It’s back to school season! I know a popular first theme is ‘All About Me,’ but with preschoolers a huge focus on one thing, like their name, is even better. The first in our “My Name Is…” series is an edible name spelling activity, great for your older toddler or young preschooler.
I got the idea for this on a grocery trip to Trader Joe’s when I spotted these “Cinnamon Schoolbook Cookies.” If you don’t have a TJ’s near you, fear not, this could be done with the Scrabble tile Cheez-its or with inedible letters like magnets, Scrabble letter tiles, alphabet stamps or something as simple as post-it notes with the letter drawn on.
Craft/Activity/Snack: Name Spelling with Trader Joe’s Schoolhouse Cookies
Objective: To sort letters into the proper order to spell their names
Skills Utilized: letter recognition, fine motor skills, critical thinking, puzzle solving, matching, and name familiarity
Suggested Reading: Try to find a book with your child’s name as a main character – we read Jasper’s Beanstalk by Nick Butterworth
Materials: TJ’s Cinnamon Schoolhouse Cookies – pick out the letters that spell your child’s name (and a few extra to make it more difficult), and a piece of paper with your child’s name written for them to match.
We practiced spelling their names out loud first. Then, I gave the kids each their own baggie with the cookies presorted and their sheets of paper. The paper also serves as a placemat so this activity can be done anywhere from a table to the ground.
While I intended for the cookies to be placed on the underscores, Jasper preferred to first match them to the proper letters as he pulled them out of the bag (and eat the extras haha)
When he was done, I had him identify each letter and place it below the letters to read them clearly. We practiced the letter sounds and how they meld together to form his name.
Then, as our schedule always is after our morning enrichment, it was snack time and the little guy got to dig in!
Extension Activities:
- Spell both first and last names
- If you’re not planning to eat the cookies, glue them, trace them, or use them as stamps
- Look through the tub of cookies and sort into 2 piles – “in my name” and “not in my name”
- Place the extra cookies in a sensory bin and practice letter (and number!) recognition with them
This is a good idea. Didn’t think of that when my two kids were preschoolers 😀
But I think I can apply this idea to my little nephew. (y)
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