Help preschoolers learn how to read and spell their names with a name puzzle. Create name cards by writing the child's name in block print on two rectangular strips of paper. Cut out the individual letters from one of the name cards and place the other name card on a flat surface. Jumble up the cut-out letters. The child assembles the letters of her name in the correct order, using the whole name card as a guide for the correct spelling. After she assembles the card, have her spell and read her name out loud.
Recognizing the sounds that letters make is the cornerstone for reading. Enhance letter-sound recognition in preschoolers with this activity. Print letters that you've worked on with your students on individual pieces of paper and spread them out on the floor. Provide students with a pile of a variety of objects, such as toys and pictures, which start with the letters you've laid out on the floor. Have students sort through the pile of objects, placing the objects on the letter that each item begins with.
Practice reading with a game of memory. On index cards, print color words using the color crayon that corresponds with the name--for example, write purple with a purple crayon. On another set of index cards, draw a circle for each color you've written out--on one card draw a purple circle, on another draw a blue circle and so forth. Place the cards upside down on a flat surface.
Children turn two cards over at a time, trying to find a color word and colored circle that match. If the cards they've turned over don't match, they flip them back over and turn two more cards over. If the cards they've turned over do match, they remove the pair. The game continues until all cards are matched.
Have kids create letter collages. Print a letter on pieces of construction paper. Discuss the letter and the sound that it makes. Provide children with magazines, glue and safety scissors. Have them look through the magazines and cut out pictures of items that begin with the letter printed on the construction paper. After cutting out the pictures, instruct them to glue them onto the piece of paper. Discuss all the different items the children have glued on their papers.