Where Play Meets Potential
A child learning their name does not need to be tedious, rote memorization, or limited to pencil and paper.
Instead learning their name should happen through playful exposures over a length of time.
Ruby is only one year old and I do not expect her to learn to spell or write her name. I do not expect her to name the letters in her name or even point to the letter when I ask, “Where is R?” Just because I do not expect this from her at this age, does not mean I do not talk about these things with her through our interactions during play.
When we play, I point out the letters in her name. If she grabs the “R” from her name puzzle I would say something like, “Oh, you have the R.” My intention with these interactions is that with enough exposure, learning her name will be fun and easy.
I gifted her a name puzzle from Busy Puzzle on Etsy for her first birthday and wanted to use it in a fun way besides just a puzzle. By the way, if you would like to see what else Ruby got for her first birthday, check out my post “Ruby’s First Birthday.”
So, instead of using it as a puzzle, how could we play? I saw several people on the lovely Instagram and Pinterest using various sensory items with name puzzles. I saw sand, colored rice, and nature items. I wanted to use something taste safe so I initially thought about using oats, but then I saw I had some old quinoa that I thought I should use up. Use what you have.
To make it a multi-sensory experience I dyed the quinoa red so we could also talk about colors.
Again, learning should happen through natural interactions during play. This is why it is so important to be intentional about the materials you choose and the activities you plan.
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I had never dyed rice, pasta, or any other grain, but have seen many people do it before. I had seen people use vinegar when dying so I thought I would experiment a little.
I tried adding food dye to dry quinoa, water with quinoa, and vinegar with quinoa. I wanted to see if either way created a better, brighter color.
I felt like the dry quinoa with a good amount of red food coloring looked the brightest. The water definitely washed it out. The vinegar was also bright, but why add an extra step if it’s not necessary?
The setup was very easy once the quinoa was dyed and dried.
I added the name puzzle, a recycled applesauce container filled with quinoa, a formula scoop, and a wooden drawing utensil that I took from a prewriting wooden board we have. I also filled Ruby’s name puzzle with quinoa so that it would encourage tracing.
Ruby really enjoyed this activity. She did not immediately engage with her name, instead she immediately dumped the quinoa and felt the quinoa in her hands.
I did model how to trace her name with both my fingers and with the wooden drawing utensil. She then engaged with the name puzzle and as she touched the different letters, I would name them. She then poured the quinoa on top of the letters.
She did mouth the quinoa a little, but she did not like the taste, so she didn’t repeat too often.
She left and came back to this activity a few times. She must have loved the texture so much because eventually she climbed right into the bin. Maybe I should get her a sandbox, hmmm.
This was a great fine motor activity. Ruby (13 months) had to use her hand and finger muscles and coordination to scoop and pour the quinoa. This is also a great practical life activity. She also felt the quinoa in between her fingers.
Like I said before, I do not expect Ruby to be spelling or naming the letters of her name at this age, but playful exposure over time, will allow your toddler to learn their name with little fuss or fight. There are many ways to expose your child to their name in a fun way, this is just one using Ruby’s interest of sensory play.
How else are you helping your little one engage with their name? Let me know in the comments below.
If you are looking for a puzzle similar to the one we used, click the image above to take you to the product. I highly recommend this puzzle from Busy Puzzle. They have other color combinations to choose from as well.
Another great way to engage your toddler with their name is through a personalized story book. This one from Wonderbly is really great and shows how each child is unique. Wonderbly offers a large variety of personalized books for children up to 10 years of age. They make a great gift too. Click the image to take you to their website where you can browse their selections.
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