Pool Noodle Name Recognition Activity

Another reason to head to the dollar store! Work on name spelling with pool noodles!

As soon as I saw pool noodles in the store, I knew that I had to buy a few. But they aren’t for us to take to the beach this summer. I bought these water toys so my preschool could practice spelling his name in this fun Pool Noodle Name Recognition Activity. This hands-on activity is not only a great way for your child to practice identifying letters and spelling his or her name, but it’s also a great way for your kids to develop their fine motor skills and hand and eye coordination too.

Pool Noodle Name Recognition Activity

Supplies:

• Two differently colored pool noodles (we used purple and green)
• Knife
• Permanent marker
• Paper towel holder
• Index cards (optional)

Set-up:

• Cut the pool noodles in 1 1/2 – 2 inch pieces.
• Write the consonant letters on the pieces of one color and vowels on the pink ones, and then put all of the pieces into a container.
• If desired, write your child’s name on an index card.
• Place the pool noodle letters and the paper towel roll holder on a table, floor, or another work surface. If you don’t have a paper towel roll holder, you can also put a dowel into a ball of play dough or piece of Styrofoam.

Directions:

1. If you wrote their name on an index card, have your child find it. If not, have them find the first letter of their name on a pool noodle.
2. Have them find the rest of the letters of their name and pick them out of the container of noodle pieces.
3. Then, your child will put the pool noodle letters on the paper towel roll in order to spell his or her name. Note: This may be best to do by tilting this over so that children can do left to right.

Extensions:
To extend the learning, have your child practice match capital and lowercase letters or spell simple words.

You can also write the names of family members, friends, and even pets. If you are a classroom teacher, write all of your students’ names on index cards so they can practice spelling their classmates’ names.

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Karen

Writer at ABCs of Literacy

Karen is a teacher with over 13 years of experience teaching preschool through 2nd grade and a mom to two sweet little boys.She has a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education and loves to share literacy activities on her blog, ABCs of Literacy, and play ideas, simple crafts, and much more on her blog, Raising Little Superheroes. Follow her on Pinterest and on Instagram .

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