Hello, My Name Is....

My son has been spelling his name for what seems like forever now, but writing it and identifying the letters as individual letters (and not just one big word) is a little foreign to him.  So, we decided that this would be our focus for the last couple of weeks.  I wanted to make it fun as well as educational, and of coarse it had to hold the interest of a 4 year old.  We have been using a few different methods; some methods worked a little better than others, so I'll just highlight our two favorites.

1.  My children both have their own notebooks to draw and write in.  Each day I write my son's name with pencil 4 times on a page.  He takes his markers and traces over each of the letters so that he can get the hang of forming each letter.  For added reference, I wrote his name on an index card, laminated, and velcroed it to a wall in my kitchen (we use the same wall for keeping up with daily weather, date, day of the week, and a daily color).  This card can be pulled down and placed in front of my son while he is writing in his book.

After he has traced his name 4 times, I give him blank index cards, and he free-hands his name once on each card.  Now, his motivation for doing this:  we take each card that he has written his name on, put it in an envelope, and he mails it to a different family member each day.  He is soo proud of himself for being able to mail these to whomever he chooses. (And if you are a family member who is wondering where your "Russ Card" is, don't worry, its coming).

2.  I took 4 index cards, and on each card, I wrote one letter of my son's name (I also did this for his last name, but haven't started using them with him yet).  I did the same for the 4 letters in my daughters name. 

I take the 8 index cards and hide them all over the living room.  After a big "Ready, Set, Go!", the kids are set loose to find all of the index cards with their name's letters.  Once found, they arrange them in order on the coffee table so that they spell out each of their names.  Now, my 1 year old hasn't completely gotten the hang of putting hers in order (although I have to brag that she CAN spell her name now and does recognize which 4 letters are hers), so this is a team sport.  The team does not win until both names are spelled correctly and then each name must be spelled out-loud by both of them.  This game has become a surprise hit!!  I can't wait for next week when we add our last name into the mix.

I think I have managed to trick my children into learning something without them realizing it.  Thats always a good thing   hahaha  

I would love to hear the ways you have made spelling fun for your little ones.  We are always looking for new ideas!