In kindergarten and Preschool, we’re always looking for ways to incorporate name activities. We want kids to be able to identify their names in print, learn the letters in their names and more, but how can we do this while keeping them interested in learning? Enter arts and crafts name ideas. Some of these ideas are perfect pincer grasp activities.
I’ve gathered 40+ of the best fine motor activities that you could incorporate into your class or with your kids at home to help prepare them just a little, but more for this pivotal time in their lives when they’re learning all about themselves.
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Arts and Crafts Name Ideas for Preschoolers
Kids love crafting and arts. It is a great way to teach them about colors, shapes, and textures. They can also learn how to be creative and express themselves through their crafts.
Crafting with kids is a great way to spend quality time with them. It can also help improve their motor skills and teach them how to follow directions.
There are many great arts and crafts kids that are available for children of all ages. They can be used to help teach children about the importance of their environment, as well as how to be creative.
Some examples of simple arts and crafts for kids include:
– Stained glass
– Painting
– Paper mache
And so much more!
The arts and crafts for kids are a great way to get them interested in making things and learning about different crafts. These can be done with simple materials such as paper, cardboard, glue, paint, etc.
Benefits of Arts and Crafts for Kids
There are many benefits of arts and crafts for children. One of them is that it helps their creativity. It also teaches them to be patient as they have to wait for the paint or glue to dry before they can continue with the project.
The arts and crafts for kids are a great way to teach children about different subjects. Arts and crafts are also a great way for parents to bond with their children.
Crafts are an essential part of childhood development. They help children learn about the world around them, explore their creativity, and develop skills in areas such as manual dexterity, problem-solving, and imagination.
Which leads me to this point now, why not incorporate some arts and crafts for kids with name activities?
This post will outline some SUPER fun and arts and crafts that incorporate fine motor skills as well.
Just click on the links shown to go to the post directly for more information on how to set up the activity yourself!
Fine Motor Skills Name Activities
This art and craft name activity is SUPER simple, grab some dot stickers, glitter (if you’re feeling brave), crayons and have the kids build each letter in their names using dot stickers. Grab this super cute name printable here.
This super cute Groundhog Day Name Craft is a great way to incorporate fine motor scissor and cutting skills.
Have the kids use pom poms to decorate their pieces. They also get to cut and paste the letters in their name in order. This is completely editable!
This super fun 4th July name craft is perfect for kids between the ages of 3 and 6.
These winter name craft preschool templates are a hit this year. Grab your free hat template at the post, but be sure to see the steps on how to make these super fun hats with the editable file.
This nature letter craft with sticks is super cute and such a great way to get the kids out into nature, exploring their surroundings and learning all about building letters. Grab this clever activity from Hello Wonderful.
Have the kids learn all about their five senses with these clever name activities and ideas over at the Preschool Toolbox.
It’s essential that we incorporate and target as many skills as we can during our activity planning sessions for our kids or for the class.
Looking for a way to make crayons with letters?
Kids would absolutely go bananas for this activity, firstly it’s a great craft idea, then who wouldn’t need MORE crayons as kids throw them about everywhere and before you know it, you only have broken crayons and none that work.
Well, combine them all and make NEW letter shaped crayons with this super simple idea from Fun with Mama.
Have kids work with using shape sticks to build their names with this fun name arts and crafts activity. Just be sure that the kids know what circles, lines, and semi-circles mean. Find out how to setup this activity over at Rainy Day Mom.
Fine motor cut and paste name activities
Kids absoltely loved these troll cut and paste name crafts! Have them make their own craft with their names on each one and build while making ‘troll heads’. Grab this printable from this post here: Troll Name Cut and Paste Craft.
Grab a few art and craft pieces for this fun and simple fine motor activity, you will need quite a few materials for this activity like glue, pom poms, colored craft paper pieces.
The overall experience is one that kids will love especially when they decorate each letter in their name.
Qtip Painting Templates Free
So, I’m not one to be obsessed with qtips (I honestly never even use them for their actual purpose) which is to clean your ears.
But recently, I’ve discovered that qtips can be used with painting and they help kids develop fine motor grip skills.
They are not only useful for this purpose, but they help develop hand eye coordination and patience.
We need to be teaching our kids patience when completing projects, because we all know that kids get bored with an activity, once they know what it should look like or the end result – they will feel more inclined to actually complete it.
Check out my post here on using qtips and download your copy of these editable qtip name mats!
Don’t need editable mats? Want to try freestyle? Check out how Coffee and Carpool created her name mats right here.
Kindergarten Names Ideas
Looking for some super fun name crafts? Do you kids love rocket ships? Simple Everyday Mom has the cutest project for practicing names and fine motor cutting skills.
Grab your free download and printable right from her post. She even has a video on how to make it!
Another super cute name craft which I think is perfect for November is this turkey themed one from Simple Everyday Mom too. This will also require some cutting and pasting skills. Hang these in the classroom or at home! The kids will be so proud.
123 Homeschool for Me made these super cute french fry cut and paste name crafts too. These can be used year round.
Check out these printable Ice Cream Names from Preschool Play and Learn. Super cute and also a great way to learn name letter order.
Soccer Mom Blog has a super fun sensory activity with slime. Are the kids drawn to sensory activities?
Play dough, slime and more? Set up this tracing letters with slime activity in a short time and have the kids practising name letter formation and recognition in one activity!
Dot marker printables for kids
There’s something fascinating with dot markers. Kids seem to love working with these markers. Have you seen this list of dot marker printables?
They’re all free and a super fun way to incorporate math and literacy learning into your lessons / home activities. Dot marker activities are especially easier to use with toddlers and preschoolers.
There are some great advantages to having no prep coloring pages on hand to work on small finger muscles.
Pull these out when you have a few minutes to fill in an end of lesson, or if you’re needing some filler activities at home while working on something else.
The best part about these dot marker printables is that they are easy to use.
Kids know that they will be painting and filling in the empty circles with dot marker paint. I love using these dot markers with my students for easy grip and I find the paint doesn’t glide all over the place and actually dries out quick.
Need a simple dot marker name activity printable? This is just one page and comes with an editable key. Grab it from Preschool Learn and Play.
Recognise Letters in Names Playdough Activity
One of the most exciting tools I have in my arsenal is playdough tubs. Sometimes, I also like making my own with simple ingredients found in my pantry.
Most of the time though, I usually just buy them in bulk, I like this playdough super 36 tub pack which provides lots of use and great value (Amazon, of course what else?!) đŸ™‚
Playdough learning can be SO much fun, I’ve actually created a large bundle with mats to use JUST with playdough, and it has become a HUGE best seller – for a great reason. Click on the image above to see it in detail.
Check out this super simple activity set up from Learn with Play at Home. She used playdough and pom poms! Super simple and fun.
Name Art Ideas for Kindergarten
Another super fun fine motor activity to add to your list of activities at home is this dot sticker activity from Learn with Play at Home. SUPER easy to setup, just with cheap dot stickers!
More dot sticker activities you might like:
- Alphabet Match Dot Stickers Cruise Ship
- Counting 1 to 10 Dot Stickers Silly Worms
- Counting 1 to 10 Dot Stickers Dalmatian Dogs
Another way to use name cards or name letters is to use multiple manipulatives to develop those fine motor skills. See how Pickle Bums create several fine motor name letter recognition activities using just one card.
This textured name art activity from In the Playroom is a great activity to add to your centers or art area.
Name Pumpkin Craft
I love creating simple cut and paste letters in a name activities like this Halloween name tracing themed template.
Grab the free editable template from the post! Click on the image to go to the post.
Just have your materials prepared in advance, then add all the utensils in one section to have the kids develop and recognise their names.
Seuss Name Hat Craft
These celebrate Dr Seuss birthday activities shared below are perfect for these! This beloved holiday celebrates the birthday of the famous author and illustrator, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to bring some fun and creativity into the classroom.
Pilgrim Craft Preschool
If you’ve ever needed some super fun name activities, I love making printable name crafts and this latest one is all about pilgrims.
Grab the printable pilgrim name craft and work on letter recognition, name writing and fine motor skills. Just click on the image to go to the post.
Have you used busy bags or activity bags before? These provide a lot of sensory input for your kids and students. I find that my special needs students benefit the most from sensory activities. Teaching Ideas has the perfect name recognition activity bag.
Polar bear name craft
Grab the editable template to this super cute polar bear name craft below.
Check out this super fun letters in my name activity from Simple Fun for Kids involving a shoe box and a hunt aspect, toddlers will love this activity to practice name and letter recognition in one go.
Looking for some more name activities with beads? Check out this fun and easy crafting activity by Rhythms of Play. I also am sure to have beads with letters on them to practice fine motor and sight words. I love this set of beads which are slightly larger to work with for toddlers and preschoolers.
Artsy Fartsy Mom also has a clever way of making your own letters and number gems. You could make these and create names easily with them!
Hope you enjoyed this post! I will be adding more fine motor name activities to this list, so bookmark is and come back to it often for more ideas. đŸ˜‰
[…] Crafts are a great way to foster creativity and imagination in preschool-aged children. These 4th July activities for preschoolers name crafts will be a hit! […]