel roll and a sticker sheet with their names.

This activity kept them so busy as my girls love stickers.

While they worked they were:

Learning their names.
Reviewing colours.
Reviewing letters and their corresponding sounds.
Developing their hand-eye coordination.
Improving their concentration and focus.

Playdough Name Recognition Imprint Puzzle

I know most children will gladly play with playdough for extended periods! Playdough helps our little ones to relax, develops fine motor skills, creativity and imagination just to list a few of the benefits. Playdough can be used in all subject areas to enhance learning, so I figured why not incorporate playdough into our name recognition learning!

This simple playdough puzzle requires only playdough and and any letters that can be found around the home!

When you have all the letters that are in your child's name, all you need to do is roll out your dough and print the letters into the dough and then remove them. Present your child with all the letters for them to identify them in the dough and match the physical letters.

This activity is also great for teaching or reviewing the sounds of the letters that are in the child's name!

Tactile Bean Name Recognition Activity

What you need for this activity:

Construction paper
A black marker or pencil to write the child's name on the paper
Beans
Glue

Clothes Pin and Craft Stick Name Recognition Activity

What you will need for this activity:

Craft stick
Clothes pins
Marker

Dot Art Name Recognition Activity