Helping Kids Learn to Read Their Name

Help Younger Children Learn To Spell Their Names

As big brothers and sisters return from school and talk about what they are learning, autumn is a perfect time for younger children to learn to spell their name and share what they are learning, too.  There are some fun activities to help remember the letters of their name and the sequence of those letters.

  You will need some heavy stock paper cut in 4”by 16” strips, white glue, marker, elbow macaroni or penne pasta, sandpaper, felt, child’s scissors, poster paint, colored glue, and confetti. Texture Helps Learning

  Print your children’s names with marker on one of the tag board strips. Precut heavy stock paper can be purchased at most craft or school supply stores and is great to have on hand for projects.  The letters need to be 

Texture Helps Learning to Print Names

large enough and spaced far enough apart so children can glue pieces of macaroni to the strip to form the letters over your printing.  Make sure the only capital letter is at the beginning of the name. It’s a good idea to start with only the first name.     

   Carefully, go over each letter, explaining to children that these letters in this order spell their name. Show them how to glue the macaroni onto each letter, saying the name of the letter as they are gluing. When the glue has dried, have them trace each letter with their finger and spell as they trace. They can paint the name with their favorite color when it is very dry.

  The letters of their name can also be cut from sandpaper or felt and glued to another tag board strip in the correct order. Cut the letters yourself, but your children can glue them onto the tag board.

   Using colored glue to outline the letters is fun, too. Glue can be tinted with food coloring. Children can add sand, glitter, or confetti outdoors to make a colorful art project from the name.

  Touching clues can be very helpful when children are learning letters and words.  Tracing over the noodles, sandpaper, or felt with a finger can help your children remember how to spell and print their names.

Great ABC Books

  Families may wish to check out some alphabet books at the library to practice remembering letters.  Some favorites are 

Many ABC Books Help 

“Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” by Bill Martin, Jr., “Thomas’ABC Book” by Rev. W. Awdry and “Dr. Seuss’ ABC’s.”  Another book that will add some motor activities is “Movement ABC’s for Little Ones” by Rae Pica.  This book gives ideas on how to make letters with your body.  Make letter cards together and play games like “Memory” and “Go Fish” to review letters. Also check out the many puzzles and games that feature the ABC’s. For more ideas see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/ Learning through the Seasons.

Helping to Calm Children

Sometimes both children and adults need a soothing time, a time to calm down from whatever agitates them during the day.

Drawing Time is Soothing

Research indicates drawing Zentangles and Mandalas may enhance this time. Coloring with markers, pencils, and crayons helps set the mood for talking softly, silence, crying a bit, working through problems, and hugs.
  Repetitive movement and making something creative and beautiful engages both sides of the brain.  The creativity comes from selecting colors that go together according to individual’s tastes. The tactical part of the brain plans and decides the design.  Both parts keep the mind from wandering to worries and other stressful emotions.  There are intricate Zentangle and Mandala-type designs in coloring books or you can make your own. Check out Google images and You Tube, too.
Zentangles can Calm
   Picture a piece of paper with a few lines, curves, or shapes that may be made from a thick black marker. Many thinner straight or curved lines surround, fill in, and connect the original shapes until the entire page is filled with lines and white spaces.

Drawing Zentangles and Mandalas

 With young children, start on 4-inch square thick paper that won’t tear easily. It will be easier to cover completely with designs. Show them how to use a black crayon, marker, or pen to make a design or several smaller ones, several numbers, their initials, geometric figures like circles or flower petals scattered around the paper. Then add smaller lines and curves to connect and fill. Zentangle usually stays black and white.
 Mandalas can Soothe
  Mandalas go a little further. Some people start with a circle and make a series of circles around the inside of the circumference.  Then they start another row of smaller circles around the circumference and continue making smaller and smaller circles until they reach the center. Now they fill in the shapes with thinner straight lines, curved lines, concentric circles, or patterns (repeating designs) until the entire page is filled and all of the shapes are connected in some way. The effect is like a Tiffany stained glass rose window. A large square, rectangle or triangle can be divided the same way. Artists often start with thick lines, but there are no rules. Anything can be incorporated into the larger design.
   Besides soothing people, Zentangles and Mandalas help children develop printing skills, eye-hand coordination and a sense of color.

Develop Hand-eye Skills

Most Mandalas have symmetry, balance, and color added to spaces. There are no requirements though and that’s the point.
  For more about Zentangle see information on Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. For Mandala books see Engelbreit’s “Color”, or Marotta’s “Animal Kingdom” for older children and adults.
Photos, Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest

Helping Kids Learn to Print - Jean Hetrick

 Printing legibly can be frustrating for some children even with extra help and encouragement. Many first graders have difficulty forming letters, keeping them on a line, and spacing between letters and words. It is most important to help them love reading, telling stories, and putting their creative ideas down on some surface eventually.  Children learn at different rates, but families can patiently and gently help them progress with fun learning activities.
 Here are some ways families can help with printing, especially during the summer months.
 Drawing Fun
  The American alphabet uses circles, line segments and curves. Producing them requires fine motor control. One way to help children print is to help them draw figures. Ed Emberley’s drawing books teach children that the whole world is made of geometric figures and by adding one precise figure at a time one can make cars, animals, and much more. When they make these drawings, they are developing coordination between fingers, eyes, and brain.  Since the way to any child’s brain is through fun, these library books can help struggling children and frustrated families.
  Enlarging the writing instrument may also help. Use fatter pencils and crayons or add pencil grips. Grips are found in office supply sections. Winding a rubber band around where the fingers properly grip the pencil can make a homemade grip. Check on- line for images of how to hold a pencil efficiently.
Enlarge Printing
  Provide ways for large printing. Keep a white board handy for children to make notes and drawings. Leave it clear at first so children can scribble and pretend to print. Then make it look like lined paper. Children can help you use a ruler to make black lines four inches apart. Gradually go to three, two, and one inch as children reach first grade.
  A second white board can look like children’s penmanship paper with red bottom lines (for stop), black or green dash lines, and solid lines at the top. A red bottom line shows where most capital and lower case letters should rest. If children have difficulty finding where to start letters, use a green dot to show where letter strokes should begin for their difficult letters.
  Double check which printing system your school is using and make letters correctly. Penmanship paper may have dots and numbers to help correct formation.
  Take many breaks and change activities often since this is hard word for little hands. Run around, hop, skip and jump.
  Do not try to change the dominant hand. If they use their left hand, that is their comfortable hand. 
Photo: Fran Darling; Sketch: Nowicki
More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest