Name activities for early learners. Students will have fun practicing their names with these math and literacy activities that are great for back to school!
Name Activities
Is it back to school time for you? Well… are you (at least) thinking about back to school? These fun crafts and interactive pocket chart activities are perfect to practice names and have fun doing it! They also make ADORABLE bulletin boards for the first few weeks of school!
Here are a few math and literacy activities for you and your class!
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
I love this book and it was always one of my back to school read alouds. After reading the story, students create this super cute craft.
A, My Name is Alice
Another great read aloud! This book is full of alliterations. After reading, engage in a pocket chart activity with your class. Your students will love seeing their name in the pocket chart!
Create a self-portrait as a fun added craft!
Instead of the sentence, you could add rainbow names.
The Wheels on the Bus
A cute craft to focus on the beginning sound of your students’ names. They draw pictures of their new friends to ride their bus. Kids love it!
Add some rainbow names and you have a brightly-colored bulletin board display!
Bippity Boppity Bumblebee
Practice the number of syllables in your students’ names with this interactive pocket chart. This could be a fun morning meeting song/activity.
Math Activities
Your students can even practice using math manipulatives with these name activities.
These fun math and literacy name activities can be found in my Names unit:
I mentioned Chicka Chicka Boom Boom earlier and thought you might like some lesson plans for this fun book! Click here:

Deanna, I emailed you back about blog hoppin'. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!
Amanda
Third Grade Meanderings
I purchased your name unit and love it! My kindergartners loved doing the torn paper rainbow names. Next week, we are going to do the Wheels on Our Bus activity. Thanks for you hard work!
Colleen Patton
Mrs. Pattonโs Patch
Thank you! I just grabbed your rainbow hair book and it's very sweet.
โBarbaraโ
Grade ONEderful
Thanks so much for the Rainbow Hair book. I am going to do this poem this week, so how perfect. We are going to do your name packet of items, too. Thanks!
Robynn
BusyBees
I also purchased your name unit!!!! School starts for me next week and I am going to do a few of your ideas. What type of material did you use for the hair in the kids pictures? That is always what takes so long!!
I hope you will stop by my blog too!
http://fromkindergartenwithlove.blogspot.com/
I absolutely love your name unit!! I get so excited when I get an email telling me you posted something new! Going over to download the rainbow book now. Thank you!!
Very cute!!
Miss J
smiles crayons and endless stories
I love your name unit! I purchased it a couple of weeks ago. We did the rainbow names last week. They are too cute! Just downloaded the rainbow book. It will be perfect for our reading theme "Look at us"! Thanks for sharing ๐
I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of your amazing posts! As a newbie to teacher, it is so wonderful to have these blogs available for ideas and inspiration. I am teaching Grade 1 for the first time this year (already have the jitters for Tuesday), and I will certainly be visiting your blog for insight.
Thanks so much!
Rookie;)
I love these ideas! You are so creative. I gave you an award on my blog!
http://kentuckykindergartenkorner.blogspot.com/2011/09/top-ten-award.html
You can go get your award here! Thanks so much!
http://bit.ly/rtHPbL
Sarah
Kindergarten Korner
I just voted you as one of my Top 10 blogs! Thanks for being such an inspiration to new bloggers! You are appreciated by this Kinder teacherโฆ.FOR SURE!!
Live Love Laugh Everyday In Kindergarten
Loved Rainbow Hair – thanks for sharing!
Love this! I just awarded you a top 10 blog award at http://www.thekindergartenchick.blogspot.com
Thanks for sharing the cute ideas and rainbow hair book.
Thank you for the hard work that you do every day to make our classrooms a better place! I love all of your ideas, pictures, and appreciate your free downloads. I was so sad to hear about your "mean" anonymous comment this summer. Please know that person does NOT speak for the majority of the teaching population. YOU ROCK! ND loves DEANNA! ๐
Deanna, these are the cutest things ever!!!
I have to put this in my plans for the second week of school! We go back the tomorrow.
Erica Bohrer's First Grade
Thank you so much for sharing. I think the letter/name activity will be great for my reading group students ๐
Hi Deanna,
I have a couple of questions about your art projects. I recently got moved from 2nd grade to teaching art k-6. If you could e-mail me at voakesa@mtcps.org I would appreciate it. In particular, I was wondering how in depth your Pete the Cat art activity is.
Thanks!
Alison Voakes
Deanna, I just found your site and all your stuff on TPT and can I say…I"M IN LOVE! I just switched to Kinder after 9 years in second grade and your stuff is so helpful! I would like to know though, something I haven't seen on here, is how do you do all this and still maintain classroom management? I'm really struggling with how my new kinders are behaving and it's hard to get ANYTHING done! We've only been in school two weeks, but I'm feel very discouraged. I'd love to know what you do…or if you've talked about this in another post please just direct me. Thanks! I appreciate any input!
Robyn
I LOVE your Name Unit too! I LOVE Monster Manners and can use that to tie in with what we are doing with hearts. I would LOVE if an awesome celebrity like you checked out what we are doing with the Safe Keepers Box, Heart Words, and Filling our buckets with helpful hearts on my blog. I think you will "heart" it too!
Love it! Thanks for sharing.
Susan@The Learning Garden
I love all your work! How do I decide on which one to do and which ones to wait on for another time? Do you do all the activities every year or…?
Just did two of your Fun with Names activities with my class. They loved it. Thank you!
http://ericabohrer.blogspot.com/2011/09/first-week-back.html
Erica Bohrer's First Grade
Love it! I will be using for my ABC unit…cute, cute!
Hi Sweetie,
Just wanted to say I love your blog and enjoy looking at all of the adorable things your class does..I am a preschool teacher and have been browsing for ideas..your blog is the cutest I have visited..keep up the wonderful work!
Hi,
I love, love, love your blog! I love seeing all of your wonderful ideas, and my kindergarteners love doing them! I have a question…I thought I saw a picture of an apron on your blog, but think I might be mistaken. It is an apron that was tied around the waist with a bunch of useful little pockets. Anyone know what I am talking about and where I can find on of these aprons? Thanks a bunch!
Becky
Hi Mrs. Jump!!
Love your blog!! Where did you get the cute polka background you used in your blog post? How do you add photos and text to the background and post it on your blog? Thanks!!
Miss J
Smiles, Crayons, and Endless Stories
I'm pretty much in โฅ with Rainbow hair!!!;) I do a rainbow unit in March! I will be using this! Thanks so much for the freebie!;)
Little Warriors
How do you get the cute scrap paper backgrounds in your posts?
EVERYTHING you post is tooooo cute! I love your site … Makes me wish I was still teaching. ๐
Do you have a promethean board in your classroom? I made a (simple) flipchart based on your rainbow hair book. Let me know if you want it (or if anyone else out there is interested!). It was so fun adding the right colored hair (in many different hairstyles, too, I might add! As always, thanks for sharing this with all of us…great activity for Color days in kindergarten!
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This book is not available anymore. How do I buy it????????
I always try to keep an eye out for them on Amazon (resell market), libraries, and book sales.