Assemble your students in a circle on the floor and show them a hat and inform them that they are going to pass it to one another while saying their names. Randomly select a person to pass the hat to and chant the following rhyme: "(Insert name) has the hat. Now what do you think of that? Take the hat and pass it to (insert name)"; at the end of the rhyme, state the person's name whom you want the hat to be passed to. Encourage children to chant the rhyme along with you, which will help them remember one another's names.
Children act as detectives while getting to know one another's names in this classic children's game. Randomly select a child to act as a cookie thief and discreetly give him a bag that contains one cookie for each child in the class. Show students an empty jar and tell them that there were cookies in the jar, but someone must have stolen them. Tell students a rhyme to chant to help them discover who stole the cookies: "(Insert name) stole the cookies from the cookie jar?" The person being accused replies; "Who me?" and the class retorts, "Yes you." The accused replies, "Couldn't be!" To which the class asks, "Then who?" and the accused states the name of another student. Students repeat the chant, inserting another person's name each time. When the name of the child who is holding the cookies has been stated, instead of saying "Who me?" the child reveals the bag of cookies. Hand out the cookies and enjoy them for a snack.
This game is a spin on the traditional game of musical chairs and also helps children learn how to read their names and the names of their classmates. Arrange a set of chairs in a circle. On individual pieces of construction paper, write each child's name and place the papers on individual chairs. Have children stand in front of the chairs. As you play music, they walk around the chairs. When the music stops, children look for the chair with their name on it and sit in that chair. Continue playing, moving the names to different chairs with each round of the game.
Send preschoolers on a scavenger hunt to find their names. Write each child's name on an index card and hide the cards around the room. Divide the class into pairs and send the pairs off to find their names. If they find a name that isn't theirs, they must place the card back in the location and continue searching. When they find the card that contains one of their names, they hold on to it. Once both members of the pair have found their names, they return to a gathering area. Have each pair stand up, show their name cards and the whole group reads the names on the card.