A lot of teachers are in the final count down of the school year so I wanted to create something that could lead you right into summer. In this post you will find several summer themed name puzzles and book buddy suggestions. These puzzles are the perfect way for your preschoolers to practice and master how to spell their names. You can even send them home to use over the summer!
You can’t teach a watermelon theme in preschool without reading The Watermelon Seed! This is a funny story about an alligator who accidently swallows a watermelon seed and worries about what might happen! Although this book lends itself very well to counting activities, I wanted to showcase how well these watermelon name puzzles compliment it as well. Mouse’s First Summer is a book about several summer icons, but I loved the big, juicy watermelon on the front cover!
The watermelon name puzzles include templates for names from 2 letters to 15 letters. The watermelon picture allows the puzzle to become self-correcting. If your preschoolers put the letters of their name in the wrong order, they will be able to tell because the picture won’t be correct. These puzzles pair perfectly with books like The Watermelon Seed or Mouse’s First Summer. You could even enjoy a watermelon snack afterwards!
When it comes to ice cream books, Should I Share My Ice Cream, by Mo Willems is one of my favorites. It touches on the themes of friendship and the balance between thinking about ourselves and thinking about others. The Little Ice Cream Truck, by Margery Cuyler is an adorable, nostalgic story from the point of view of the ice cream truck who travels around town making everyone’s day. Just One More, by Jennifer Hansen Rolli, is a relatable story about a little girl who always wants one more of everything. It’s hard not to ask for just one more scoop of ice cream! Ice Cream Face, by Heidi Woodward Sheffield, is a fun story about a little boy and the many stages of enjoying an ice cream cone. It’s a great way to start a conversation about emotions and sharing. All of these children’s books would compliment the ice cream name puzzles are are a great addition to an ice cream theme!
Who doesn’t love ice cream activities?? Ice cream is a summertime staple so it is an obvious choice for a summer preschool theme. These ice cream name puzzles are bright and fun. Several ice cream cone clips will help preschoolers determine the subsequent letters in their names. And if they get it wrong? Just match the ice cream cone colors to figure it out!
Speaking of sweet, cold, summer treats, popsicles are another fun summer theme! With that in mind, I designed these popsicle themed name puzzle templates as another summertime option. The rainbow sequence can help preschoolers fit together the letters of their names. Not to mention the colors are so eye catching and fun.
For books all about summer, I like to start with Summer Song, by Kevin Henkes. It presents all the characteristics of summer with soft, colorful illustrations and poetic, sensory language. Summer Color, by Diana Murray, describes a fun summer day with the passing of a thunderstorm in all the colors that go with it. It’s a fun rhyming text with lively, colorful illustrations. Summer, by Ailie Busby, is perfect for the younger preschoolers. Each page contains only a sentence or two. The illustrations show younger children enjoying the staples of summer. Summer Days and Nights, by Wong Herbert Yee, is told from the perspective of a little girl enjoying nature on a typical summer day and night. She catches butterflies, enjoys some lemonade, goes swimming, has a picnic, and goes exploring in the dark. Lastly, My Awesome Summer by P. Matis, by Paul Meisel, is the story of a fun summer told from a praying mantis’ point of view in diary form! It is very clever and engaging. All of these stories work perfectly to highlight the summer season and compliment the Summer Fun Themed Name Puzzles perfectly.
If you’re looking to focus on the fun activities of summer (swimming!!) then you might prefer the Summer Fun Themed Name Puzzles. These puzzles use clips of familiar summer icons, umbrellas, beach balls, floaties, an inflatable pool and flip flops to help your preschoolers arrange the letters in their name. Just like the puzzle templates above, this one can accommodate names from 2 – 15 letters.
Last but not least, my favorite summer name puzzle, the Summer Kids Name Puzzles! I love how adorable these summer kids toppers are and how they incorporate some of the elements of summer included in the other puzzles (beach ball, watermelon and ice cream). These puzzles are the perfect little end-of-the-school-year gift for your preschoolers to take home and practice spelling their names over the summer.
If your preschoolers are just being introduced to their names, especially if it is a longer name, there are some things you can do to support them. My daughter has 7 letters in her name and a lot of the letters look alike. Lillian- 3 l’s and 2 i’s all in a row! She was having a lot of trouble arranging the letters in the correct order. I decided to print her a second puzzle and not cut it apart. Then I put both the whole puzzle and all the puzzle pieces on a cookie tin. The individual puzzle pieces had magnets on the back so they didn’t move out of place. Lillian was able to pick up each piece and put it in the correct order using the whole puzzle to match the letters. We then practiced saying each letter in her name. This helped her tremendously!
Another way to support preschoolers just starting to learn their name is to give them the whole puzzle and letter magnets. Have them simply place the matching magnets on top of each letter in their name to practice putting the letters in order. This will save you time not having to print and prepare two separate puzzles!
That’s it! I hope you found some name activities inspiration! If you are interested in any of the name puzzles from this post, you can find them by clicking on the icons below. Thank you for being here!
Are you having trouble deciding?? I’ve got you! I went ahead a put ALL of the summer name puzzles into a bundle so that you can get them ALL for a discount. You can find the bundle by clicking the icon below.
Mrs Mama Bird 