We’ve reached the second half of the school year now, and my preschoolers can all recognize their names. Each morning, they find their name tags, hang them up, and sign in on our dry erase board. Now that they’ve mastered recognizing their names in print (and even spelling them verbally!), we’ll be working on recognizing the individual letters in their names. I’m not a fan of flash card style learning for preschoolers, so we will use lots of play and fun in our name recognition practice.
It’s winter (and all of a sudden super cold here!), so a snowball fight seems like the perfect way to add a fun twist to practicing the alphabet and letters in your name!
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Letter Matching Snowball Fight!
This is a simple, low prep activity! We prep for 2 classes (24 preschoolers total) for our crafts and activities, so low prep and simple are important.
The letter matching snowball fight that you create will depend on what skills you are working on with your individual child.
I used white Avery Circle Labels (similar to the address labels that you can stick in your printer) for the snowballs. I wrote letters on the labels with a silver Sharpie to resemble sparkly snow. I think that the next round of snowballs I make, I’ll use the printer settings on the Avery site!
On the paper that we were using for the snowball fight background, I wrote the same letters that were on the snowball stickers. I used upper case letters during this activity. Depending on the alphabet letter matching goals you are working towards, will depend on what is written on the paper.
After all the letters are matched up with their coordinating snowball letters, let the fight begin!
Adding a fun snow scene will make the snowball fight even more real. In our photos a snowman was drawn. It would be fun add a drawing of someone throwing the snowballs too!
Mix up upper and lower case letters for more advanced letter recognition!
Add letters in last names too if your child has mastered his first name!
Have your child write or trace the letters in her name on the circle stickers before matching them to the paper!
When these snowball fight scenes are sent home with my preschoolers, I’ll be sending a note asking my families to hang up the paper where their preschoolers can see them. Exposure to meaningful information (those preschoolers LOVE their own names!) is so important when learning new skills!
Other winter activities your preschoolers may also love:
Great books to go along with snowy learning!
(click on image for more details)
Such a cute idea, Nicole! If you attach the snowballs with Velcro dots, the children can practice "spelling" their names over and over again. Plus, when the project goes home to the parents, they can see the matching work/skill that takes place.
Carla M.
https://www.pinterest.com/carlaroni/boards/
Great idea Carla!