Name Puzzles ~ Simply Made

One sure fire way to make sure that kids want to join in during learning activities is to make the activity appeal to their interests. For example, my little guy is a puzzle fanatic. He absolutely loves them. We've also been working on spelling the names of people in our family. I combined these two things and quickly made Name Puzzles.

 Materials: 

• Sentence Strips (I've seen these at the Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Target, or you could get them at a school supply store.)
• Marker
• Scissors
• Ziploc bag for storage

Directions:
Use the marker to write your tot's name on the Sentence Strip.

Cut between the letters. You will want to make different "designs" with your scissors for each cut. For example, wavy lines, jagged lines, curved lines, etc.

Allow your tot to put the puzzle together.

If they need help, make another strip that has their name on it and leave it intact. Allow them to use it to help them find the next letter. They can use it as a reference, or use it to match up the letters by laying the pieces on top.


Other options:

• If your child already knows how to spell their name, do this for other names they might need to know~Mommy, Daddy, siblings, etc. Don't forget to add a picture to help them "read" the name!
• Putting numbers in order
• Sight Words
• Simple sentences